Dive Brief:
- Sears Holding Corp. reported its eleventh straight quarterly loss on Thursday, with both profit and revenue falling.
- Revenue for the parent company of Sears and Kmart stores declined to $8.1 billion from $10.59 billion in the quarter, with comparable store sales at Sears stores falling 7%, and Kmart stores 2%. Net loss narrowed to $159 million in the quarter, down from $358 million a year earlier.
- Sears also announced that it is planning to form a real estate investment trust (REIT), which will most likely launch in May or June.
Dive Insight:
While Sears is taking steps to recover its profits, including selling most of its stake in its Canadian unit and spinning off Lands' End, it still has much room to approve. One silver lining in this report was the retailer's Shop Your Way loyalty program: Members of the program accounted for 72% of Sear's fourth quarter eligible sales—a fact not overlooked by the retailer.
"We believe that the changes we are making to focus on our best stores, reward our best members and pursue our best categories will help us continue to transform Sears Holdings into a leading integrated membership-focused company," said CEO Eddie Lampert in a statement.