Sears Warns of 2Q Drop; Home Depot Dittos

Hoffman Estates, Ill., Sears Holdings Corp. on Tuesday warned that languishing summer sales at both its Sears and Kmart stores will negatively impact 2Q earnings.

During a nine-week period that ended July 7, same-store sales at Kmart’s U.S. locations fell 3.9%, while same-store sales fell 4% at Sears. There were slight increases in women’s apparel and footwear sales at Sears stores, but they are not enough to offset declines across most other categories.

Atlanta-based The Home Depot issued much the same warning on Tuesday, citing weak conditions in the housing market and the sale of its wholesale distribution business as reasons for declining earnings. The retailer said it expects total retail sales to be down 1% to 2% for the year and sales at stores open at least a year to be down in the mid-single-digit range.

Home Depot also announced Tuesday that it would open approximately 108 new stores in fiscal 2007.