Sears CFO Reidy to Step Down; Management Shakeup Continues

Sears Holdings Corp. has reported that Chief Financial Officer J. Miles Reidy will step down later this year to "attend to a family issue." The resignation comes amid slumping sales at the struggling department-store retailer, which continues to deal with customer defections to discount rivals, resulting from outdated store designs and complaints about warranty services and inventory mismanagement, such as too much seasonal apparel in stock last year. Reidy's exit follows the abrupt departure of former Chief Executive Aylwin B. Lewis in January 2008.

A look at a June 2008 amendment to Reidy's employment offer -- less than eight months after he joined the company in September 2007 -- suggests that Reidy and his family could not reconcile with moving to Chicago, a relocation requirement to have originally been fulfilled by July 15:

• You will be asked to sign an Addendum to your September 7, 2007 Executive Severance Agreement, which Addendum incorporates the change to your relocation requirement from July 15, 2008 to March 31, 2009.
• With respect to the vesting conditions applicable to the grant of restricted stock you received (valued at $750,000) under the Sears Holdings 2006 Stock Plan, the restricted shares will be scheduled to vest in full as of the third anniversary of the grant date, provided, however, that no vesting will occur in the event you and your immediate family have not relocated to the greater Chicago area by March 31, 2009.