Sears: servicing pickups to BMWs - automotive repair services - column

Sears: Servicing Pickups to BMWs

In a test automotive center in Richmond, the graphics illustrate as well as anything Sears' attempts to capture a new breed of customer, while hanging on to its core shopper by slashing everyday prices.

Its walls feature glossy illustrations of Porsche 911 and Ferrari Testarossa sports cars, hardly the kind of vehicles the typical Sears customer drives.

The owner of a Testarossa, which goes for a mere $141,780, recently bought an $800 set of Pirelli high-performance tires at a Richmond, Va., Sears. No other store in town carried that brand of tires.

The manager of one of four Richmond test auto centers sees a lot of BMWs and Jaguars parked in his lot these days. A manager of a Brand Central appliance department reported the same phenomenon, as well-heeled customers drove in to buy $700 and $800 brand name speakers that Sears never carried before.

At the other end of the scale, a pickup truck owner--a lifelong Sears customer--was waiting last month at a Richmond Sears to have a set of its private label RoadHandler tires mounted. He wouldn't dream of buying anything but RoadHandlers.

In the Richmond test market, Sears slashed prices on both brand name and private label tires so it can compete even with a Price Club warehouse.

Elsewhere, it has reduced the everyday price of PL tires by about 30 percent. Sears tire salesmen, who work on commission, now can hold their heads up when quoting prices.

Over the past several months, Sears has added high-performance tire lines from Pirelli, Michelin, Bridgestone and Yokohama, underscoring its determination to go after customers who demand a bit more prestige in their consumer purchases than traditional Sears labels provide.

It's no wonder that Michael Bozic gets uptight when Sears is called a "discounter" because it cut everyday prices.

In hardware, Sears isn't saying what brands it might add to its formidable Craftsman line of tools.

Expect Sears to add, however, only brands that fill in gaps in its assortment, while maintaining a bedrock of Craftsmen consumer-quality power and hand tools for its bread-and-butter customers.

Black & Decker speculates that Sears will add professional-quality tool lines, such as Makita and Milwaukee, and specialty tools, such as its own right-angle drill that sells for $200.

Such a move again could capture a new breed of customer and involve an extension of price levels.

But Black & Decker concedes that Sears customers won't see the B&D label on consumer-quality tools in the foreseeable future. Indeed, the Craftsman name has such a strong appeal that Stanley Tools expresses surprise that anyone would ask whether Sears will take on its brand.

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