Sears Plans to Close 4 More Catalogue Goods Centers

Sears, Roebuck & Co., which launched a massive restructuring in October to thwart potential takeovers, said Monday that it will reduce its catalogue merchandise centers to six from 10 over the next 18 months.

Chicago-based Sears, which has closed three such centers in the past two years, has been overhauling its distribution system to improve efficiency and customer service, it said. The retailer has been reorganizing since reporting poor third-quarter earnings in October.

Sears’ Atlanta and Minneapolis distribution centers will be closed in January, 1990, and its Memphis, Tenn., center will phase out distributing catalogue merchandise but retain part of the facility as a center to replenish retail stores.

By mid-1990, Sears’ Philadelphia center will no longer distribute catalogue merchandise, making the company’s Greensboro, N.C.-based center exclusively responsible for distributing the merchandise to a much larger area than it now serves.

The Atlanta and Minneapolis centers have a combined total of about 800 full-time and 950 part-time employees. Sears does not know how many employees will be affected by the changes as they are at least a year away, Merchandise Group Chairman Michael Bozic said.

Sears’ retail and catalogue inventories will be separated by July, 1989, as part of the company’s long-term plan for each of its business segments to increase accountability, Bozic said.

Sears, the largest U.S. retailer, also owns Coldwell Banker Real Estate, Allstate Insurance and Dean Witter Financial Services. The company’s profit fell 16% to $344.2 million in its last quarter ended Oct. 25, 1988.

The company announced a restructuring soon after the report amid rumors it might become a takeover target. Sears said it would begin a stock buyback, a strategy of “everyday low prices” and sell the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago, the world’s tallest building.