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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Sears Considering Headquarters Move to Another State

05/11/2011
Sears Holdings Corp. is looking at a number of states--including nearby Ohio--in a potential headquarters move from its home base in Illinois, according to a story yesterday in the Dayton Business Journal. The primary reason for the move, it's speculated, is to cut costs.

In addition to Ohio, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas are said to be top contenders. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said his office is working to keep the company in Illinois. Representatives in Ohio declined to comment on the situation.

The current Sears headquarters facility consists of 2.4 million sq. ft. of office space, reported the newspaper.

Sears' history in Illinois dates back to 1887 when the company, then the one year old R.W. Sears Watch Company, moved it's headquarters from Minnesota to Chicago. In 1973 the company moved it's headquarters to the Sears Tower located in downtown Chicago, then the worlds tallest skyscraper, before moving it's headquarters to it's present location, Hoffman Estates, located in the Chicago suburbs.

"2010 was another challenging year for Sears Holdings," remarked company Chairman Edward S. Lampert in a Feb. 2011 letter to shareholders. "Our financial results remain at unacceptable levels, and we are working to drive better performance in both the short and long term... While our financial performance was disappointing overall, the decline in profitability occurred within two segments: Sears Domestic and Sears Canada. In contrast, Kmart generated more than $500 million of Adjusted EBITDA, a year-on-year improvement of nearly 40 percent."

Sears Holdings is the nation's fourth-largest broadline retailer with over 4,000 full-line and specialty retail stores in the U.S. and Canada. It's also the leading home appliance retailer as well as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, consumer electronics and automotive repair and maintenance.

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