Sears.com Launches New Footwear Experience, Featuring Style Experts and Advice Alongside New Offerings

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Whether you are a shoe fashionista or a runner who needs help finding the right pair of shoes, the newly launched Sears.com Shoe Experience Website provides a more interactive and engaging experience than ever before thanks to more relevant, on-trend fashion and brands, and useful content.  Now boasting more than 450 brands and a new user experience that is dedicated to helping customers select that perfect pair of shoes, Sears.com/shoes is the online resource for convenient, fun, and informative shoe shopping. Sears.com/shoes brings together all of the products and functionality that customers have traditionally received from many different sources including retailers, bloggers and social networks, and aggregates them all in one place.

The enhanced experience is an extension of Sears.com's continued commitment to provide an online shopping experience that has its customer at its center one that provides choice, value and convenience. Highlights of sears.com/shoes include a featured item scroll bar showcasing hot new items at a glance as well as easy customer access to shopping the latest shoe trends. To further help customers find what they are looking for, sears.com/shoes features a wide array of educational videos and style expert blogs.  This engaging content spans across four distinct categories, each with a robust amount of information and selections. Those pages include:

• Fashion: Led by renowned fashion stylist, Francesca Mills, the fashion footwear micro-website offers style-conscious shoppers everything they need to make the purchase that wows. Mills, a former member of the ELLE Magazine fashion team and current contributor to the New York Post's Page Six fashion column, takes you through everything from seasonal trends to bridal shoes, and even shares blog posts, videos and Q&A sections to help you stay current on the latest footwear trends and fashions.  
• Kids: Being a parent carries many worries, including how to buy your child the right shoes. With Victoria Pericon of SavvyMommy.com on board, Sears is looking to make those worries a thing of the past. Pericon is the host of Savvy Mommy radio and regular TV contributor to the CBS Early Show and Fox News' Fox & Friends. Pericon and Sears.com offer a variety of content including videos on top picks for back-to-school trends, best performance and play shoe styles, Q&A on how to measure your child's foot, blogs on what shoes to purchase to help kids express creativity, and more.
• Fitness: Fitness enthusiasts can also turn to Sears.com/shoes for all of their fitness needs and questions. Brett Hoebel, celebrity trainer and creator of the workout concept Rev Abs, leads the fitness first crowd on a journey to finding the perfect shoe. With videos, blogs and Q&As from our resident expert on many topics including the benefits of toning shoes and how best to extend the life of your fitness shoe, Sears.com will ensure you find the best athletic shoe for your needs.
• Work: Having the right shoe for the job is essential. The right steel-toed or waterproof shoe can mean the difference in your success, safety and comfort on the job site. That's why Sears has teamed with workboot expert Matt Pelici. From videos about the best shoes for a craftsman or tradesman to blogs and Q&A on safety tips, Sears.com/shoes will help you make an informed buying decision.

"The new footwear experience is another example of how we're innovating through content, not just technology," said Nicholas Grayston, president Footwear at Sears Holdings. "We're tapping into the lifestyle behind each footwear category to provide our customers with insights and advice they can't get anywhere else. No longer will they struggle with questions like the best shoe size for their toddler or what boots to buy for the workplace. We're helping them answer those questions while featuring the right product alongside it."

In addition to great content and brands, sears.com/shoes also offers the unique Personal Shoe Shopper program.  The Personal Shoe Shopper allows customers who need help finding that perfect shoe to submit a photo of their dress or outfit, with their style preference, to the Personal Shoe Shopper. Within 24 hours, customers will receive a selection of personally selected shoes to complement their outfit.  

"The online shopping community is evolving every day, and it's become even more important to provide our customers with the choices and conveniences they need to make smart shopping decisions," said Imran Jooma, president of eCommerce at Sears Holdings. "It's not enough to simply have the right product, but we must also provide our customers with an easy and convenient shopping experience so they can better manage their busy lives."

Customers can start browsing through hundreds of different types of shoes and get advice from experts now by visiting http://www.sears.com/shoes. In addition, the experience also lives across multiple social properties, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo. Customers can find Sears at:

Facebook:

• http://www.facebook.com/SearsFootwearFashionFirst
• http://www.facebook.com/SearsFootwearWorkFirst   
• http://www.facebook.com/SearsFootwearFitnessFirst   
• http://www.facebook.com/SearsFootwearFamilyFirst    

Twitter: 

• http://twitter.com/searsfashion1st
• http://twitter.com/SearsWork1st
• http://twitter.com/SearsSportShoes
• http://twitter.com/SearsFamily1st

YouTube:

• http://www.youtube.com/user/searsfashionfirst
• http://www.youtube.com/user/SearsWorkfirst
• http://www.youtube.com/user/SearsFitnessFirst
• http://www.youtube.com/user/SearsFamilyfirst

Vimeo:

• http://www.vimeo.com/channels/searsfootwear

About Sears Holdings Corporation

Sears Holdings Corporation is the nation's fourth largest broadline retailer with approximately 3,900 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada.  Sears Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer as well as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, consumer electronics and automotive repair and maintenance.  Sears Holdings is the 2010 ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner of the Year.  Key proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, and a broad apparel offering, including such well-known labels as Lands' End, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as the Apostrophe and Covington brands.  It also has the Country Living collection, which is offered by Sears and Kmart.  We are the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 12 million service calls made annually.  Sears Holdings Corporation operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation.  For more information, visit Sears Holdings' website at www.searsholdings.com.

*As noted by STELLAService and its first customer service ranking for the country's largest 150 Internet retailers; Sears.com earned "Elite" status and ranked #10 of the top sites.

SOURCE Sears Holdings Corporation