
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 12, 1991                   TAG: 9102120135
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From wire reports
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Medium

SEARS IDLES 9,000; MERCHANDISE GROUP PRESIDENT RESIGNS

Sears, Roebuck & Co. announced its second major round of layoffs in as many months Monday as the nation's retailing giant also disclosed dismal sales and earnings figures and said the president of its ailing merchandise group had resigned.

But despite the job cutbacks, which could total 30,000 by year's end, the Chicago-based company did not opt to scrap its historic but money-losing catalog division as some analysts had predicted.

The company said profits for the fourth quarter, which includes the important Christmas shopping season, sagged 37 percent from $602 million in 1989 to less than $379 million in 1990.

However, more than half the falloff was due to the $155 million cost of its staff-reduction program.

Revenue rose 2.5 percent to $15.56 billion from $15.18 billion. The merchandise group accounted for about 57 percent of that figure.

The 9,000 largely administrative jobs to be eliminated by the end of this year come on top of the 21,000 positions the Chicago-based company already is slashing from the staffs of Sears stores.

The company said it earned $902 million in 1990, down from $1.51 billion in 1989.

Sears announced the actions as its board began a two-day meeting that was expected to take a hard look at the flagging retailing business and search for a way to regain lost customers and profits.

Sears Chairman Edward A. Brennan said the steps taken at Sears Merchandise Group would make the retailing business more competitive.

Long the undisputed king of retailers, Sears in recent years has seen legions of customers turn to aggressive discount chains such as Wal-Mart and Kmart.

The company has also been hurt by fuzzy marketing strategies as well as recession.

But analysts said the latest moves stood a good chance of turning things around. "I'm very encouraged," said Walter F. Loeb, a retail consultant in New York. "It's a real sincere effort to cut some of the fat out of the company."

Brennan announced the resignation of Michael Bozic as president and chief operating officer of its 314,000-employee merchandising group, which oversees retail and catalog operations. Bozic will not be replaced, Brennan said.

Loeb said Bozic's departure would have little impact on the company because he was stripped of most of his authority months ago and has been little more than a figurehead ever since.

by CNB