Sears Seeks Gilt by Association

It's worked for Target, J.C. Penney, even Kmart. So why can't Sears get it to work?

"It" is gilt by association, in which a higher-class brand raises the image of a hoi polloi brand. Until Target began associating with--and selling goods by--Michael Graves, Liz Lange, and Isaac Mizrahi, it wasn't considered much different from Kohl's. Now Target is positively chic.

Likewise, during the past few years J.C. Penney has struck deals with names and name brands such as Colin Cowie, Bisou Bisou, and Chris Madden. Its sales and image have been elevated. And don't forget the lift that Martha Stewart had given Kmart before all that messy lying-to-the-government business (guilt, rather than gilt, by association).

Sears also tried to burnish its image by hanging out with a more glittering brand--in its case, upper-middle-class mainstay Lands' End, which it bought three years ago. Instead, people say that Sears ended up tarnishing Lands' End. Sears' inability to integrate the direct marketer's line of top-quality preppy apparel basics into its stores and allegedly soft sales of Lands' End goods overall were reportedly a key reason behind the departure earlier this month of Lands' End CEO Mindy Meads.

Given that Sears' hard-line house brands--Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances--are known for their high quality and far-from-low prices, I don't understand why Sears can't reap the benefits of association with Lands' End as Target can with Sonia Kashuk or Penney with Nicole Miller. Nor do I understand why Isaac Mizrahi is lauded for working with Target whereas Lands' End is chided for going downscale. (For the record, I've never heard a single suggestion that the quality of Lands' End's products have declined--nor as I customer have I seen it.)

Can any of you help me figure this out? And what do you think Sears should do? Let me know at schiger@primediabusiness.com.