From:  Lethbridge Herald

February 20, 2009

TORONTO – Sears Canada (TSX:SCC) has laid off 300 employees to prepare for what a company spokesman calls a “tough” year.

That represents less than one per cent of the company’s workforce of 38,000. About half the laid off workers are at the company’s Toronto headquarters, while the rest are at Sears repair centres across the country.

Sears Canada spokesman Vince Power says the cuts will have no impact on customer service either in the stores or at Sears’ repair business.

“We made these job cuts to prepare for what’s widely known to be a year with a tough economic climate,” Power said Friday.

The impact of the global slowdown has been felt unevenly, with some retailers or retail sectors feeling more pain than others.

Hudson’s Bay Co., whose Bay department stores compete with many Sears stores, announced this month it was cutting 1,000 jobs or about five per cent of its full-time Canadian workforce.

Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. (TSX:SC), on the other hand, reported last week that it expects to open between 120 and 130 new stores in 2009. The pharmacy chain increased its fourth-quarter revenue by 14 per cent to $173 million, partly as a result of adding 142 stores.

Analysts have noted that retailers who sell must-have goods, such as pharmaceuticals and groceries, often do well during recessionary times while others that depend on customers’ discretionary spending see a decline.

Clothing and furniture sales, two department store staples, have struggled this year as home sales have plunged, prompting cautious consumers to shift their spending to such basics as food.

Sears Canada shares traded at $19.46, up 21 cents, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.