Sears stock jumped as much as 20 percent on Tuesday (Oct. 4) after rumors emerged of the sale of its popular and well-known Craftsman line of tools in the range of $2 billion.
The companies looking at Craftsman include Stanley Black & Decker, Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries, Bain Capital-owned Apex Tool Group and Stockholm-based Husqvarna, according to Bloomberg.
The Craftsman brand dates to 1927 and is one of the struggling retailer’s most famous line of products. So, although a sale could bring in some much-needed capital to Sears’ bottom line, it is also a sign of just how far the once-iconic retailer has fallen.
Sears posted another disappointing earnings quarter for the second quarter of the year, posting same-store declines of 7 percent at its Sears stores and 3.3 percent at its Kmart locations; revenue also dropped 8.8 percent to $5.66 billion.
Sears CEO Edward Lampert said recently that it would not be closing its line of Kmart stores, but if losses continue to pile up and new revenue streams can’t be found, it might not soon have any choice.
“Recent reports have suggested that Kmart will cease its operations,” Lampert wrote in a blog post earlier this week. “I can tell you that there are no plans, and there have never been any plans to close the Kmart format … To report or suggest otherwise is irresponsible and is likely intended to do harm to our company to the benefit of those who seek to gain advantage from posting these inaccurate reports.”
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