Sears Booting Up

Sears Roebuck & Co. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) has announced a co-branding partnership with Red Wing Shoe Co. Inc. (Red Wing, Minn.) to launch a line of Craftsmen shoes and boots.

This is the first time Sears has extended its cornerstone Craftsman brand to footwear, though the popular brand name has been used on non-tool products before. Last year, Sears and KB Toys (Pittsfield, Mass.) signed a licensing deal for a “My First Craftsman” line of toy power tools and a workbench activity center.

Sears said that while it's rare for the company to enter into co-branding agreements of any kind, it made sense in this case because both companies carry strong brand name recognition and complement one another. The new Craftsman shoe line was described as a “rugged footwear line” marketed to carpenters, roofers, construction workers and other trade professionals. The shoes will be priced between $150 to $170 per pair and available at 470 Sears' full-line stores.

Red Wing shoes are currently sold at 430 company-owned stores and more than 4000 dealers in the U.S., but have never before appeared in a national department store chain.