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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears Holdings Corp. has chosen Tesco PLC veteran Alasdair James to serve as president and chief member officer of its Kmart discount store division.
Sears Holdings Corp. has chosen Tesco PLC veteran Alasdair James to serve as president and chief member officer of its Kmart discount store division.
James will be responsible for driving the Kmart format strategy, managing profit and loss, and aligning merchandise, marketing, pricing and selling with the needs and wants of the chain’s Shop Your Way loyalty club members.
"Alasdair will work closely with me and our business unit leaders to understand the preferences of Shop Your Way members who shop at Kmart," said Sears Holdings chairman and chief executive officer Edward Lampert. "He will be responsible for the Kmart strategy, its performance and its continued transformation as an integrated retail format."
James most recently served as commercial director for global business at Tesco PLC. Before that he spent two years managing the retailer’s China operations as executive vice president and commercial director. In addition to his experience with Tesco, which he joined in 2007, James has held roles with GlaxoSmithKline PLC and PepsiCo Inc. Sears Holdings sees his experience running multi-site operations within the retail, pharma, food manufacturing and consumer packaged goods sectors as representing a strong fit for this member-focused role, the company said.
Sears Holdings has been emphasizing Shop Your Way — which it describes as "a social shopping platform offering members rewards for shopping at Sears and Kmart as well as with other retail partners" — as a key part of its ongoing strategy.
