Sears Holdings confirms restructuring plans

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. Sears Holdings confirmed today that it is restructuring the company to simplify the management of its business lines and to create greater autonomy and focus for the business unit management teams.

Sears made the announcement about its organizational changes in a press release sent out today, following a number of reports the the company was planning a number of restructuring initiatives. According to Sears, the new structure is built on five types of business units that enable each organization to focus on their core categories and capabilities: operating businesses, support, brands, online and real estate.

According to the company, the operating business units will consist of Sears's current lines of business such as home appliances, electronics, and apparel. The support units will include the functions that provide operational and administrative support to the operating businesses including marketing, store operations, customer strategy and finance. The brand units will be responsible for growing the value of Sears Holdings brand portfolio. The real estate business unit and an online business unit will focus on increasing the sales productivity of the company's physical and virtual real estate.

Each business unit will have a designated leader and an advisory group comprised of senior Sears Holdings executives who will provide direction and oversee the business unit's performance. The leadership of each unit will have a separate, internal profit and loss statement to allow greater focus on managing the profitability of the unit, and rapid decision making to capitalize on opportunities and mitigate risks.