Sears Teams with Personal Finance Guru Nicole Lapin, Empowers Shoppers to "BYOW" (Boss Your Own Wallet) this Spring

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., March 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for the launch of spring yard care and fashion shopping seasons, Sears has teamed with personal finance expert and New York Times bestselling author Nicole Lapin to offer savvy advice for shoppers as they prepare to tackle spring cleaning, outdoor projects, and gifting for moms, dads and grads. In addition, Sears is about to launch one of its biggest sales of the year.

"People always ask me for tips to better manage the household budget," said Lapin, author of the new business empowerment book, Boss Bitch. "Through my partnership with Sears, I'm encouraging them to BYOW – 'Boss Your Own Wallet' – and shop with a plan to get the most value for every dollar. After all, how you spend is as important as what you save."

Lapin's BYOW strategy outlines five musts to conquer the spring shopping season with budget – and peace of mind – intact. Lapin believes shopping education is an important part of financial literacy and shares the following pro tips:    

1. Join the free loyalty rewards programs – and learn the perks. Anyone can join a loyalty program, but smart shoppers learn how to really get the most out of them. Lapin likes the Shop Your Way program for its generous points accrual with every purchase, surprise points throughout the year, access to thousands of top brands, and its host of free additional services like personal shoppers.
2. Celebrate the shopping "holidays." Not all sales are created equal. Plan out your shopping spree like a boss by recognizing the best time to buy such as coinciding with the best sales to save money and maximize shopper rewards. Lapin cites "Sears Days," an upcoming event where discounts and deals will be offered storewide March 26 to April 8, as an ideal time to buy, especially big-ticket items. This year, Sears will offer shoppers even deeper value with more reward points than years prior.
3. When it comes to points, use them or lose them. People lose out on thousands of dollars each year in unredeemed points. The Shop Your Way program helps prevent this – points are linked to your account and can be used anytime, on any purchase. It (should be) a no-brainer.
4. Choose your rewards; not the other way around. Join a flexible retail loyalty program with perks you value. Sears' Shop Your Way allows shoppers to earn qualifying points at Sears, Kmart and Sears Auto Center and also with partners such as Uber, Groupon, Hilton and more. So with every purchase at Sears, they save money that would have been spent elsewhere.
5. Take advantage of deals, both online and in-store. Retailers like Sears understand the way today's shopper lives, online and IRL (in real life). They offer seamless integration between the in-store, mobile and online shopping experience so shoppers get the best deals whether they stop by or log on.

"We spend hundreds of hours annually shopping for ourselves and our families," Lapin said. "Isn't it time we made that investment work for us? After all, we're the bosses of our own lives - we've got work to do!"

For more insight and advice on retail reward programs, Lapin just published a blog on the subject at www.NicoleLapin.com/BYOW.

Sears Announces Sears Days – Best Time To Buy Sales Event
From March 26 through April 8, Sears will host "Sears Days – Best Time to Buy" in-store, online at sears.com, or via the Sears app. During this special event, Sears will offer even deeper value with sale prices storewide and online, and more Shop Your Way reward points than prior years. For more information, visit sears.com.

About Nicole Lapin
Nicole Lapin is the star of the CW's business competition reality show "Hatched." She was the youngest anchor ever at both CNN and CNBC and has served as a business anchor and special correspondent for Bloomberg Television as well as the money-saving correspondent for "The Wendy Williams Show." Lapin's first book, Rich Bitch, a personal finance guide for women, became an instant New York Times bestseller, and her second book, Boss Bitch was released in March 2017.

About Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a leading integrated retailer providing merchandise and related services and is part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through Sears-branded and affiliated full-line and specialty retail stores. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard -- among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with nearly 12 million service and installation calls made annually. For more information, visit the Sears, Roebuck website at www.sears.com or the Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com.

SOURCE Sears, Roebuck and Co.