New Venture With Ty Pennington to Accentuate Sears as the Contemporary Lifestyle Destination

Sears, Roebuck and Co. (NYSE: S) today announced that it has signed an exclusive, multi-year agreement with television star and home design guru Ty Pennington. Pennington is expected to partner with Sears in a broad range of activities, including advertising, product design and development, merchandising and support for the company's community outreach initiatives.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040616/CGW009 )

"We are very excited to have Ty Pennington join the Sears family. Ty's commitment and imagination extend beyond improving homes, to enriching living experiences for families," said Janine Bousquette, Sears executive vice president and chief customer and marketing officer. "His expertise and dedication are completely in line with Sears' commitment to improving home and family life -- by creating the good life for our customers."

Pennington's involvement will add a new dimension to the company's integrated marketing campaigns, complementing Sears' other important affiliations with Bob Vila (Craftsman), Nick Stellino (Kenmore) and Lucy Pereda (apparel).

During his first smash hit season on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Pennington led a team of home designers and carpenters to create inspirational makeovers for a dozen deserving families. Sears expects the same spirit and energy to inspire the millions of consumers who shop at its nearly 2,000 Full-line and specialty stores.

"Sears totally gets today's family lifestyle and has the best products and services designed to deliver that ideal to the American consumer," Pennington said. "As part of the Sears product design and marketing teams, I'll be celebrating Sears as the good life partner at home and at play, full of new ideas, exciting products and a tremendous sense of style."

Pennington continued, "As I've gotten to know Sears up close and personal over the past year, it became obvious that their amazing assortment of cool, innovative products and their dedication to customers and their families, makes this a perfect fit for me."

"Ty's design sensibility and emotional connection to American families makes him an ideal member of our merchandising team," said Roger Detter, Sears senior vice president and general merchandise manager. "He is the latest and most dramatic example of the actions Sears is taking to grow our business in ways that showcase the breadth of our relevant, quality products."

The alliance between Sears and Pennington also includes Pennington assuming an ambassadorial role for the Sears American Dream Campaign, the company's $100 million, multi-year commitment to strengthen families, homes and communities.

About Ty Pennington

In addition to his role on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Pennington also recently published his first book, "Ty's Tricks," which made The New York Times bestseller list. The book is a mixture of handyman tips, how-to projects and great laughs.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Pennington learned woodworking early in life. He earned his undergraduate degree in graphic design from the Art Institute of Atlanta, working his way through school as a carpenter. After graduation he continued to work as a carpenter while taking night classes in painting and sculpture at the Atlanta College of Art. Soon thereafter, he was combining his love of art and carpentry by working as a set designer for films such as "Leaving Las Vegas."

About Sears

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.

For more information on Sears, Roebuck and Co., please visit http://www.sears.com/ .

SOURCE: Sears, Roebuck and Co.

CONTACT: News Media, Lee Antonio, +1-847-286-5569, or
lantoni@sears.com , or Edgar P. McDougal, +1-847-286-9669, or
tmcdoug@sears.com , both of Sears, Roebuck and Co.

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