Sears And Whirpool Divorce After 100 Years

(RTTNews) - Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) is ending its century-old ties with Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) and will stop selling the home appliance manufacturer's products, according to media reports.

However, the department store chain will continue to sell Whirlpool products until it depletes its current inventory. Whirlpool is the biggest U.S. appliance maker, whose brands include Maytag, Jenn-Air and KitchenAid appliances.

Sears reportedly said in an internal memo to its employees, "Whirlpool has sought to use its dominant position in the marketplace to make demands that would have prohibited us from offering Whirlpool products to our members at a reasonable price."

Sears also reportedly said in the internal memo that it will provide "tools and instructions" to its employees on how to deal with the excess Whirlpool inventory and also how to move into its own Kenmore and other appliance brands.

Whirlpool, earlier known as Upton Machine Company, sold its first washing machines to Sears, Roebuck & Co. in 1916. Sales grew quickly and in 1921, Sears appointed Upton as their sole suppliers of washing machines. Sears also acquired a stake in the company in the same year.

On Monday, Michigan-based Whirlpool reported an increase in profit for the third quarter from last year, but the results missed analysts' estimates. In addition, the company lowered its fiscal 2017 earnings outlook, saying that raw material inflation and unfavourable price/mix were weighing on its operating margins.

In May, Sears Chief Executive Eddie Lampert had blasted One World, a supplier of Craftsman power tools, for threatening to sue the financially struggling retailer. One World is a subsidiary of Techtronic Industries, a conglomerate based in China with over $5 billion in revenues.

In a post titled "Taking a Stand to Protect Our Company," Lampert said that the retailer would not allow to be taken advantage of and will "do what's right to protect the interests of our company and the millions of stakeholders we serve."