The DieHard brand of portable power equipment is moving beyond the walls of Sears Auto Centers, marking the first time a Sears brand will be sold outside the retail chain.
Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp. announced Thursday that it has inked a trademark license agreement with Mount Prospect-based Schumacher Electric Corp. that will allow DieHard brand power accessories, such as battery chargers, jump starters and power inverters, to be sold in stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Automotive batteries, the top-selling DieHard product, will continue to be sold exclusively in Sears and Kmart stores. Sears Chairman Edward Lampert first raised the possibility of selling its exclusive brands to other retailers in an annual letter to shareholders in early 2008, mentioning Kenmore appliances, Craftsman tools and DieHard battery brands.
Kimberly Picciola, a Morningstar analyst, said Sears is likely testing the waters to see whether other exclusive products would fare well in a larger market. "I think Lampert is looking at ways in which he can really monetize assets that the company has," Picciola said. "They're doing the analysis to see how selling their brands in other channels might cannibalize their existing sales."
Larry Costello, a spokesman for Sears, said customers can expect to see DieHard products on the shelves of other retailers within six months. He would not say which retailers were being considered. Erik Rosenstrauch, general manager for