Sears' new challenge: spinning retail gold; Credit card sale puts focus on Lacy's big-box plan.(News)(Sears, Roebuck and Co. sells credit card business to Citigroup Inc.)

Crain's Chicago Business, July, 2003

Byline: SANDRA JONES When Sears, Roebuck and Co. wraps up the sale of its credit card business to Citigroup Inc. later this year, the shrinking company will be relying solely on its chain of stores for the first time in its 110-year history. The lucrative credit card business provided cover for Sears' long-troubled store operations for years, enabling the company to generate a steady stream of profits even as store sales stalled and shoppers fled to the likes of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Home Depot Inc.

and Target Corp. Now, with nowhere left to hide, Sears is pinning its hopes on a new big-box retail format to fuel the growth it so desperately needs to survive. The soon-to-be opened pilot stores, called Sears Grand, copy the formula that Wal-Mart and...

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