Kmart fined $1.5 million for not pricing items

Sears Holdings Corp.'s Kmart discount chain was ordered to pay $1.56 million by a New York administrative-law judge for violating a Westchester County requirement that prices be visible on all store items.

The fine applies to more than 1,500 violations at stores in Greenburgh and Yorktown, according to a statement by the county's Department of Consumer Protection.

The unmarked items, including packaged foods, sporting goods, automotive products and household cleaners, were found during two inspections of the stores in October, county officials said.

The judge, who imposed the maximum allowable fine of $1,000 per item, said Kmart "had an opportunity to correct the violations in the six days that passed between the first and second inspection of each store," according to the county statement.

"We have received the judgment and will be appealing the ruling," Hoffman Estates-based Sears spokeswoman Kimberly Freely said Wednesday in a statement.

Over the past seven years, the stores had been fined 21 times by the county for item-pricing violations, according to the statement. Last year, the Greenburgh store was fined $15,000 in June, and the Yorktown store was fined $5,000 in January.

"People need an easy way to double-check what they are being charged at the cash register," Westchester County Executive Andy Spano said in the statement.

Sears fell $1.86, or 1.7 percent, to $107.61 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock has gained 5.5 percent this year.