Sears and Kmart are re-branding to try to breathe life into their struggling stores and win back shoppers.
Sears and Kmart are re-branding to try to breathe life into their struggling stores and win back shoppers.
Sears’ new tagline will be “making moments matter,” while Kmart will promote “love where you live,” the two chains said Thursday. The push includes television and social media advertising, new signs in stores and uniforms for workers.
The stores’ new “brand mantras” are “part of refreshing the brands and the store and online experience,” said Sears’ spokesperson Larry Costello. He added that the brands are attempting to re-connect with baby boomers, who have traditionally been Sears’ and Kmart’s core customers. They are also trying to bring in new, young families.
Sears and Kmart, which merged in 2005 to form Sears Holdings, have been squeezed by other big box retailers and Amazon.
Sears emerged from bankruptcy in February. A judge approved the sale of most of the retailer’s assets to a hedge fund controlled by Eddie Lampert, the company’s chairman, for $5.2 billion. The decision kept open 425 Sears and Kmart stores and saved the jobs of about 45,000 employees.
On Thursday, Sears announced that it will open at least three new small stores as it tries to draw shoppers again.
The stores, which it will call Sears Home & Life, will be about 10,000 to 15,000 square feet, rather than the 160,000 square feet of a typical store. They won’t sell apparel and instead will focus on home goods like appliances and mattresses.
In addition to its new slogan and smaller stores, the companywill emphasize its “Shop Your Way” customer loyalty program and raise at least $650 million from real estate sales in the next three years.
