Awards and Recognition

Recognition is an expression of appreciation for a job well done. Our vision is to improve the lives of our customers by providing quality services, products and solutions that earn their trust and build lifetime relationships. These awards would not be possible without the support of our associates, customers, vendor partners and the communities that we serve everyday. We are privileged to be recognized by the following respected organizations:

Top 2010 RIS Influentials of the Year
RIS Magazine named Timothy Kasbe, SVP and Chief Information Officer as one of the Top 2010 RIS Influentials of the Year. The 2010 RIS Influentials were chosen by the editors of RIS from more than 40 nominations, including executives from the discount vertical, online pure plays, department stores, sporting goods and apparel fields. Those on the list are driving successful programs and making significant transformations for their companies, and the industry as a whole. Each winner has helped create and implement important strategic initiatives that have earned them the respect of their corporate colleagues and peers throughout the industry.

The 2010 RACie Awards
At the Retail Innovation & Marketing Conference presented by the National Retail Federation, Sears Holdings was honored with the Peter Glen Award at the RACie Awards Ceremony. We received the award for Heroes at Home – a joint effort between Sears Holdings and Rebuilding Together the nation’s leading volunteer home-rehabilitation organization. To date, through this partnership over $20 million has been raised and over 50,000 families have been helped. The award is presented to companies who give back to their community or environment in a unique way. The company was also recognized for additional RACie Awards in the following categories: Rich Media, Broadcast single media Campaign, Digital in-store, Website Experience and Integrated Media Campaign.

Top 2010 RIS Influentials of the Year
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named Sears Holdings Corporation a 2010 ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner of the Year for our outstanding contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through our numerous initiatives focusing on educating customers about energy-efficient products. Award winners were selected from more than 17,000 organizations that participate in the ENERGY STAR program. An ENERGY STAR partner since 1998, we were recognized for making energy-efficient products more accessible and understandable for our customers. In turn, our customers save money on their utility bills and contribute to protecting the environment.

e-Tailing Group's Annual e-Commerce Gauge Top Customer Experience Web Site - 2009
Sears Holdings Online team once again received one of the top scores on the e-Tailing Group’s Annual Customer Experience Index results. This index names top retail customer experience Web sites. Additionally e-Tailing’s Annual Mystery Shopping Study leverages quantitative analysis to specifically understand how merchants stack-up against the e-tailing 100 Web sites, their category and direct competition. Web sites are scored on a 100-point scale where five key pages, merchandising and customer service (the triple crown of any customer experience) are all factors. Sears Holdings received the second best score of 86.25.

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index (CEI) - 2010
For six years, Sears Holdings has received a 100% score from the HRC Foundation’s CEI report. This score is based on an analysis and rating of large U.S. employers and their policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. Additionally since 2008, the company has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality by HRC.

Number-One Retail Branded Site in North America- 2009
MySears was ranked the number-one retail-branded community site in North America and ranked number four out of the top five-branded communities in a study sponsored by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and conducted by ComBlu, a company specializing in community marketing and influencer programs. The study examined the community and social marketing programs of 45 companies across nine different industries in 135 different communities and evaluated their effectiveness in the following areas: providing a meaningful experience for members, integrating their brand strategies across multiple communities and social media and taking advantage of best practices to strengthen customer engagement.

2009 Mobile Retailer of the Year Award
Sears placed third in Mobile Commerce Daily’s rankings of the 2009 Mobile Retailer of the Year. Mobile Commerce Daily is the news leader in mobile commerce and retail. We were recognized for our for our cross-channel and cross-format approach in mobile marketing and commerce, including the integration of the new ShopYourWay and Kmart Holiday Deal of the Day campaigns. We also received praise for our mobile “search” functions and continued innovation in providing an optimal customer experience. Rankings were based on readers’ submissions and the opinions of the publication’s editorial team.

NRF Foundation/American Express Customer' Choice Survey - 2009
Lands' End ranked number eight on this survey that measures consumer attitudes toward retailers' customer service and provides a listing of the top customer service retailers. This is the fourth consecutive year that Lands’ End has been named in the top ten.

The Vitrue 100: Top Social Brands of 2009
Sears was once again ranked in the Top 100 by Vitrue Social Media Index SMI who analyzed over 2,000 popular brands to develop their list. The Vitrue SMI assigns brands and products a score based on overall buzz from status updates, videos, photos and blog posts. Sears moved up four places to 96 this year and was the number seven retailer.

G.I. Jobs: Top 100 Military Employer - 2010
G.I. Jobs Magazine honored Sears Holdings as the number 19 employer on their Top 100 Military Friendly Employers list for 2010. The last two years we ranked 25 and 50 respectively. This award recognizes companies’ efforts to employ and support veterans, members of the Military, Reserves, and National Guard, as well as military spouses. Improving our rank year-on-year is a testament to our company's continued commitment to military recruiting efforts.

Channel Integration Award - 2009
Retail Touchpoints has recognized Sears Holdings as the winner of the 2009 Channel Integration Award in the Mass Merchant/Department Store category for our efforts to improve our performance through our innovative, service offering shopyourway - which helps our customers find whatever they want, wherever and whenever they want it. The Channel Integration Award honors retailers who have achieved cross-channel integration and improved the shopping experience for their customers.

Top 40 Under 40- 2009
Crain's Chicago Business named Michelle Pearlman, SVP and President, Jewelry, to its annual list of the Top 40 Under 40. Crain’s 40 Under 40 highlights Chicago area leaders under the age of forty who are considered to be among the best and the brightest in the Chicago business community. Michelle was chosen for her leadership abilities and success in business, especially her efforts leading the company’s Jewelry business.

Volunteer Leadership Award - 2009
The March of Dimes presented Sears Holdings a Volunteer Leadership award for our on-going support in raising public awareness of maternal and baby health issues. During the company’s 26-year partnership with the March of Dimes, we have raised over $79 million to support research and programs focused on giving all babies a healthy start on life.

Stars of Madison Avenue Award - 2009
The ADVERTISING Club honored Sears with the Stars of Madison Avenue Award. The award recognizes a company’s successful and wide-reaching social responsibility initiative that is integral to corporate brand marketing and dramatically improves the lives of those in need around the world. Sears Holdings was recognized for their efforts with Heroes at Home and Rebuilding Together. These programs help American soldiers readjust to civilian life through assistance in home improvement.

The Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance - 2009
US Banker magazine named Susan Ehrlich, SVP and President, Financial Services to its annual list of the Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance. Susan was recognized for supporting programs like layaway and the Christmas Club Card which make purchasing easier and more accessible for customers in the face of a difficult economy. Rankings are determined by financial performance, business initiatives results and length of tenure in the business as well as a nominee’s job complexity and responsibility, management style, best practices and innovations implemented, charitable work and overall influence within her institution, the industry as a whole and the community in which she lives and works.

Outstanding Achievement in Web Development - 2009
Craftsman.com was recognized by the Web Marketing Association for Outstanding Achievement in Web Development in their annual WebAward Competition. The WebAward Competition is the premier award recognition program for Web developers and marketers worldwide. Independent expert judges from around the world review sites in 96 industries. The best are recognized with a WebAward.

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index (CEI) - 2009
For five years, Sears Holdings has received a 100% score from the HRC Foundation’s CEI report. This score is based on an analysis and rating of large U.S. employers and their policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. Additionally since 2008, the company was recognized as one of the Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality by HRC.

Best Place to Launch a Career – 2009
BusinessWeek ranked Sears Holdings as one of the best places to launch a career. This year the company moved up in the rankings from 110 to 64. To compile the rankings, BusinessWeek polled 60 college career services directors across the country; collected data from a survey of 60,000 U.S. undergraduates by Universum USA, a Philadelphia research company; and required employers to submit statistics on everything from pay and benefits to training programs and retention.

STORES Favorite 50 Online Retailers List - 2009
Three of Sears Holdings e-Commerce Web sites ranked in the Top 25 on STORES Magazine’s list of 50 Favorite Online Retailers of 2009. Sears.com ranked number 10, LandsEnd.com was number 15 and Kmart.com was number 23. This list is based on two open-ended survey questions: “What Web site do you shop most often for apparel items?” and What Web site do you shop most often for non-apparel items?” The final list was assembled by ranking online companies in order of total mentions by the 8,635 survey respondents.

Webpick of the Week - 2009
Communication Arts, the largest international trade journal of visual communication, selected Craftsman.com for their Web Pick of the Week for bringing an iconic American brand onto an e-commerce platform and seeking to build a lasting relationship with tool enthusiasts by using community features to encourage dialogue.

Most Admired Employers for Minority Professionals - 2009
The readers of Black Engineering, Hispanic Engineering and Women of Color magazines which are part of Career Communications Group named Sears Holdings Corporation as one of the Most Admired Employers for minority professionals based on a survey regarding their impressions of diversity initiatives at top organizations.

J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Cordless Drill/Driver Study
Craftsman Professional ranks highest in satisfying customers with cordless drills/drivers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Cordless Drill/Driver Study with a score of 806 on a 1,000-point scale. The study measures customer satisfaction with cordless drills/drivers based on evaluation in six key factors; drill performance, ease of use, battery performance, price, versatility of the battery platform in supporting other power tools and warranty.

Reader’s Choice Award - 2009
Craftsman was voted favorite hand tool brand by over 7,000 Popular Mechanics’ readers. Popular Mechanics conducted a consumer brand survey to determine their readers preferred choice when selecting a consumer product. Twenty-nine different product categories were included, with a minimum of five brand choices in each category.

Overall Best-in-Class Company for Adaptation of Mobile e-Commerce Initiatives
Sears Holdings was named the Overall Best-in-Class Company and Best-in-Industry for the Department Stores/Mass Merchandise category for adaptation of mobile e-commerce initiatives by Acquity Group, a leading services firm focusing on digital solutions, in its mobile study of the 2008 Internet Retailer 500 list. The purpose of the study was to identify companies and industries that were leading the charge with mobile initiatives and concentrating on mobile development that allows their e-commerce web site to be accessible via a mobile device.

Home Appliance Retailer of the Year for Energy Star (E-Star) – 2009
Sears received Special Recognition for Retail Commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Organizations recognized have achieved major energy savings and/or help consumers save money while also increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions by offering high performance products, educating consumers or offering incentives for a better ways to use energy.

Retailer of the Year for Energy Star - 2009
Sears Canada received Retailer of the Year for the second year in a row and also received the award in 2003. To qualify for ENERGY STAR designation, products must meet stringent specifications for energy efficiency and, depending on the product, be 10-to-50 percent more efficient than conventional products. The ENERGY STAR program builds on the Government of Canada's plan to fight climate change, which sets a course to achieve an absolute reduction of 20 percent in Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces - 2009
Sears Holdings ranked as the number two retailer and 48 out of 100 by The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Rankings are determined by an analysis of a company’s adoption benefits e.g., financial reimbursement and paid leave, available to employees who adopt.

e-Tailing Group's Annual e-Commerce Gauge Top Customer Experience Web Site - 2009
Sears Holdings Online team received the top score of 88.25 on the e-Tailing Group’s annual e-Commerce Gauge. This index names top retail customer experience Web sites by rating sophisticated key pages, meticulous merchandising and comprehensive customer service.

Top 10 Most Valued Employer Award - 2009
Sears Holdings was a finalist for the 2009 Most Valued Employer Award from CivilianJobs.com. This award recognizes companies’ overall synergy toward hiring and helping veterans.

Reputation Institute’s Most Reputable and Recommended U.S. Companies - 2009
Sears Holdings ranked number 53 out of 153 companies named to this year’s list compiled by the Reputation Institute. This ranking was based on seven dimensions: Products/Services, Innovation, Governance, Workplace, Citizenship, Leadership and Performance.

Group Citation Award for International Association of Workforce Professionals - 2009
Sears Holdings won second place in California for our work with the Heroes at Home program from the International Association of Workforce Professionals.

Best Retail Ad - 2009
Sears Holdings and Tumri were awarded the Best Retail Ad Award by Web Marketing Association’s 2009 Interactive Advertising Competition (IAC) for “The Great Indoors Campaign.” The award is based on creativity, innovation, impact, design, copywriting, and use of the medium.

G.I. Jobs: Top 50 Military Employer - 2009
Since 2006, Sears Holdings has been voted one of the most Military Friendly Employers by G.I. Jobs Magazine. In 2009, the company was ranked number 25. This award recognizes companies’ efforts to employ and support veterans, members of the Military, Reserves, and National Guard, as well as military spouses.

Employer of the Year 2008-2009 Award
Kmart stores in Puerto Rico were recognized for their dedication to hiring persons with disabilities by Futuros, Inc. These stores participate in the Employment Support Program which is managed by Educavipro, Inc. along with their local Vocational Rehabilitation Program

NRF Foundation/American Express Customer' Choice Survey - 2008
Lands' End ranked number five on this survey that measures consumer attitudes toward retailers' customer service and provides a listing of the top customer service retailers.

Top 100 Social Brands of 2008
Sears was ranked number 100 by Vitrue who analyzed over 2,000 popular brands to develop their Top 100 list. Scores were calculated based on the brand’s social conversations, the size of the social media environment and the magnitude of the conversation. Sears was the number seven retailer.

Bronze Anvil, Award of Commendation - 2008
Sears received an honorable mention from the Public Relations Society of America in the B-roll category for the 2008 Sears Back-to-School campaign with Vanessa Hudgens.

BBB of Chicago & Northern Illinois’ Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics - 2008
Sears Holdings won this award from the Better Business Bureau of Chicago for the category of companies with more than 7,500 employees. This award recognizes companies who demonstrate high ethical standards of behavior towards customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees and communities in which they do business.

Best Places to Launch a Career - 2008
Sears Holdings was ranked by Business Week as one of the best places to launch a career and was one of only six retailers who made the list.

G.I. Jobs: Top 50 Military Employer - 2008
Since 2006, Sears Holdings has been voted one of the most Military Friendly Employers by G.I. Jobs Magazine. This award recognizes companies’ our continued efforts to employ and support veterans, members of the Military, Reserves, and National Guard, as well as military spouses.

Top 10 Military Spouse Employers – 2007
Sears Holdings was ranked number seven by Military Spouse Magazine. Companies are recognized for dedication to having pro-military spouse policies and processes and for ongoing partnerships and support for military spouse organizations.

Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Distinguished Service Award - 2006
Sears was recognized by MOAA with the Distinguished Service Award for support of associates in the Guard and Reserve and military families nationwide.

Department of Defense Freedom Award - 2005
Sears received this award which was created to publicly recognize American employers who provide exceptional support to those employees who voluntarily serve the nation in the National Guard and Reserve. The Freedom Award is the highest in a series of awards given by Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). A company may only receive this honor once.