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:

Internet Retailers® Top 500 Online Retailers - 2010
Sears Holdings ranked eighth on the Internet Retailers® Top 500 List for online retailers in the Mass Merchant category. The Top 500 ranks business-to-consumer retailers in the U.S. and Canada, based on full-year online sales, including retail chains, catalogers, web-only merchants, brand manufacturers and digital content sellers. A research team gathers information about retailers to include from a variety of sources, especially the merchants themselves. This is the second year in a row that Sears Holdings has been ranked in the Top 10 on the Top 500 List for online retailing.

Best of Vets: Employers 2010
Sears Holdings was ranked as the number one retailer and number 15 overall in the Military Times EDGE magazine Best for Vets: Employers 2010 survey. Military Times EDGE is dedicated to showing men and women from the various branches of the services the practical and positive actions that can make their lives and careers better — both in the military and beyond. To be ranked, Military Times invited companies of the Fortune 1,000, the Defense News 100 and Federal Times' General Services Administration 250 to fill out an online survey about their military recruitment and retention policies. Responses were evaluated using four criteria: Recruiting - budget and personnel dedicated to military hiring; Training/Mentoring - number of orientation and mentoring programs exclusively or primarily for veterans; Reserve Policies - pay and benefits for activated reservists; Corporate Culture - representation of veterans in the work force and on the executive team, programs for military spouses and dependents and involvement in military and veterans causes.

Ladies’ Home Journal Do Good Stamp Winner - 2010
Lands' End was highlighted in the July issue of Ladies' Home Journal as a Do Good Stamp winner for their Big Warm-up initiative. In just one month, over 7,800 coats were collected in Boston and more than 33,000 coats nationally for the homeless. Additionally, the FeelGood initiative was recognized. Lands’ End partnered with Warming Families by donating 5,000 pounds of yarn that in turn was used to create nearly 30,000 hats for the homeless. Each quarter the magazine awards a "Do Good Stamp" to corporations that are "doing good" in their communities, committed to making the world a better place and are an inspiration to all.

International Association of Business Communicators Gold Quill Award - 2010
Lands' End earned an Award of Merit in the category of Special Events for its work with the National Coalition for the Homeless on the Big Warm-up initiative. Entries are comprised of two parts; the work plan and work sample, and judged on technical excellence, creativity, innovation, effectiveness in identifying and responding to an organization’s or community’s needs, the delivery of measurable outcomes and the overall success of the project. This year’s competition received nearly 900 entries from 28 countries and only 106 entries were selected for awards.

American Heart Association Fit-Friendly Company for 2010
The American Heart Association recognized Lands' End as a Fit-Friendly Company with the highest level ranking - Platinum. Platinum status is conferred upon companies that met the criteria for fitness, nutrition, as well as a health-focused workplace culture and additionally demonstrated successful outcomes from their fitness programs. The award recognizes progressive leadership and innovative programming that promotes wellness and puts the spotlight on companies that create healthy lifestyle programs for their employees in the workplace.

Overall Best-in-Class Company for Adaptation of Mobile e-Commerce Initiatives - 2010
Sears Holdings was named Overall Best-in-Class by Acquity Group, a leading digital services firm, in its second annual Mobile Commerce Audit of the companies on the Internet Retailer 500 list. Through a point-based system that looked at 18 different metrics, Acquity Group found Sears Holdings to be the Overall Best-in-Class company for our mobile efforts as well as Best-in-Class for the mass merchant industry. The purpose of the study was to identify companies and industries that were leading the charge with mobile initiatives and are concentrating on mobile development that allows their e-commerce website to be accessible via a mobile device.

American Business Association Stevie Award - 2010
MySears.com online community won a Stevie Award in the Retail Web Site & Blog category for the 2010 American Business Awards. This award was created to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and business people worldwide. Approximately 2,700 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories.

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival - 2010
The Craftsman brand received two internationally recognized awards for excellence in advertising at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The awards are for radio spots created and placed in key Hometown Stores markets supporting the "Craftsman. Trust. In Your Hands." campaign. Craftsman won two Golden Lions (Single Spot Radio and Best Script Writing) for the "Universe Diorama" spot and two Silver Lions (Campaign Radio and Script Writing) for the "Hand Tool Lifetime Guarantee" spot. The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival is the most prestigious of all advertising award shows, and winning an award at this festival is the highest honor a marketer can receive for creative excellence. More than 22,500 entries from all over the world (1,234 in Craftsman’s category alone) were showcased and judged at the festival.

2010 Effie North American Awards
Sears won a Gold 2010 Effie North American Awards in the retail category for the Back to School "Don't Just Go Back. Arrive." campaign. Each year, the Effie Awards recognize the most effective advertising and marketing efforts in the United States.

G.I. Jobs: Military Friendly Franchise - 2010
Sears Hometown Stores was named a Military Friendly Franchise by G.I. Jobs magazine for 2010. They were chosen for their efforts and results in recruiting and retaining military and veteran store owners. This honor ranks Sears Hometown Stores in the top 10 percent of all franchises nationwide.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Partner of the Year - 2010
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has named Kmart "Partner of the Year." This honor recognizes the company's tremendous support and diligent focus on helping others in need. For the past four years, Kmart has partnered with St. Jude’s Thanks and Giving Campaign during the holiday season to help bring a happier Christmas to children and families across the country. Kmart was the top fundraiser in 2009.

Publicity Club of Chicago’s Golden Trumpet Awards - 2010
Sears Holdings won the Silver Trumpet award in the marketing category for Kmart’s "National Layaway Week" PR program from the Publicity Club of Chicago. The Golden Trumpet Awards is one of the most prestigious awards program in the Midwest honoring the year’s most distinguished achievements in public relations and communications practice. To qualify for the marketing category, the program had to publicize, promote and support the marketing of products, events or services to general or special publics. Award winners were chosen by leading Chicago area public relations executives.

STELLAService "Elite" Status - 2010
STELLAService, an independent customer service ratings agency, ranked Sears Holdings eighth and honored the company with “Elite” status in its annual rankings of the top 150 Web sites for customer service performance in 2010. STELLA ratings are intended to be used as a dependable guide for where to shop online, rating each Internet retailer on a scale of 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating better overall customer service quality. Elite ratings are very rare and represent only those few Internet retailers with outstanding customer service across each phase of the online buying process. The annual survey polled consumers about their spending habits and opinions of customer service. It was conducted by Greenfield Online and developed by Ovum, a part of the Datamonitor Group.

ENERGY STAR Rating - 2010
The Sears Holdings’ Hoffman Estates Support Center located in Hoffman Estates, Ill., qualified for the prestigious ENERGY STAR rating with a score of 83. To qualify for the ENERGY STAR rating, a building’s energy performance must score in the top 25 percent based on the EPA's National Energy Performance Rating System. To determine the performance of a facility, the EPA compares energy use among other, similar types of nationwide facilities on a scale of 1-100. Buildings that achieve a score of 75 or higher may be eligible for this ENERGY STAR rating. Commercial buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR rating use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

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.

ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner of the Year - 2010
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2009 Awards and Recognition  >>

2008 Awards and Recognition (includes prior years)  >>