Q&A: Sears CIO says IT departments to stay separate after Lands' End purchase

By Carol Sliwa

May 17, 2002 12:00 PM ET

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Computerworld - Jerry Miller, CIO at Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Hoffman Estates, Ill., discussed the IT implications of the company's purchase of Dodgeville, Wis.-based catalog and online retailer Lands' End Inc. with Computerworld (see story). Interview excerpts follow:

(Editor's Note: On the same day but after this interview was published, it was learned that Miller had left his job at Sears. (see story).)

Q: Will your IT departments fuse?
A: We're going to operate this as a wholly owned subsidiary. So they're going to have their IT department.

Q: How will your relationship with Lands' End work?
A: We look at this as bringing in a high-quality, excellent brand, as we would look at bringing in any other vendor. ... We'll be ordering product from them, like we order product from other vendors. And we'll be bringing it into our stores accordingly. But because of the nature of the relationship now -- the fact that it's going to be a wholly owned subsidiary -- it does allow us to do some things we may not be able to do with a typical vendor. ... It's still a little early in the game.


Jerry Miller, CIO at Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Q: What's the timetable?
A: We hope to close at the end of June. We hope to get product in our stores, at least some of our stores, for the fall season, the back-to-school season ... and then start rolling out next year in all of our stores.

Q: Will that require any integration of inventory systems?
A: No.

Q: Distribution systems?
A: No. When you look at the fact that we're viewing this as another vendor, the first thing would be to determine what product lines we want in the stores and place orders accordingly.

Q: Whatever processes you ordinarily undertake to add a new vendor, you'll do with Lands' End?
A: Same thing. It makes it very easy, very simple and very quick.

Q: Will you connect electronic data interchange (EDI) systems?
A: Yes.

Q: Lands' End is used to shipping items to individual customers, not distributing merchandise to stores.
A: That's something that we're going to have to work on because that's a new channel for them really. ...They do have a few stores, a handful. But 870 is a lot different than what they're used to.

Q: Will Lands' End's IT staff be responsible for running the systems needed to distribute merchandise to your stores?
A: Where we can help, we will. That primarily will be a Lands'

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