One of Sears' crucial 100-year supplier relationships has died as sales plummet
- Sears is no longer selling Whirlpool products, including the Maytag, KitchenAid, and Jenn-Air brands.
- The retailer sold its first washing machine from the company that would become Whirlpool in 1916.
- Sears' sales have plummeted in recent years, with suppliers expressing concerns regarding bankruptcy.
Sears' 100-plus-year history of selling Whirlpool appliances - from washing machines to KitchenAid mixers - has come to an end.
The retailer has stopped selling Whirlpool appliances after a pricing disagreement, The Wall Street Journal reported. With the end of the relationship, Sears will also no longer sell Whirlpool subsidiaries such as Maytag, KitchenAid, and Jenn-Air.
"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 wrote in an internal memo, according to the WSJ.
Sears will continue to sell its inventory of Whirlpool products until they run out, and Whirlpool will reportedly continue to manufacture some items from Sears' Kenmore brand. However, hundreds of items have already disappeared from Kmart and Sears' online stores.
The retailer's sales have plummeted in recent years. While the end of the Whirlpool relationship was reportedly unrelated to Sears' precarious financial position, other suppliers have expressed concerns regarding the company's ability to stay in business.
Sears has announced plans to close more than 300 Kmart and Sears stores in 2017. The closings will bring Sears' store count to less than 1,140, down from 2,073 five years ago.
In August, Sears reported that sales at stores open for at least a year fell 11.5% in the second quarter. Total revenue fell 22% to $4.37 billion in the most recent quarter, mainly due to store closures.