Sears Appliances & Mattresses opening 4 stores in greater Toronto
Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, July 19, 2004
Toronto — Sears Canada will open the first four of its new Sears Appliances & Mattresses stores in and around Toronto, with three opening this fall and the fourth next spring.
The 12,000-square-foot stores will be in Stoney Creek, Burlington, Scarborough and Oshawa.
At the same time, Sears will open the first two 10,500-square-foot Sears Coverings stores in St. Catharines and Mississauga, Ontario.
"We are currently the No. 1 retailer of major appliances, window coverings and mattress sets," said Chairman and CEO Mark Cohen. "As the most extensive multi-channel retailer in the country, Sears is in virtually every market. However, with the absence of new shopping malls, our new specialty format store strategy will bring our key product categories and décor solutions to a growing customer segment who shop in conveniently located power centers on a regular basis."
Each mattress and appliance store will devote about 5,000 square feet to bedding and will display all 37 beds seen in Sears Home stores, plus some SKUs from the catalog and high-end beds not yet selected.
The presentation will include the private-label Sears-O-Pedic brand, along with Simmons, Sealy and Serta.
The Sears Coverings stores will offer custom and ready-made window coverings, flooring, custom carpeting, area rugs, paint and wallpaper.
In all, Sears Canada plans to open 30 new-format stores, including Sears Wellness stores, by the end of 2005, primarily in power centers and high-traffic strip malls. The Sears Appliances & Mattresses stores and Sears Coverings stores will include a catalog merchandise pick-up location.
This country's No. 1 furniture and bedding retailer also says it will open as many as five Sears Home stores in the closing months of 2004, beginning in Regina, Saskatchewan, in October.
