Sears Holdings Corp

Portrait studios at Sears and some Wal-Mart stores - the scenes of innumerable family photos - have unexpectedly closed as their operator, CPI Corp., goes out of business. The portrait provider said in a statement on its website that all of its U.S. locations have shut down “after many years of providing family portrait photography.” The St. Louis company has been making photo keepsakes for more than 60 years and offered its services at more than 3,000 North American locations, mostly in Sears and Wal-Mart stores.

Portrait studios at Sears and some Wal-Mart stores - the scenes of innumerable family photos - have unexpectedly closed as their operator, CPI Corp., goes out of business. The portrait provider said in a statement on its website that all of its U.S. locations have shut down “after many years of providing family portrait photography.” The St. Louis company has been making photo keepsakes for more than 60 years and offered its services at more than 3,000 North American locations, mostly in Sears and Wal-Mart stores.

Home furnishings and gift retailer Restoration Hardware Inc. spurned Sears Holdings Corp.'s $4.55-a-share offer for the company, saying it was not superior to Catterton Partners' offer of $4.50 a share. Department store retailer Sears had submitted its offer Thursday, the last day of a 35-day period for Restoration to solicit competing offers. Sears made a $6.75-a-share offer in November for Restoration, based in Corte Madera, Calif., but later withdrew it as Restoration's shares fell.

Sears Holdings Corp., one of the earliest members of the S&P 500, is being kicked out of the stock index next week and replaced by a Dutch chemicals company. The retailer, which trades on Nasdaq, will be dropped from the index when the market closes Sept. 4. LyondellBasell Industries in the Netherlands will take its place. Sears has struggled with falling sales, store closures, brand spinoffs and consumer skepticism. But its retail problems didn't cause its expulsion from the S&P 500. Instead, the number of shares Sears made available to the public, known as the "public float," "has been well below the 50% threshold for inclusion for an extended period of time and is no longer considered representative of the index," according to a statement from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Beleaguered retailer Sears Holdings Corp. reported a hefty drop in fiscal second-quarter profit as sales slumped, despite a restructuring aimed at drawing back shoppers who've taken their checkbooks elsewhere. The company led by financier Edward Lampert also delivered a downbeat outlook, predicting that sales and gross profit margins will face continued pressure from the sluggish economy. Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears said it earned $65 million, or 50 cents a share, in the quarter that ended Aug. 2, down 62% from a profit of $173 million, or $1.15, a year earlier.

Sears Holdings Corp., the biggest U.S. department store company, said fiscal fourth-quarter profit plunged 47%, and Chairman Edward Lampert vowed to rein in costs and cut inventory. Net income dropped to $426 million, or $3.17 a share, in the three months that ended Feb. 2, the Hoffman Estates, Ill.- based company said. A year earlier, profit was $811 million, or $5.27 a share. Sales in the quarter declined 6.8% to $15.1 billion. "I'm not sure that there's anybody out there who says, 'Sears or Kmart is my favorite place to shop,' " said David Keuler, a money manager at Mason Street Advisors.

Eight years after getting out of cosmetics business, Sears is jumping back in, banking that the high-margin sector can give the retailer a much-needed profit boost. The flagship brand of Sears Holdings Corp. is opening full-service beauty counters at 13 Sears stores in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York this week. The goal is to roll out the beauty business to 100 locations next year and, if all goes well, expand to as many as 400 of its 852 Sears department stores by 2012, said Andrea Goldner, Sears' merchandise manager for cosmetics.

Minutes after securing final approval for combining Kmart and Sears last year, Edward Lampert pledged to transform the two faded retail icons into "a great company." But he didn't offer any blueprint for how he'd do it. Twelve months later, approaching Friday's anniversary of the unlikely pairing that created Sears Holdings Corp., industry experts are still trying to figure out just what the billionaire chairman has in mind for the struggling store brands.

Sears Holdings Corp., the department store company run by investor Edward Lampert, said it bought a 13.7% stake in Restoration Hardware Inc. Sears disclosed the stake in a regulatory filing and said it held talks with company executives regarding a possible business combination. Restoration Hardware, a Corte Madera, Calif.-based home furnishings chain, agreed to be acquired last week by buyout firm Catterton Partners for $267 million.

Sears Holdings Corp. is bringing layaway back to its namesake stores next week, nearly two decades after it was scrapped, after seeing a strong response to the pay-as-you-go plan at its Kmart locations. The move comes as shoppers look for ways to save money during what's expected to be the worst holiday shopping season in decades. Layaway will be available beginning Sunday in virtually all Sears departments except home appliances and home electronics.

Frank Thode bought his first refrigerator from Sears in Santa Monica as a young newlywed. That was back in 1957. For nearly five decades, he stopped at the department store almost once a week, picking up tools or clothes or appliances. But in recent years, he has hardly ever gone by the distinctive green-and-white Modern-style store on Colorado Avenue near the Santa Monica Pier still bearing its original Sears neon sign. "It basically looks like the same store from way back when with newer clothes and appliances," said the 78-year-old retired truck driver, surveying the store on a rare visit to inspect washers and dryers.

Sears Holdings Corp. is slashing costs after losing $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter, including the closure of 120 of its department stores. But one expense remains sky-high: the cost of charter flights for Chief Executive Louis J. D'Ambrosio, who lives in Philadelphia and commutes to Sears' headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Sears spent $793,224 last year shuttling D'Ambrosio by private jet back and forth, according to its latest proxy...

Sears Holdings Corp. posted a wider loss in the third quarter as continued sales declines at its stores overshadowed a growing online business. The Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer said revenue at its Sears stores open at least a year slipped 0.7%. At its Kmart stores, revenue fell 0.9%. Sears Canada had a 7.8% decline in comparable-store sales, the company said. Lower sales of appliances and consumer electronics at Sears' U.S. stores hurt the company's performance, even as sales of apparel rose, helped by Lands' End and the new Kardashian clothing line.

This holiday season, Sears and Kmart are testing virtual shopping walls at malls to empower smartphone owners to buy toys on the go. The walls, which feature pictures of toys for sale from Sears and Kmart along with bar codes attached to each item, will be placed temporarily at select malls, bus shelters, subway stations, airports and movie theaters around the country. While waiting for a bus or browsing the mall this season, shoppers can scan a code with their smartphones to buy a particular toy right on their device.

If Sears Holdings Corp. Chairman Edward Lampert were making his Christmas wish list, you can bet that more Sears stock would be at the top of the page. When the retailer reported last week that its fiscal third-quarter loss narrowed as $101 million in cuts to overhead costs helped offset falling sales, it also disclosed a willingness to spend -- on itself. Most retailers have suspended stock buyback programs as they conserve resources to cope with cash-strapped consumers who are shopping less and expecting bigger discounts.

Eight years after getting out of cosmetics business, Sears is jumping back in, banking that the high-margin sector can give the retailer a much-needed profit boost. The flagship brand of Sears Holdings Corp. is opening full-service beauty counters at 13 Sears stores in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York this week. The goal is to roll out the beauty business to 100 locations next year and, if all goes well, expand to as many as 400 of its 852 Sears department stores by 2012, said Andrea Goldner, Sears' merchandise manager for cosmetics.

Sears Holdings Corp. will give discount coupons to as many as 2.3 million customers to settle a lawsuit brought by former Sears credit card holders. The coupons of $10 or $15 will be given to people whose credit data Sears obtained after their accounts had been closed and sold for collection, according to a filing Tuesday in federal court in Riverside.

Sears Holdings Corp. is opening Lands' End clothing shops inside about 100 of its 870 department stores, the direct merchant's president said. Sears, owner of its namesake stores and Kmart discount chain, bought Lands' End in 2002 with the hope that the sailing-inspired clothing and housewares brand would draw more customers to its stores. But clothing sales at Sears have remained weak, prompting speculation that Sears Chairman Edward Lampert would sell Lands' End.

With only 129 shopping days left until Christmas, the Sears and Kmart chains are trying to entice customers to start saving for the holidays early with a Christmas Club card program. Shoppers who join the program can add money on a regular basis to their cards and receive a 3% reward, up to a $100 value, based on the value of the balance Nov. 14. The card is free, available in stores and online and must be activated by Oct. 31 to be eligible for the 3% reward. Shoppers will need a minimum balance of $5 to use their cards.

Sears Holdings Corp. reversed a year-ago loss and posted a profit of $26 million for its first quarter as it worked to manage inventory in its stores. The results amounted to a profit of 21 cents a share, which is markedly better than a year earlier, when the retailer led by financier Edward Lampert lost $56 million, or 43 cents. Excluding one-time items, the company said it earned $47 million, or 38 cents, for the three months that ended May 2. Sales fell more than 9% to $10.06 billion.