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Timeline: 'Digital Sears' Announcements and News

The growth and expansion of Sears Web-related business is illustrated by the following timeline:

  July 2000
  -- Sears.com Relaunches Site, Adds Five New Product Categories:
     Home Electronics, Computers and Office Equipment, Small Appliances
     and Cookware, Baby Products and School Uniforms Now Online; Smoother
     Navigation, Enhanced Searches and Common Shopping Cart Aim to Simplify
     Shopping

  -- BobVila.com Announces CEO

  -- Sears.com Leads HFN List of "Top 10 Home Furnishings Sites" in May

  -- Forbes Names GlobalNetXchange as One of the Premier B2B Companies

  June 2000
  -- Sears PartsDirect Launches Commercial Web Site

  -- InternetWeek 100 E-Business List Names Sears Top Retail/Distribution
     Company

  -- Sears Demonstrates PersonalGenieâ„¢ Digital Portrait Technology at
     JavaOneâ„¢

  May 2000
  -- Top Australian Retailer, Coles Myer Ltd., Joins GlobalNetXchange

  April 2000
  -- Sears, IBM Announce Plans to Create thegreatindoors.com

  -- Lawn and Garden on sears.com Launches with 600+ Tools, Mowers,
     Grills . . .

  March 2000
  -- Kroger Joins Sears, Carrefour and Other Retailers in GlobalNetXchange

  -- European Retail Giants Metro AG and J Sainsbury plc Join
     GlobalNetXchange

  -- Sears and AOL Announce Broad Strategic Alliance

  -- Sears, Bob Vila Announce Joint Venture, BobVila.com


  February 2000
  -- Sears/Carrefour/Oracle Announce GlobalNetXchange:  First Online Global
     B2B Exchange for Retail

  -- Sears Online Customer Service Wins Swift-E Award

  January 2000
  -- Sears/Sun Microsystems Announce Collaboration on Internet-Connected
     Home

  December 1999
  -- Sears.com Ranked Fourth Fastest Growing Shopping Site in Fourth Quarter
     (Nielsen//NetRatings)

  November 1999
  -- Introduction of Instant Online Credit Applications for Sears Card

  -- Tool Territory Launches with 120+ Brands and Nearly 5,000 Tools

  -- Popular Sears Gift Card Debuts Online

  October 1999
  -- Appliance Site Expands, Adding Mid-size Appliances


  September 1999
  -- New Issue of wishbook.com Features 5,000 Gifts, Toys, Sports
     Collectibles

  May 1999
  -- Largest Appliance Site Launches: 2,000 Products; Only Site with Top Six
     Brands

  April 1999
  -- PartsDirect Site Launches with More than 4.2 Million Parts

  1998
  -- Wishbook Introduced Online

  1997
  -- Sears Launches its First E-commerce Venture:  Craftsman Tools on
     sears.com

  1996
  -- Sears Launches an Information Web Site: sears.com

  Related Sears Statistics:

  The value of Clicks and Bricks:
  -- When the Craftsman site launched in 1997, research revealed that those
     customers who bought online subsequently bought 27% more products in
     Sears stores.

  -- Nearly 10% of major appliance sales in Sears stores are influenced by
     sears.com.  That's a lot of influence, considering that Sears sells
     more appliances than any other U.S. retailer.

  The popularity of Sears as a resource for home products:
  -- If you add the sales of the second through tenth largest appliance
     retailers together, that's the size of Sears appliance sales.

  -- Sears is the fourth largest U.S. retailer for audio and video
     equipment.  Sears sells more camcorders and TV/VCR combinations than
     any other retailer in the U.S., is the second largest retailer for
     projection TVs, and the third largest for large-screen TVs and DVDs.

  -- Craftsman is the top-selling brand of tools in the U.S. Craftsman is
     also the number-one-rated brand in America for overall quality -- ahead
     of Crayola, Kodak, Hallmark and Reynolds Wrap -- according to a 1999
     Equitrend survey of more than 2,000 consumers throughout the nation.

  -- Craftsman has been America's best-selling lawnmower and tractors for
     the past 20 years.  Sears is the nation's largest retailer of lawn and
     garden power equipment.

  -- Sears own Kenmore is America's top-selling appliance brand.  It's found
     in one out of every two American homes.

An expanded timeline, with details supporting each headline, is also available by e-mailing Ann Woolman at awoolma@sears.com .

SOURCE: Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Contact: Media Contact, Ann Woolman of Sears, Roebuck and Co.,
847-286-7079, email, awoolma@sears.com

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