A group of 200 Sears dealer-store owners filed suit against Sears Holdings Corp. for selling Sears brands in Kmart stores.
The suit, filed late last month in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, charges Sears Holdings with breach of contract for its plan to bring Sears’ private label brands, including Kenmore and Craftsman, into Kmart stores, per news reports. Sears Holdings has been expected to marry private-label brands from its Sears and Kmart chains since the two merged in March (January 2005 PROMO).
The dealer-store owners signed geographically exclusive contracts with Sears to sell its brands in markets too small to support a full-sized Sears store; there are about 818 dealer stores across the U.S., mostly in rural markets.
The owners argue that Sears is violating contracts by selling its brands in nearby Kmart stores; Sears contends that its contracts specify exclusivity by ZIP code, which Sears has honored, per news reports. The Dealer Store Owners Association, which filed the suit, is asking the court for “fair compensation” for potentially lost business.
Network
