HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.–Sears Holdings, which has been bleeding market share with steady comparable-store sales declines, is putting in place a new organizational structure and operating model designed to “simplify the way its business lines are managed and create greater autonomy and focus,” the retailer said in a statement.
The new structure is built around five business units: operating businesses, support, brands, online and real estate. The operating business units will focus on merchandise categories: home appliances, electronics and apparel. The support units will include the functions that provide operational and administrative support to the operating businesses, including marketing, store operations, customer strategy and finance. The brand units will take on growing the value of the Sears Holdings brand portfolio. The real estate business unit and an online business unit will focus on ramping up the sales productivity of the company’s brick-and-mortar and online real estate.
Each business unit will have a leader and an advisory group made up of senior Sears Holdings executives.
They will also have a separate, internal profit and loss statement for greater focus on managing the profitability of the unit.
“We are convinced that our businesses can operate more efficiently and effectively, and we continue to look for ways to make that happen,” said Sears Holdings Chairman Edward Lampert in the statement. “By creating smaller-focused teams that are clearly responsible for their units, we increase autonomy and accountability, create greater ownership and enable faster, better decisions.”