Sears Hometown rebrands 3 Illinois stores to focus on appliances

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores is rebranding three Illinois stores to focus more on appliance sales.

The stores in downstate Flora, Olney and Vandalia will unveil the new strategy this weekend, company officials said. The store refresh includes a new product assortment, redesigned merchandising, new fixtures and signage, and comprehensive employee training, among other changes.

"We've given our stores a facelift that will completely change the appliance shopping experience in these communities," said Jeff McDowell, a district manager of Sears Hometown Stores in Illinois. "The changes made to our retail strategy, from increased training for our sales staff to more integration of products available in-store and online, have brought even more value to customers shopping for the perfect appliance to fit their needs."

In the new store design, appliances will occupy more than half of the sales floor and include more brands with an improved presentation. The stores will also focus its appliances on innovative and value-added products from Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Samsung and Kenmore.

The new floor plan also includes the ability to showcase complete kitchen packages through the addition of three kitchen vignettes. This allows stores to display an entire four-piece kitchen from multiple brands in a small amount of floor space, making it easier for customers to choose products.

Another new feature that simplifies the buying process is a designated laundry innovation area, showcasing multiple brands and innovations that lets customers easily explore the differences between the various product lines.

As part of the refresh, the Illinois Sears Hometown Stores provide industry leading comprehensive training to store associates, including brand specific selling certification. These brand certified sales associates help ensure customers find the best product for their needs at the best possible price. Illinois customers also benefit from a new touch-screen kiosk where they can work with a salesperson or browse on their own to explore product options or make purchases. With the touch-screen kiosk, associates and customers can review product features and benefits as well as various models from the entire online database of Sears products - all while browsing models around the sales floor. Among major retailers, the Illinois Sears Hometown Stores are leading the way for the integration of touch-screen devices into the sales process.

The Illinois locations are part of a systemwide refresh of all Sears Hometown Store locations. The company - which was spun off as a separate company from Sears Holdings Corp. in 2012 - began updating units in 2015 and now has more than 480 "America's Appliance Experts" locations across the United States.