Sears, Roebuck & Co.

After a successful launch of a menswear line at Sears, singer Adam Levine is launching an exclusive women’s wear line at 500 Kmart stores and supporting the initiative with a strong digital component.

Sears Holdings announced that Levine’s line would be available on Thursday, April 10 at Kmart and the retailer’s shopyourway.com online site.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that William Hutchinson will join the company as senior VP and president, supply chain. Hutchinson, who most recently served as VP of global fulfillment and logistics for Dell, succeeds Raj Penkar who has led the company's supply chain business unit since 2011. Penkar will retire from Sears Holdings on May 31.

In his new role with the company, Hutchinson will be accountable for all aspects of the company's supply chain, including distribution, transportation, customs compliance and global sourcing.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corporation completed its spin-off of Lands' End Inc. on April 4. The specialty apparel company has now been separated from Sears Holdings and its common stock is expected to begin regular-way trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "LE" on April 7.

Former Dell and Best Buy executive William Hutchinson is joining Sears Holdings at SVP and president of supply chain.

Hutchinson spent seven years with Dell and most recently served as vp of global fulfillment and logistics for the Round Rock, Texas-based company. In his new role Hutchinson will be accountable for all aspects of the company's supply chain, including distribution, transportation, customs compliance and global sourcing. He is filling a role previously held by Raj Penkar, who will retire from the company on May 31.

Best Buy, Staples, Home Depot, 3M and Colgate-Palmolive were among the many retailer and CPG companies to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy as recipients of the 2014 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award.

A total of 127 companies were received the Energy Star Partner of the Year distinction and were selected from a total of 16,000 Energy Start partners overall in the areas of manufacturing, retailing, public schools, hospitals, real estate companies and home builders.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized Sears Holdings with a 2014 Energy Star Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award. Sears Holdings, an Energy Star partner since 1998, will be honored for its long-term commitment to energy efficiency.

The company's related accomplishments in 2013 included:

By Pat Dermody, president, Retale

This is not a lecture about embracing digital. Chances are you have already heard that, read that, maybe even repeated it to yourself. If not, you had better hurry up.

New York -- Sears Holdings Corp. said its board has approved the spin on of its Lands’ End business, effective April 4, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
 
The agreement, which was announced in December, will make Lands' End an independent company that will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “LE.”

Sears stockholders on record as of March 24 will receive about 0.3 shares of Lands' End common stock for each share of Sears they own.

Lands' End will be back on its own as a publicly traded company following a formal announcement by parent company Sears Holdings to spin off the well-known apparel brand.

The move follows years of speculation that Sears would divest the brand, which it acquired in May 2002 for $62 a share. At the time, Lands' End was a publicly traded company with revenues of nearly $1.6 billion, profits of $67 million and earnings per share of $2.23. The $62 a share Sears paid 12 years ago represented a 21.5% premium over the closing pricing of $51.02 prior to the announcement of the deal.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Tractor Supply Co., the largest rural lifestyle retail store chain in the United States, announced that Robert D. Mills has joined the company as senior VP and CIO, succeeding James Callison, who is retiring. As part of the succession plan, Callison will stay with Tractor Supply until a smooth transition is completed.