Realignment at Sears

Sears Holdings Corp. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) has centralized its Sears, Roebuck and Kmart merchandising organizations under two executives.

Dan Laughlin, currently senior vp/gmm, home for Sears, Roebuck, has been named senior vp, merchandising for Sears Holdings. Laughlin will lead the hardlines businesses across all of Sears Holdings and will oversee merchandising for Sears, Roebuck.

Peter Whitsett, senior vp and Kmart merchandising officer, will lead the general merchandising businesses across all of Sears Holdings and will continue to oversee merchandising for Kmart.

Laughlin and Whitsett will report to chairman Edward Lampert until the company appoints a chief merchant.

“By centralizing our merchandising teams under these two talented and experienced merchants, we are able to create a structure that capitalizes on the strength of this combined organization,” said Lampert. “By building and aligning these teams, we'll take a more integrated approach to how we interact with our customers and how we go to market.”

Sears Holdings Corp. is the nation's third largest broadline retailer, with about $55 billion in annual revenues and about 3900 full-line and specialty retail stores in the U.S. and Canada.