Sears ousts CEO Aylwin Lewis after sales drop
Sears Holdings, the retailer run by investor Edward Lampert, ousted chief executive officer Aylwin Lewis after a drop in holiday sales prompted the company to forecast unexpectedly low fourth-quarter profit. Lewis will step down February 2, after...
By Louisa Nesbitt & Heather Burke, Bloomberg |
DUBLIN: Sears Holdings, the retailer run by investor Edward Lampert, ousted chief executive officer Aylwin Lewis after a drop in holiday sales prompted the company to forecast unexpectedly low fourth-quarter profit. Lewis will step down February 2, after two years as CEO. Lampert said in a statement on Monday that the board was looking for “new leadership” at the company, which was created when his Kmart Holding took over Sears, Roebuck & Co in March 2005.
Sears said this month that fourth-quarter profit may drop more than 50% after US holiday sales fell at its namesake and Kmart retail chains. The biggest US department-store chain said January 22, its businesses would split into five types of business units.
“The company has been in free-fall,” said Howard Davidowitz, the chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a New York-based retail consulting firm. “They have not met one number since Aylwin Lewis has been there. They’ve had monster losses in market share, so how could you be surprised?”
W Bruce Johnson was appointed interim CEO, while Sears looks for a permanent successor, Illinois-based Sears said. Johnson will also assume Lewis’ position as president, the company said. Johnson is executive vice-president of the company’s supply chain and operations.
Lewis, 53, became Kmart’s CEO in October 2004, a month before the $12.3 billion acquisition of Sears was announced. Almost a year later, Lampert ousted CEO Alan Lacy and named Lewis as his successor. Lewis was paid $4.81 million in his first full year in the position. Sales at stores open at least one year have fallen every quarter since the merger.
Sears has said its businesses would split into five types units focusing on: operations of its home appliances, apparel and other lines; support services; development of its brands such as Craftsman tools; real estate; and online sales growth. The strategy reverses Lampert’s move to centralise management after the acquisition. The new structure will help to improve earnings and attract customers, Lampert said. —
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