Dive Summary:

• The Hoffman Estates has attempted and abandoned several strategies to increase the brand value for Sears as declining sales have continued over the last six years for the largest U.S. retail department store chain.
• Despite some industry skepticism current CEO and majority owner Eddie Lampert insists he has a plan to revive the company, despite the fact that the brand sold 110 stores in 2012 and continues to selling assets...
• “I understand what needs to be done here for us to be successful,” Lampert stated in an interview last month. “There are a lot of brilliant retail guys who haven’t done particularly well, either,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable in the position I’m in. I know what the challenges are.”

From the article:

Lampert has said he wants Sears to be a “membership” retailer. What that means isn’t entirely clear. While about 60 percent of the company sales come from Shop Your Way members, unlike Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), which makes money from annual membership fees, Sears doesn’t charge customers to join.