CHICAGO – Sears Holdings is looking to generate more cash from its trusty Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands than the sale of washers and dryers, tools and car batteries in its own stores.
The retailer announced Thursday that it was exploring unspecified alternatives for those brands, along with its Sears Home Services business, by expanding their availability beyond the doors of Sears and Kmart. The disclosure came as the retailer reported another bad quarter for both its Sears and Kmart units.
"Our iconic KCD brands are beloved by the American consumer and we believe that we can realize significant growth by further expanding the presence of these brands outside of Sears and Kmart," the company said in its earnings release. "By evaluating potential partnerships or other transactions that could expand distribution of our brands and service offerings, we can position both businesses to achieve greater success."
The options could involve selling the products in other stores, licensing them to other companies or an outright sale.
Although the Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard names have faded a bit as the overall Sears brand has diminished, they are still well-established brands with strong reputations, said Neil Stern, senior partner at Chicago-based McMillanDoolittle.
Expanding distribution would likely bring in extra revenue, Stern said. But if you can buy Kenmore and Craftsman elsewhere, that's one less reason for shoppers to come to Sears, he said.
Kenmore's share of the major appliance market dropped to 12.7 percent for the 12 months ending in March, down from 17.4 percent five years ago, when it had the largest slice of the market, according to Louisville, Ky.-based Stevenson TraQline's quarterly market survey. It is the third-biggest player, behind General Electric and Whirlpool. Craftsman still accounts for the largest share of the hand tools and accessories market by dollar share, with about 28.5 percent, and accounts for about 9 percent of portable power tool sales.
DieHard had only about 5.2 percent of the auto battery market, according to Stevenson TraQline.
