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Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) announced that Timothy Kasbe will be joining the company as senior vice president and Chief Information Officer. In this role, he will provide leadership and guidance for the company's information technology (IT) initiatives.

"Timothy brings to the company over 20 years of experience creating and delivering global IT strategies and solutions within the retail, banking and telecom industries. I'm confident he will take the team to a new level while effectively building on the work that has been underway in the IT organization," said Bruce Johnson, interim CEO and president.

Prior to Sears Holdings, Kasbe served as Chief Information Officer at Reliance Retail Ltd. (RRL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. RRL is a startup retail chain in India, that in the past two years has opened 978 stores and 79 distribution centers for 14 different formats including; supermarkets, specialty and convenience stores. Before joining RRL, he spent over 10 years at IBM holding many global leadership roles which involved leading the IBM PC Company reengineering initiative, the launch of ibm.com, the startup of B2B e-Commerce and working with retailers around the world. He held international positions for Andersen Consulting and Westpac Banking Corporation. Kasbe earned an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and holds a bachelor's degree in theology from Moore College, Sydney University, Australia and in computer science from Institute of Technology in Madras, India.

The company also announced that effective immediately, Karen A. Austin will begin serving as president of the company's Home Electronics business unit. She had previously served as Chief Information Officer for Sears Holdings since March 2005.

"As part of our new operating model and to grow those businesses in which we can differentiate ourselves from the competition, we're pleased to be able to leverage a leader with Karen's diverse experience. She drove strong results in our IT organization with a keen focus on our customers and will bring that same discipline to her new role. In the short term, Karen will work with Timothy to facilitate a seamless transition of our IT organization," added Johnson.

Prior to the merger of Sears and Kmart, for over 20 years, Austin served in several IT leadership positions, including senior vice president and Chief Information Officer of Kmart, a position she held from April 2002 to March 2005. She also served as interim Chief Marketing Officer for the company in 2003. Before joining Kmart, she held various information technology positions for The Timken Company and for Central Mutual Insurance Company in Ohio. Austin graduated from Tri-State University in Angola, Ind., with a bachelor's degree in computer science.

About Sears Holdings Corporation:

Sears Holdings Corporation is the nation's fourth largest broadline retailer, with approximately $50 billion in annual revenues, and with approximately 3,800 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, home electronics and automotive repair and maintenance. 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 Martha Stewart Everyday products, which are offered exclusively in the U.S. by Kmart and in Canada by Sears Canada. The Company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 13 million service calls made annually. For more information, visit Sears Holdings' Web site at .

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: kregan1@searshc.com

SOURCE: Sears Holdings Corporation

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

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