Sears testing online-focused sales model

Sears Holdings Corp. Chairman Edward Lampert told shareholders that the company is testing a new store format in Illinois that relies on sales over the Internet.

Such hybrid forms of shopping will become increasingly important, Lampert said today at the retailer's annual meeting at its Hoffman Estates headquarters.

Lampert reorganized the company into five units including online sales and brands in January 2008. Sears, founded as a catalog company 121 years ago, has expanded its Internet presence, including the introduction of a home-improvement site called ServiceLive.com this year.

"They are getting an enormous amount of traffic online," Richard Hastings, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based consumer strategist for Global Hunter Securities LLC, said in an April 30 telephone interview. Sears.com had 15.1 million unique visitors in March, ranking just below Best Buy Co. at 15.6 million, according to his research.

Sears Holdings, the largest U.S. department-store chain, advanced $1.56, or 26 percent, to $61.83 at 11:01 a.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock had gained 55 percent this year before today.