Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores

Sears Hometown stores are independently owned stores that sell Sears merchandise.[26] In 2013, 70–80% of Hometown stores were independently owned.[26] Formerly Sears Dealer Stores, they are a chain of smaller stores that operate as a store where the proprietor owns or leases the real estate while Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores handles the marketing and owns the inventory, and there are no franchising fees levied against the store proprietor. These stores are usually located in smaller markets that do not support full-sized Sears. They are signed as Sears and are usually free-standing or located in strip malls. They primarily concentrate on hardware, appliances and lawn-and-garden supplies. Most of Hometown Stores carry Sears brand products, such as Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard, as well as a wide assortment of other national brands. Primarily independently owned and averaging 8,500 square feet, Hometown Stores are designed to serve customers within their local communities. By August 2019, there were 393 Hometown Stores in operation just prior to there sale Transform Holdco.[27]

A Sears Outlet store near Portland, Oregon, in 2017

An outlet version of Sears department stores located in various retail locations across the U.S., as well as online. The stores sell appliances, apparel, mattresses, sporting goods, tools, and lawn and garden equipment. Sears Outlet provides in-store and online access to new, one-of-a-kind, out-of-carton, discontinued, obsolete, used, reconditioned, overstocked, and scratch-and-dented merchandise at a discounted price (at twenty to sixty percent off regular retail price) [28][29] Each store, on average, is larger than 18,000 square feet in size.[30]

In 1968, Sears opened a surplus store in Kansas City. In 1994, the surplus stores were renamed to Sears Outlet.[31] In 1995, Sears Outlet restructured in order to manage repairs and product distribution from a centralized location. To do this, they established a series of facilities known as Outlet Repair and Distribution Centers. In 2015, there were 22 of these centers in operation. In 2008, apparel was introduced to Sears Outlet stores and served as a liquidation outlet for Lands' End. In 2009, SearsOutlet.com was launched as an e-commerce platform allowing customers to purchase items online and in 2011, nationwide delivery was offered.

In 2012, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores was spun off from Sears Holdings.[32][33] At the time of the separation, there were 122 Sears Outlet Stores in operation.[34][35] By February 2014, Sears Outlet stores had expanded its operations to 143 locations.[36] The majority of Sears Outlet stores are company-operated (115) and 28 Sears Outlet stores are locally owned and operated by franchisees.[37] Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores initiated a program to franchise Sears Outlet stores in 2012. In 2013, home appliances made up 78% of Sears Outlet's sales revenue and total revenue from Sears Outlet stores was $610 million.[37] In 2014, Sears Outlet partnered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to support children with life-threatening conditions.[38] By August 2019, 127 Outlet Stores were in operation.[39] In 2019, it was reported that this division might need to be divested as per acquisition by Transform Holdco LLC.[22] And which in August 2019, the company agreed to sell this division to the Franchise Group, the parent company of Liberty Tax.[23] The sale of the division to the Franchise Group was finalized on October 23, 2019.[24]

Two months later, the Franchise Group acquired American Freight in December 2019[40] and later rebranded its Sears Outlet stores as American Freight by April 2020.[41]

Home appliance showrooms display merchandise in-stores. The stores have an internet kiosk where customers are able to view similar products, price match, and order products not available in the store. Averaging 5,000 square feet with a primarily appliance showroom design [42][43] As of October 2019, there are currently 15 locations in operation.

Sears appliance and hardware stores were hardware stores that carry the entire line of Sears hardware and appliances. averaging nearly 28,000 square feet in size, are primarily located in suburban markets. As of September 2019, there are no more locations left[39] All locations were closed by June 2019.[44]