Sears Inks Licensing Deals for Kenmore, DieHard Brands
Sears Holdings has inked two more licensing deals that will put a wider range of Kenmore and DieHard products on shelves outside of Sears and Kmart stores. Cleva North America will manufacture vacuum cleaners and other floor cleaning accessories under the Kenmore and Kenmore Elite brands, and be able to sell them at retailers worldwide. Dorcy International, which already makes DieHard batteries and flashlights, will make more products and sell them in more places, including the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Latin America, and the South Pacific. Executives at Cleva and Dorcy said they plan to develop new products under the Kenmore and DieHard names.
Total Retail’s Take: Sears has been trying to figure out how to generate more money from its most popular brands. The company sold its Craftsman tools brand to Stanley Black & Decker for an estimated $900 million earlier this year, and signed a deal to allow Permasteel to manufacture Kenmore grills for distribution at retailers nationwide. Perhaps most notably, Sears began selling Kenmore appliances on Amazon.com. Although this option is only available to California residents right now, Sears plans to offer its full line of Kenmore appliances to Amazon shoppers nationwide in the future. Sears’ brands — including Craftsman, Kenmore, DieHard — and real estate properties around the country are two of its biggest assets, and thus the retailer is trying to squeeze as much revenue out of them as possible as it struggles to survive.
