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To: Jim Spitz who wrote (37513)	1/10/2002 10:20:36 AM
From: Jim Spitz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 37746

Sears to cut 1,500 retail jobs, exit carpet business Published Jan 9 2002 Bloomberg News HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. -- Sears, Roebuck & Co. will eliminate 1,500 jobs and quit selling and installing carpets, as the biggest U.S. department-store chain frees up space for more profitable products such as appliances. The company expects to book an undisclosed amount of costs for the moves in the fourth quarter, spokeswoman Peggy Palter said. The company will report results Jan. 17. Sears, which employs 275,000, might shift some affected workers to other positions, Palter said. Sears also has begun a four-year program to remodel about 600 of its largest stores. The company Monday said it will reformat 50 this year to install central checkout and more self-service areas. The company will open eight stores and move seven others this year. Most of the new stores will open in March, in states including Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. In the Twin Cities, Sears has stores at Brookdale Center, Burnsville Center, Eden Prairie Center, the Mall of America, Maplewood Mall, Ridgedale Center and St. Paul. It will move its Coon Rapids store to the Riverdale Village development in August. The job cuts add to 4,900 positions that CEO Alan Lacy is eliminating to help double profit in the next three years at the company's retail, product-installation and repair businesses. Sears has gotten rid of other slow-selling items such as cosmetics. It has exited installation and services businesses that aren't directly tied to store merchandise. "Their big opportunity for growth is cost cutting," said analyst Matt Spitznagle of Northern Trust Corp., which owns Sears stock. "They are trying to get rid of the non-core businesses." Shares of Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears rose 88 cents to $50.40. They have risen 38 percent in the past year. The company has about 860 department stores and more than 2,100 specialty stores. It sells carpet at 560 locations. Sears is one of the nation's oldest carpet retailers, though Home Depot Inc. last year said it was the biggest. Home Depot, the largest home-improvement chain, also is testing a store in Dallas that sells only floor coverings. Floor space for the carpet business will be used for other home-related products, Palter said. Sears also will stop selling custom-made window blinds and drapes, though it will continue to carry ready-made window decorations and decorator rugs, she said. "Installed carpeting and window treatments take up quite a bit of floor space," Palter said. "We really think that floor space can be put to better use or more profitable use." Sears hired individual contractors to install carpeting at customers' homes. Lacy, who ran Sears's services business before becoming CEO in October 2000, wants the division to focus on appliance repairs and other services that are linked to products that Sears sells in its stores. © Copyright 2002 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.