Sears Holdings makes big moves on home front

Sears holdings has made a key acquisition to bolster its connected home effort and named a new executive to lead its home service division.



The retailer said it hired former Best Buy executive Sean Skelley as president of its Home Services division. Skelley spent 20 years at Best Buy but most recently served as senior VP of service solutions for Asurion, global provider of device protection and support services for smartphones, tablets, consumer electronics and appliances.



While at Best Buy, Skelley held positions of increasing responsibility in areas ranging from stores to merchandising/category management, to business development and services and was responsible for the acquisition and nationwide rollout of Geek Squad.



“Sean is a proven, innovative leader who brings a history of strategic customer focus to his new role as the leader of Home Services,” said Edward S. Lampert, Sears Holdings’ chairman and CEO. “He possesses a unique understanding of service and product repair needs, and his abilities to identify service efficiencies will be a great asset as we focus on our members and drive the company’s transformation.”



According to Sears, its Home Services group is the top national service provider and trusted advisor serving 39 million households. Its roughly 7,500 technicians make more than 13 million calls annually.



That call volume could be increasing in the years ahead as homes gain new technological capabilities and increased complexity with the rise of the connected home phenomenon. Sears is eager to play a major role in that world, which is why in May of this year Sears Home Appliances and Services opened a technology development office in Seattle’s Columbia Center to focus on home appliance innovation with front-end development, product management, program management, design and research. Then in June, Sears launched a Connected Solutions flagship store designed to simplify the way people shop for their connected home.



The Connected Solutions store features a living room, kitchen, nursery, workout room, garage and outdoor area, so shoppers can experience the benefits of smart technology. Sears is expanding its Connected Solutions assortment to hundreds of stores to offer what it says is one of the industry's largest cross-category selections of smart technology products.



The company’s most recent move on the connected home front involves the acquisition of WallyHome technology for devices which sense changes in moisture, temperature and humidity, from SNUPI Technologies. Sears also will license related technology from SNUPI, which will provide consulting services for the development of future Sears Connected Solutions products. The acquisition also includes the lease of a 10,000-sq.-ft. technology development office on the campus of the University of Washington and the addition of four new employees.



“This acquisition reinforces our commitment to the Connected Solutions business and the technology that we think can help fuel our company’s transformation,” said Ryan Ciovacco, president of Consumer Electronics and Connected Solutions, Sears Holdings.



Managing the operations of the new office will be Parag Garg, CTO of Connect Solutions for Sears Holdings.



“We think this location will enhance our recruiting and hiring of technical talent for hardware, embedded engineering and Connected Solutions,” Garg said.



SNUPI Technologies (Sensor Network Utilizing Powerline Infrastructure) is an ultra-low-power, general-purpose wireless sensing platform that has whole-home coverage and is easily installed and maintained. SNUPI’s patented technology leverages the existing electrical wiring as a whole-home antenna to provide Connected Home partners with coverage and longevity for their products. The technology was first developed at the University of Washington and Georgia Tech.