Sears / K-Mart merger

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Nov 17, 2004 8:01PM

Sears and Kmart announced that they will be joining in a merger of equals. The new company will be called Sears Holdings Corp. and will be based on Sears' Hoffman Estates campus, but Kmart executives are in charge -- Edward Lampert, who brought Kmart out of bankruptcy will be the new chairman, the title he now holds at Kmart. Additionally, seven of the 10 board seats will be filled by current Kmart board members. Current Sears CEO Alan J. Lacy will become vice chairman and CEO of the new combined company.

Um... wasn't Kmart in bankruptcy recently, you may be asking yourself? Chicagoist wondered that when we saw that Kmart was basically buying Sears. But have you seen what their stock's done since they came out of bankruptcy in 2003? Wow! Chicagoist wishes we'd bought some.

The two chain's stores will continue to operate their stores independently, although one would expect to see some of their exclusive labels appearing in each other's stores. Kmart has exclusives with Joe Boxer and Martha Stewart Everyday, while Sears is known for its Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances. Maybe there's even opportunities to co-brand items. Chicagoist already sees one obvious possibility: