Sears veteran Rogers retires

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 12/23/2002 12:00:00 AM

HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL —

Bob Rodgers, head of Sears' The Great Indoors, has retired.

Rodgers, president of the home decorating/home remodeling business since its inception in 1999, is a 30-year Sears' veteran. "He is an excellent merchant and a great executive who has positioned The Great Indoors with customers," said Alan Lacy, chairman and ceo of Sears.

Jeffrey Jones, former coo of Lands' End, now a Sears unit, has been named to succeed Rodgers. He is senior vp, general manager, a title that had been created for Rodgers a year ago. Lacy commented, "He brings a strong operating background that will be important to the success of The Great Indoors. Before joining Lands' End, he headed ProVantage and earlier was senior vp, cfo of ShopKo.

The challenge facing Jones is to make The Great Indoors profitable. A new prototype will be unveiled in the second quarter of 2003, at a site not yet identified, said Kathleen Connolly, a Sears spokeswoman. "It will not be drastically smaller than the current units, which are about 130,000 square feet, "but the reduction will be mostly in the back of the store. A key element will be to make the stores easier to navigate, and more profitable while retaining the 'wow' factor. It also will be more informational in terms of how to shop the store," she added.