Sears Makes Holiday Wishes Come True for 700 Children in Chicago

Sears, Roebuck and Co. (NYSE: S), through its Sears American Dream Campaign, is making holiday wishes come true for hundreds of Chicago-area children through a Dec. 11 shopping day called the Kids' Wish Walk. During the Kids' Wish Walk, 700 children will be taken to one of 16 Chicago-area Sears full-line stores to each receive a $150 Sears Gift Card to buy a gift for a loved one -- plus a gift for themselves.

Sears partnered with United Way of Metropolitan Chicago to identify children from various Chicago-area health and human service agencies to participate in the Kids' Wish Walk.

"Christmas is coming early for the 700 children who will be participating in the Kids' Wish Walk," said Ron Gregory, Chicago North District general manager for Sears full-line stores. "Sears is delighted to play a part in making at least a few of their holiday wishes come true."

The Sears American Dream Campaign is a multi-year, $100 million commitment to strengthen families, homes and communities. From helping low- and moderate-income homeowners nationwide outfit and maintain their homes to assisting victims of natural disasters to providing thousands of children with new apparel, the Sears American Dream Campaign is making a meaningful difference in communities across the nation.

United Way has been bringing people and resources together to improve lives in metropolitan Chicago for nearly 75 years. As the leading non- governmental health and human service care funder, United Way provides caring individuals the best way to give back to the communities where they live and work. United Way identifies the critical human care needs in each of the 160 communities it serves, and then finds and supports the programs that best address those needs to create positive, long lasting community impact.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. is a leading broadline retailer providing merchandise and related services. With revenues in 2003 of $41.1 billion, the company offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through more than 2,300 Sears-branded and affiliated stores in the U.S. and Canada, which includes approximately 870 full-line and 1,100 specialty stores in the U.S. Sears also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com, and specialty catalogs. Sears is the only retailer where consumers can find each of the Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard and Lands' End brands together-among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. The company is the largest provider of product repair services with more than 14 million service calls made annually.

SOURCE: Sears, Roebuck and Co.

CONTACT: Cheryl Ann Lambert of Sears, Roebuck and Co., +1-847-286-4714,
or Lucy Ramirez of United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, +1-312-906-2209

Web site: http://www.sears.com/