Louis J. D'??Ambrosio, Chief Executive Officer of Sears, will step down in early February due to family health matters.(Photo: Mario Tama, Getty Images)
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. announced late
Monday that CEO Louis J. D'Ambrosio is stepping next month due to health
issues involving his family.
The company, which operates Sears
and Kmart stores, said D'Ambrosio will be replaced by company chairman
and its largest shareholder, Edward Lampert. D'Ambrosio will remain on
the board until the company's annual meeting in May.
The nature of the health issues affecting D'Ambrosio's family was not disclosed.
In
a statement, Lampert said D'Ambrosio led Sears Holdings during a time
of rapid industry change to become a more customer-focused company.
Changes implemented under D'Ambrosio include giving sales staff almost
15,000 iPads and iPod Touch devices so they can research products and
help customers check out wherever they are in a store. It's also
improving displays and adding more high-tech washing machines and other
appliances.
"The board greatly appreciates Lou's strong leadership
in accelerating the transformation of Sears Holdings, and we understand
and respect his personal decision to step down," Lampert said.
D'Ambrosio
became Sears Holdings CEO in February 2011. He was previously president
and chief executive officer of Avaya Inc., a communications company.
Before joining Avaya, D'Ambrosio spent 16 years at IBM Corp.
Sears Holdings has been plagued by a yearslong decline in sales at its Sears and Kmart stores.
Last
year it announced it is moving forward with plans to spin off its
Hometown and Outlet stores as well as some hardware stores into a
separate publicly traded company. The move is part of its effort to
restore profitability by aggressively cutting costs, reducing inventory,
selling off some assets an
d spinning off others.
But its
sales are still declining. It said Monday that in the nine-week period
ending Dec. 29, sales at its stores open at least a year fell 1.8
percent, largely due to sales declines in consumer electronics at both
Sears and Kmart. The period included the crucial holiday season - when
retailers can make up to 40 percent of annual revenue.
Sales at
stores open at least a year is a key metric for retailers because it
excludes revenue at stores that recently opened or closed.
Sears
also gave an update on its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. It said it
expected to report a loss between $2.64 and $3.40 per share for the
quarter ending Feb. 2. Excluding one-time items, it forecasts a profit
of between $1.25 and $2 per share.
Sears operates more than 2,600 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Shares
in the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based company rose nearly 2 percent in
trading Monday before D'Ambrosio's departure was announced. In the past
12 months, they have risen almost 58 percent.
USA Today