Wild times at Sears
Sears has been all over the media for a variety of reasons lately. First, it made news and our Book of Lists for a 99% drop (!) in year-over-year third quarter profits in 2007. Then last week, there was the announcement about an internal reorganization into five business units. The latest came this morning with a press release from OgilvyOne announcing its selection as the direct marketing and CRM AOR for Sears and there’s the bigger announcement (here’s the story) that CEO Alwyn Lewis will step down this week with Bruce Johnson replacing him on an interim basis.
“Chaos” is the word mentioned a couple of times by analysts watching the Sears situation. Poor financial results, a search for a CEO, and continued reports about a lack of investment in the look and feel of Sears and Kmart stores will continue to damage the brand if the company doesn’t take action ASAP.
