SOME SEARS CATALOG STORES MAY STAY

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 3, 1993                   TAG: 9302030106
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER TRIBUNE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
SOME SEARS CATALOG STORES MAY STAY
Now, Sears, Roebuck and Co. is saying it may not close all of its catalog sales stores. The company, which last week announced a massive restructuring that included ending its catalog operation, says it might decide to keep 25 percent of the stores and operate them as retail outlets.
Under a new plan Sears is considering, 200 to 500 of the 2,000 dealer-owned stores would be stocked with "hard-line" merchandise such as tools, electronics and appliances from Sears' retail division warehouses. In addition, it is possible the store owners might no longer be owners but rather would become employees and manage the stores for the retailer, the company said.
"We think there is an opportunity out there for some form of retail operation," Sears spokesman Jerry Buldak said. He said a decision on which stores might be kept open would come by March 15.
Owners of the approximately 2,000 Sears catalog stores, most of which are in rural areas, were notified last week that, because Sears was pulling out of the catalog business, their stores would have to close by year's end. That figured to put 10,000 to 15,000 people out of work.
Owners of two Western Virginia catalog stores said Tuesday they had not heard anything about Sears' possible mind change.
The turnaround apparently came after Sears discovered late last week, in part from media reports, that some of its catalog stores were, in fact, not catalog stores alone but miniature versions of Sears department stores operated by someone other than Sears.
Staff writer Sandra Brown Kelly contributed to this story.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB