Sears Stores Prepared for Tropical Storm Bonnie, Hurricane Charley

Sears, Roebuck and Co. (NYSE: S) said today that its stores in Florida and along the East Coast are currently stocked with storm-related essentials, and the company anticipates quickly moving additional merchandise into any areas impacted by Tropical Storm Bonnie or Hurricane Charley.

Sears has more than 6,000 generators and other natural-disaster hardware items, such as storm-duty chain saws, positioned in distribution centers in Florida and southern Georgia. Sears is working with manufacturers to send truckloads of additional supplies directly to areas of most need in the anticipated path of the storms. Sears also has pre-positioned additional relevant inventory in targeted stores.

  Sears carries the following storm-related items:

  -- Generators
  -- Batteries and battery-operated radios and flashlights
  -- Dehumidifiers
  -- Sump pumps and hoses
  -- Chain saws, hand-tools and cordless power tools
  -- Wet/dry vacuums
  -- Blankets, pillows and weatherproof clothing
  -- Work boots and gloves

Stores in the storms' path have experienced a heightened demand for generators and other storm-related items in the past few days as residents prepared for rough weather.

"Sears has a long history of meeting the needs of families and their homes, and we are prepared to meet the needs of those affected by these storms," said Jeff Jones, Sears' executive vice president of merchandise operations. "We're also ready to send additional merchandise and supplies to our stores along the mid-Atlantic as residents clean up after the storm."

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.

SOURCE: Sears, Roebuck and Co.

CONTACT: Sears Public Relations, +1-847-286-8371

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