"Grand" ol' Sears

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 4/11/2003 3:51:00 PM

Hoffman Estates, IL — Home fashions will have a larger home in the new "Sears Grand" stores that will begin a test program this fall.

The five pilot stores will be the first off-the-mall units for Sears full line stores with the initial opening in West Jordan, UT, a suburb of Salt Lake City. The second pilot store will open in Gurney, IL next years. All will be one level.

The "Sears Grand" stores will be considerably larger than current Sears mall units. Average selling space for current Sears stores is 90,000 to 95,000 square feet, according Linda Blakeley, a Sears spokesperson. The new stores will have 155,000 square feet of selling space in a 210,000-square-foot gross store. The stores will carry home fashions and a larger footprint is being planned. But at this time, Blakeley added, "decisions about particular lines of business are still being made."

Sears will introduce new merchandise categories including toys, a unique blend of plants and fertilizers, beauty products, dry groceries, and greeting cards, among the new mix. "We have improved our full line stores to the point where current consumer trends need to be served," Blakeley added. The new stores will let us be more able to provide everyday solutions to these product needs."