Miller out, Kaner in at Sears Automotive

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (July 31, 2015) — Sears Holdings Corp. has appointed the company's CFO Brian Kaner to be the interim head of Sears Automotive, succeeding Norman Miller, who left Sears in June after just 16 months as head of the auto business.

Sears said Mr. Hill, who was hired by Sears in February 2014, left the company to “pursue a new opportunity.” Further details of Mr. Hill's departure or change of direction were not readily available; his LinkedIn page still shows him as president, Sears Automotive.

Mr. Miller was hired in February 2014 to fill the Sears Automotive position vacated at year-end 2013 by Joe Finney, a former Michelin North America Inc./Tire Centers L.L.C. executive hired by Sears in August 2010 to run the automotive business.

Mr. Kaner joined Sears just a month prior to Mr. Hill, moving to Sears from Stanley Black & Decker, where he was president of Stanley Security Solutions Europe—Nordics. In addition to being CFO, Mr. Kaner was COO for Sears Home Services, a position he no longer holds, Sears said.

Prior to joining Sears, Mr. Kaner spent 14 years with Stanley Black & Decker.

The shuffle of executives overseeing Sears Automotive comes at a time when the business unit has been identified as a possible divestiture candidate and a business that's closed more than 100 locations in the past two years.

As of Jan. 31 this year, there were 675 Sears Automotive locations in operation, down from 754 in January 2014 and 779 in February 2013, according to Sears Holdings' 10K filings for the past three years.

Sears does not break out its automotive business revenue but said in recent financial filings the business posted lower sales in fiscal 2014 and in the first quarter of 2015.