Sears, Roebuck & Co.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — The trend of doing away with layaway fees continues, this time with Kmart announcing that it has removed its layaway service fee both in stores and online through Nov. 17.

The retailer follows suit with Toys"R"Us, which said it would drop the $5 upfront service fee and eliminate the minimum purchase requirement for all orders created in stores through Oct. 31 and Walmart, which, while not cutting back its layaway fee, has rolled it back to $5 from $15.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. said Friday that both its Sears and Kmart banners would waive layaway fees for the holidays, allowing shoppers to open interest-free pay-over-time programs at both stores and online with no customary initial fees. Kmart’s program will run through Nov. 17, but Sears Holdings had yet to set a timeframe for its namesake stores.

In the past, Kmart and Sears have charged $5 for an eight-week layaway contract and $10 for the 12-week program.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. reported Thursday a loss of $132 million for the second quarter, tightened from a loss of $146 million in the year-ago period. Sales dropped 6.6% to $9.47 billion and same-store sales declined as well, by 2.9% at U.S. Sears stores and by 4.7% at its Kmart units.

Sears Holdings will lose its spot in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Sept. 4. It will be replaced by chemical maker LyondellBasell (LYB).

As one of America’s oldest retailers, Sears, Roebuck & Co. was one of the original members of the S&P 500 when the index was created in 1957 (69 of the index’s original components are still in the S&P 500 today, according to S&P’s Howard Silverblatt).

New York -- Shares of Sears Holdings were under heavy selling pressure Thursday morning, sliding 7% to $53.38 on Standard & Poor's. S&P plans to remove the chain from its S&P 500 Index because the chain’s public float has has been below the index's 50% threshold for an extended period of time.

The Sears' name, in one form or another, has been in the S&P 500 since it was created some 55 years ago. Sears will be removed from the index at the close of trading on Sept. 4. The retailer will be replaced by chemical maker LyondellBasell.

The nation’s leading closeout retailer offered a bleak outlook for the remainder of the year following worse than expected second quarter results and announced the departure of its top merchant.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu on Monday announced Robert Bly will join the company as president of Shoppers, a 56-store division in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., market.

Bly is expected to begin his new role on Aug. 22 and will report to Chuck Elias, SVP retail operations. Bly replaces Tim Lowe, who recently accepted a new leadership role in Supervalu's merchandising organization.

Minneapolis -- Supervalu announced that Robert Bly will join the company as president of Shoppers Food and Pharmacy, a 56-store chain in the Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., market.

Bly, 49, most recently served as VP of Kmart and Sears divisions for the Sears Holdings Co. He is expected to begin his new role on Aug. 22 and will report to Chuck Elias, senior VP retail operations.

Bly replaces Tim Lowe, who recently accepted a new leadership role in Supervalu's merchandising organization.
 

Things are looking up for Sears Holdings. The company only lost $132 million during its second quarter.

New York -- Following Wednesday reports that large retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores, Target Corp. and 7-Eleven are developing a mobile payment network, Wal-Mart confirmed on Thursday that a new company has been formed by Wal-Mart and other leading U.S. retailers to develop and deploy an m-commerce solution much like the Starbucks Square initiative that was announced last week.