Kenmore® and Kenmore Elite® Refrigerators With PUR® Ultimate Filters Have America's Best Ice and Water System*

Americans purchased $7.5 billion of bottled water in 2003. Sears, Roebuck and Co. (NYSE: S) continues its commitment to customer-focused innovation with the introduction of the Kenmore and Kenmore® Elite refrigerators filtered with the PUR Ultimate filter. This line of side-by-side refrigerators eliminates the need to buy or store bottled water.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040414/CGW027 )

Kenmore and Kenmore Elite refrigerators with PUR Ultimate filters give customers clean, great-tasting water and ice -- always "on-tap," at a fraction of the cost of bottled water. These refrigerators reduce contaminants more than any other refrigerator, including contaminants such as chlorine taste and odor, lead, cysts, sediment, herbicides and pesticides, TTHMs (a chlorination by-product), and MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether, a gasoline additive that frequently leaks into water supplies).

Tina Settecase, Sears vice president and general manager of Home Appliances, says Sears is once again taking the leadership position in providing innovative products.

"Seventy-five percent of Americans drink bottled or filtered water," Settecase said. "Sears' exclusive collaboration with Procter and Gamble, the producers of the PUR Ultimate water filtration products, underscores the Kenmore leadership position in developing solutions for real consumer needs. This product gives consumers peace of mind knowing that they are using America's Best ice and water filtration system*."

Sears has designed the Kenmore and Kenmore Elite refrigerators filtered with PUR Ultimate filters to make filter changing easy and convenient. On the Kenmore model, a filter indicator light eliminates guesswork, turning from green to red when the filter needs to be replaced. The Kenmore Elite model features a light-emitting diode (LED) readout showing the numeric percent of filter life remaining. The user just pushes a button on the refrigerator's base front grille and the used filter pops out. A new filter easily slides into place. The filter needs replacement after 100 gallons or after about six months.

Kenmore and Kenmore Elite refrigerators filtered by PUR Ultimate filters include other features that enhance the freshness of food and convenience in preparing it.

   -- Grocery Savor® Option -- Blasts newly stocked groceries with colder
      air so they reach safe temperatures up to 24 percent faster than
      Kenmore models without this feature.
   -- Ultra Chill Zone™ -- Super cold air flows through the Ultra Chill
      Zone to keep beverages and milk ice-cold.
   -- Ultra Fresh® System -- Protects fresh and frozen food by storing
      food at optimal temperature to ensure freshness and minimize freezer
      burn, and controls humidity levels for longer-lasting produce.
   -- SpaceSaver Ice System -- Creates up to 20 percent more storage space
      in the freezer by moving the ice caddie to the door.

Kenmore and Kenmore Elite refrigerators filtered by PUR Ultimate filters are now available in Sears stores nationwide. These Kenmore and Kenmore Elite refrigerators are available in 22-, 25- and 26-cubic foot capacities. There are 10 models from which to choose in white, bisque, black and UltraSatin. Eight of these models also are available in stainless steel. Regularly priced in a range from $1,119.99 to $2,199.99, the model numbers are: 55382/4/6/9; 54582/4/6/9; 56232/3/4/6/9; 56532/3469; 55222/3469; 55522/3469; 56362/3469; 56562/3469; 55202/3469; 55602/3469. The PUR Ultimate replacement filter (item number 9020) is priced at $37.99.

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 services calls made annually.

*Among leading brand side-by-side refrigerators based on contaminants removal, filter location, installation and removal and filter status indicators.

SOURCE: Sears, Roebuck and Co.

CONTACT: Media, Larry Costello of Sears PR, +1-847-286-9036,
lcoste5@sears.com , or Marlene Tsareff for Sears, +1-317-769-7600,
mtsareff@tds.net

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