Sears puts first fashion outlet in metro Atlanta

Sears has remade an appliance store into a first-for-the-chain fashion outlet. It will sell end-of-season and overstocked apparel by Lands’ End, Levi’s, Joe Boxer, Gloria Vanderbilt, Dockers and other private label and brand-name apparel makers.

The clothing and shoes will come from Sears and Kmart stores and will be sold at discounts of 60 to 80 percent off retail prices.

For example, $6 will buy a women’s polo shirt or pair of Route 66 jeans.

Sears previously sold most of its excess apparel to third-party liquidators, a spokesperson said. Sears Holdings sees the fashion outlet as a way to capture more revenue from overstocked apparel.

The Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based company only recently experimented with putting apparel at some of its outlet stores, including the one in Marietta. But this will be Sears’ first apparel outlet.

Sears Holdings has been improving its balance sheet after completing its merger with Kmart in 2005. Last year, Sears’ profit grew by 343 percent to $235 million on revenue of $44 billion.

Sears would not disclose how many outlet stores it hopes to open, but said it would like to give the concept until the end of the year to see how it performs.

Boston-based real estate strategist Suzanne Mulvee, of CoStar Group's Property and Portfolio Research division, said people tend to get excited about new concepts.

If Sears expands to more outlet malls, it will help fill vacant space created after outlet malls were built at a faster clip recently.

“It makes sense that Sears went from appliances towards apparel because appliances are tied to the housing market,” Mulvee said, “and housing sales aren’t anywhere near their pre-recession pace.”