Sears, Roebuck and Co.

To shore up loyalty, Sears has the "Shop Your Way" membership program. It's also enhanced customer service by implementing a faster delivery service. Delivery is now within one day to two days. That's what the chairman feels is the answer, despite the fact that the company continues to lose sales momentum, customer loyalty and customer awareness. The recent fourth quarter will report an estimated sales decrease of 7.5 percent, which attests to the consumer's shift away from this once powerhouse retailer. It also decries the loss of customer loyalty. Sears reputation was built on service, value and quality.

Amazon.com, Macy's, Leon Max, and Sears, Roebuck and Co. and its Kmart subsidiaries have agreed to pay $1.26 million in penalties to settle lawsuits filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that they mislead consumers by labeling textiles as made of bamboo, when they were actually Rayon. The FTC charged the retailers violated the Textile Products Identification Act and the FTC's Textile Rules. While so-called bamboo textiles often are promoted as environmentally friendly, the process for manufacturing rayon — even when it's made from bamboo — is far from a "green" one, the FTC said in a statement.

Sears is preparing to spin off its Hometown and Outlet stores as well as some hardware stores into a separate publicly traded company. Sears had signaled that it would split the companies back in February. There are a total of 1,238 Hometown, Outlet and hardware stores as of April 28, according to Sears, which is trying to turn around its business and spruce up its image. It's already closed five Hometown stores, eight hardware stores and one Outlet store.

Sears is encouraging customer feedback for the products it sells by offering shoppers the chance to vote for their favorite participating charity every time they post a product review. Through its "Love/Hate: Share Your Thoughts, Send Some Love" project, Sears is offering customers the chance to share their opinion — good or bad — on products and in return vote for one of four charities to receive a grand prize of $100,000. The participating charities competing for the grand prize include the American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, World Vision and World Wildlife Fund.

Earlier this week we profiled digital marketing execs from General Mills and GE on how they're running their organizations like publishers. For our third and final installment in this series on content marketing, we sat down with Julia Fitzgerald, chief digital officer, fitness, sporting goods and toys at Sears Holdings.

Sears Canada announced today that Sears Holdings Corporation, which holds approximately 95 percent of Sears Canada's common shares, has advised it that Sears Holdings’ board of directors has approved plans to pursue a distribution of a portion of its holdings in Sears Canada such that, immediately following the spin-off, Sears Holdings would retain approximately 51 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of Sears Canada. Sears Holdings has indicated that subsequent to the spin-off, it may sell, hold or distribute to holders of Sears Holdings’ common stock any portion of its remaining interest in Sears Canada.

From iPads and mobile apps to social networking and location-based marketing, retailers are betting on technology and trying to be "liked" to sell more stuff. Sears emphasized technology at its annual shareholder meeting in Hoffman Estates, Ill.  last week. It trotted out a sales associate from a nearby store to demonstrate how tablets are used to connect with customers and extend the relationship digitally after they leave the store.

Sears and Bonnier Corporation's Outdoor Life announced today they've entered a relationship to launch a line of Outdoor Life-branded sportswear for men, available in over 800 Sears stores nationwide and on Sears.com beginning in September. The exclusive collection is being designed with the all-American "guy's guy" in mind, a loyal customer of both iconic brands. The products will combine utility, comfort and quality for the outdoorsman.

Thanks to a combination of neglect, mismanagement, a weak economy and the ever-changing dynamics of retail, the unthinkable may happen. After years on death watch, Sears Holding may actually fall — joining the ranks of retailers like Borders and Blockbuster as mere entries in the archives of Wikipedia. A new round of store closings was recently announced. Key executives are leaving. Sales have been in steady decline for years. These aren't good signs.

Sears has appointed Leveraged Marketing Corp. of America as its exclusive global licensing agent as it looks to capitalize on ways to sell its signature Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands outside its own stores. Sears said it will work closely with Leveraged Marketing to identify, evaluate and manage licensing opportunities around the world.