Sears, Whirlpool curtail relationship after 100 years

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Sears will no longer sell Whirlpool-branded appliances, curtailing a business relationship that dates back more than 100 years.

In a note sent to its stores last week, Sears said that Whirlpool was making demands that would’ve made it difficult to sell those name-brand appliances at a competitive price.

Sears has been ravaged by new competition for years, from stores such as Home Depot and also from Amazon.com and other online retailers. It’s been closing stores as competitors take a bigger slice of the territory it dominated for decades. In the U.S., consumers buy most of their small appliances from Walmart, according to market research firm TraQline. Amazon comes in second, with Sears placing fourth behind Target.

The change to the Sears-Whirlpool partnership is effective immediately, and Sears is also pulling its floor products from Whirlpool subsidiaries such as Maytag, KitchenAid and Jenn-Air.