Sears previews hardware format - column

Sears Previews Hardware Format

Sears is at least six months away from rolling out its new power format in hardware to go along with its thrust into branded products, such as Brand Central in appliances and Kids & More in children's apparel.

Sears stocked the shelves for its first hardware department test in its Merrillville, Ind., store only in mid-July and wouldn't start tearing up hardware departments in the crucial Christmas quarter no matter how good the results.

For a look in advance, though, peek into the newest Sears store to open, the Oxford Valley Mall store in Langhorne, Pa., about 10 miles north of Philadelphia. It celebrated its grand opening last month, joining co-anchors Macy's, Wanamaker and JCPenney.

Located in a converted Sterns Department Store, the hardware department in the new unit is somewhat smaller than usual. (Sears increased square footage in its Merrillville hardware department by about 50 percent.) But in brands selection and marketing strategy, it is similar in concept to the test department in Merrillville.

At Oxford Valley, Sears jumped the gun by installing a "test" concept as the anticipated rollout prototype, rather than having to remodel the new store in a few months.

Be prepared for a major disappointment if you expect to see a radical new look, such as in Brand Central. Craftsman products remain the dominant force in hardware and lawn and garden.

What you will find, though, is a Sears push into professional quality tools for the carpenters, masons and plumbers who sneer at the Craftsman label and are willing to pay for specialized Makita, Skil, Ryobi and Black & Decker tools that carry the reputation for holding up on the job. For example, it offers a 3 horsepower Ryobi router at $249.90.

In L&G, Sears has taken on pricey brands, such as Kubota riding and push mowers, Jacobsen mowers and Troy-Bilt chippers and shredders.

At the same time, Sears is defending the Craftsman line, training its salespeople for example, to promote its 3/8-inch cordless drill as superior to the Makita cordless at the same $149 price. But for buyers who insist on Makita, however, Sears hopes they will buy it there and not at a home center.

On a power tool wall, Sears displays 22 sku's of Craftsman, 13 of Black & Decker, nine each of Skil and Roybi and eight of Makita.

Sears is attempting to entice the buyer of higher-end, better quality power and garden tools into its hardware departments at the same time it hangs onto its bread and butter Craftsman user through its low, everyday price policy.

In paint, Sears has taken on the Dutch Boy line, but is pricing it about a dollar a gallon less than its comparable private label lines.

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