Sears apologizes after swastika ring appears on Marketplace site

Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp., the department-store chain run by hedge-fund manager Edward Lampert, apologized after a ring with a swastika symbol appeared on the company's online Marketplace site.

“We are outraged that more than one of our independent third-party sellers posted offensive items on Sears Marketplace,” the company said today in a statement, which linked to a newspaper story about the swastika ring. Sears said it removed the product yesterday.

Amazon.com Inc.'s site also offered the ring for sale, though that page has been taken down. Amazon, based in Seattle, declined to comment.

Retailers have come under increasing scrutiny in recent months for selling objectionable items. Kent State, the site of a 1970 shooting, slammed Urban Outfitters Inc. last month for selling a sweatshirt with its logo that appeared blood- splattered. The Zara clothing chain, meanwhile, came under attack in August for featuring a kids' sheriff shirt resembling a concentration-camp uniform.

Sears's Marketplace lets third-party vendors offer goods through the department store's website. The company said it's removing “related, offensive items from our site” and is working to improve screening systems to prevent outside sellers from listing similar items.

'Dinner Date'

A cached version of the listing for the swastika ring said it wasn't meant to imply an association with Nazis. While the swastika was embraced by Nazis and other anti-Semitic groups, the symbol has ties to Buddhism and Hinduism.

“These jewelry items are going to make you look beautiful at your next dinner date,” the now-deleted listing for the ring said.

Brian Hanover, a spokesman for Hoffman Estates, Illinois- based Sears, declined to comment beyond the statement. No one answered the phone at a number listed for CET Domain, the City of Industry, California-based company credited with selling the ring on Sears's site.

The Anti-Defamation League praised Sears for acting quickly to remove the item.

“The swastika is a reviled symbol that has been co-opted by hate groups and others who venerate Nazi Germany and its racist policies,” Lonnie Nasatir, the group's Chicago regional director, said today in a statement.