Sears will franchise auto centers
February 18, 2010
For the second time in a week, Sears Holdings Corp. is making good on Chairman Edward S. Lampert’s goal of letting outside businesses buy rights to the name of Sears’ once-proprietary brands.
Sears announced this morning that it will franchise its Sears Auto Center business to auto dealers who have lost their dealerships in the Chrysler and General Motors downsizings.
The new franchised centers will offer the same products and services for cars, light trucks and motorcycles as do Sears’ company-owned auto centers, according to the Hoffman Estates-based retailer. Sears Auto Centers offer repair service and sell products such as DieHard batteries and Michelin, Goodyear, BF Goodrich and Bridgestone tires.
Some of the franchised auto centers will be located next to body-shop operations, making them convenient for customers, Sears said.
The first franchisee is Coleman Auto Group in East Windsor, N.J., which will operate a Sears Auto Center on the site of a former Chrysler dealership.
One week ago, Sears announced it had signed a licensing agreement to sell DieHard battery chargers, jump starters and power inverters to Schumacher Electric Corp.
Lampert, the hedge-fund billionaire who engineered Kmart’s $12.3 billion takeover of Sears five years ago, introduced the idea of selling Sears’ proprietary brands to outside companies three years ago.
Sears has also advertised for entrepreneurs to run its Sears Hometown dealer stores, which sell tools, electronics, lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners.
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Sears will franchise auto centers :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Business
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