Sears Explores Its Chic-er Side

With a Focus on Trendy Designs, the Chain Looks to Give Its Home Furnishings a Lift

Bedding designs by Ty Pennington give Sears's home furnishings a modern edge. (Handout)

Two years ago, Sears decided it was urgently in need of a home furnishings makeover.

Its furniture department had dwindled over the years, and the bed and bath offerings were a wasteland of tired old standards.

Competitor Target, meanwhile, had been building buzz with its budget-chic offerings from the likes of Michael Graves, Philippe Starck, Isaac Mizrahi and Thomas O'Brien. At Kmart, which was brought under the Sears Holding Corp. umbrella last year, Martha Stewart has been churning out matelasse comforters and garden benches. Chris Madden upgraded the home department at J.C. Penney with spa towels and tasteful upholstery.

Sears, with 926 stores, was a sleeping giant with a nagging image problem.

First, the bright spots: The appliance department is always highly rated by consumers. Kenmore, launched by the chain in 1927, is the best-selling appliance brand in the United States. Sears appliances are found in two of every three U.S. homes, company spokeswoman Corinne Gudovic says. Craftsman tools, a Sears brand, have always been another major draw.

But customers seeking washers, dryers and power drills were walking right by shelves of towels, candles, lamps, curtains and blankets. The home department clearly needed a style jolt.

"Sears has been a staple in families' homes and lives for generations," Gudovic says of the 120-year-old retailer. "We are a part of Americana. It made sense for us to expand on our home fashions and make us a complete solution for the home."

The company assembled a team of designers to reexamine each shower curtain and soup bowl on the shelves and raise the style quotient in every category. For a little star power, it signed Ty Pennington, the hunky carpenter who stars in ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," first as a spokesman and eventually as a designer of furniture, tabletop items and bedding.

The new look, introduced in the fall 2006 Simply Indoors catalogue that was mailed to customers, draws on the prevailing popularity of dark woods, luxury linens and gourmet tabletop items and cookware. The collections include 75 ready-to-assemble beds and chests, and a hotel bedding and bath collection with 500-thread-count sateen sheets.

Looking to piggyback on the Kenmore brand, the chain brought out Kenmore cookware, including a high-end line combining aluminum and stainless steel. From Lands' End, a company that is also part of Sears Holdings, come fleecy throws and flannel sheets and comforters. (The Sears stores at Landmark Mall in Alexandria and in Glen Burnie are opening Lands' End bed and bath departments this month.)

The Sears at Landmark Mall, one of 20 in the Washington-Baltimore area, doesn't look quite like the backdrops in the company's glossy catalogue. There are no neoclassical mantels or Palladian windows; it has tile floors and no-frills shelving instead.

But shoppers gliding down the escalator can't miss clearly updated bed and bath, furniture and tabletop collections, including a Martha-ish set of willow storage baskets ($29.99 for four), a pink convertible sofa ($279) and a wall of KitchenAid stand mixers, available in 24 colors ($299.99). Computers give customers access to http://www.sears.com/ . Most orders can be delivered within 48 hours, and for an extra charge, customers can arrange in-home furniture assembly.

Shalonda Randolph, an assistant store manager at the Landmark store, says the assembly-required furniture has been among its top sellers, especially the pub table and four-stool set ($249). Randolph says customers have commented on how great the new catalogue looks. "It reminded me of Nordstrom," she says, straightening a cushion.

Sears's sales have been sluggish. For the second quarter of 2006, its comparable store sales declined 6.3 percent from the same period last year. Some retail experts think Sears still has a ways to go.

"Sears merchandising has been rather inconsistent and lackluster," says Warren Shoulberg, editor in chief of HFN, an industry publication. "They should be with Kohl's and Penney's, right in the middle, as a store that appeals to the middle market."

"Sears is trying to redefine itself," says George Whalin, president and chief executive of Retail Management Consultants. "But they still need to make investments in their stores. They haven't done enough of that. Some of their stores are real tired-looking."

And the competition keeps coming: Kohl's just signed Vera Wang to do a line of linens and towels.