corporate info

RED DEER, AB, Dec 16, 2004 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- Sears Canada, who sells more furniture and major appliances than any other retailer in the country, kicked off its official opening today of its new multi-million dollar Sears Home store at South Pointe Common in Red Deer.

In addition to a ribbon cutting with staff and Sears executives in celebration of the store opening in Red Deer, Store Manager, Larry Rupert, presented a cheque in the amount of $5,000 from the Sears Young Futures program to the Executive Director, David Murphy of the Boys & Girls Club of Red Deer which will help the agency move forward with an initiative to transform and expand the types of services and programs provided to children and youth in the community.

This Sears Home store is part of Sears on-going multi-million dollar national plan, that began in 1995, to offer consumers more selection, service and convenience. The store is Sears first free-standing home store in Red Deer, seventh in Alberta. The store has a staff of approximately 30 including 15 trained furniture/home decor and major appliances consultants.

"Red Deer's central location, growing economy and competitive advantage together with our loyal customer base here, are a few of the reasons why we opened this Sears Home store" says Ajit Khanna, Senior Vice-President, Off-Mall Sales. "We have a good presence in this great city and with the addition of Sears Home store we are able to offer our valued customers even more shopping convenience. We look forward to expanding our presence in Red Deer and continuing to offer our large loyal customer base quality merchandise and exceptional customer service."

"Sears sells more furniture and major appliances than any other single retailer in Canada today" says Khanna. "From living-room suites and reclining chairs to washers, dryers and dishwashers, consumers have continued to tell us that they like to buy home-merchandise from Sears because of our reliability, unmatched service and unconditional guarantee."

"This 35,500 square foot store reflects a new customer inspired design which combines furniture, mattresses and major appliances," said Larry Rupert, Manager, Sears Home. "By combining these categories under one roof, Sears offers an unmatched product selection for the entire home in a single, convenient shopping environment."

Furniture, appliances and a whole lot more: The new Sears Home store in Red Deer also offers a 4,700 square foot Sears major appliances department with Sears full selection of national-brand major appliances including Sears Kenmore, the best selling brand in Canada. The remaining 23,000 square feet is devoted to an impressive assortment of contemporary and traditional furniture, rugs, accent decor items and mattresses.

Knowledgeable staff: "All our sales consultants in this new store have attended Sears Decor University" added Rupert. "The furniture/home-decor consultants have taken a series of rigorous training programs that link the selling of furniture and home fashion to consumer lifestyles. The major appliances consultants have also taken a comprehensive training program that link the selling of major appliances to consumer needs. The result is a team of Sears furniture and appliances specialists ready to help customers make informed purchases to meet their specific needs and lifestyles, and to choose merchandise that will continue to satisfy them for years."

Guaranteed satisfaction: All of Sears products and services are backed by its famous guarantee, satisfaction or money refunded. "This guarantee is based on our confidence that we have quality products and services to suit any lifestyle," says Rupert.

The store's hours of operation are Monday - Friday, 9:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., Sunday, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Manager, Larry Rupert began working for Sears in June 1997 as a Management Trainee in Edmonton. He spent the past seven years in Edmonton in various progressive management positions, most recently as Associate Store Mgr of Inventory/Productivity at the Sears Edmonton Southgate store. Mr. Rupert enjoys golf, fishing & camping in the summer and ice fishing & skiing in the winter.

"I started my working career in the Red Deer area after college and look forward to being back in Central Alberta."

In Red Deer, Sears has a full-line department store, a floor covering centre, and three catalogue pick-up locations. Sears has three Home Stores in Calgary, two in Edmonton and one in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Sears Canada, the retailer with the most extensive multi-channel network in the country, began serving customers in 1953. The Company has 48,000 associates and, in an independent consumer survey, ranks high in customer service, trust, respect, and quality products and services. There is a Sears location within a 10-minute drive of 93% of Canadians, and Sears is dedicated to providing them with quality merchandise and exceptional service coast to coast through its 121 full-line department stores, 211 off-mall stores, 64 home improvement showrooms, over 2,200 catalogue merchandise pick-up locations, 112 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and installation network. The Company also publishes Canada's most extensive general merchandise catalogue and offers shopping online at www.sears.ca.

VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/orgDisplay.cgi?okey=58312

For further information: Contact: Christine Hudson, Sears Canada Inc.,
(416) 941-4423, christine.hudson(at)sears.ca; Larry Rupert, Manager, Sears
Home, (403) 352-5145, lrupert(at)sears.ca

News release via Canada NewsWire, Toronto 416-863-9350