Sears is launching a new stand-alone auto service center in San Antonio, Texas. The company, which operates Sears-branded service centers in connection with its retail stores, opened the first DieHard Auto Center Driven by Sears in February.
Brian Kaner, president of Sears Auto, cuts the ribbon at Friday’s grand opening of the DieHard Auto Center Driven by Sears in San Antonio. Also in attendance, from left to right: Donna Broome, Chief Marketing Officer, Sears Automotive; Philip K. Philip, General Manager, DieHard Brand; Philip Macri, Sears Auto Center Manager; Raymond Vasquez, DieHard Auto Center Manager; Richard Perez, President and CEO, San Antonio Chamber of Commerce; Steve Hagens, Sears Auto Center Manager Gabriel Cosme, Sears Auto Center Manager; Joe Richards, Vice President, Operations, Sears Auto Centers (Photo credit: Scott Photography).
The service center will offer a full-range of both quick service and general repair services. In addition, there will be branded offerings that include the DieHard 360 Vehicle Assessment (a 120-point inspection); DieHard Edge Maintenance Plans that provide 36 months or 45,000 miles of coverage; free Wi-Fi for customers; and the Digital Tire Journey web app to help find the right tire.
This year mark’s the DieHard brand’s 50th anniversary. Last year, Sears launched a DieHard tire line. “We did that after conducting a customer survey and asked respondents to name the top three brands of tires,” says Brian Kaner, president of Sears Automotive. “Die Hard came in as number four, even though there wasn’t a DieHard tire line at the time. That gave us the idea for launching that tire product.”
Sears had closed a San Antonio store as part of an ongoing restructuring of its retail footprint, and Kaner says that presented an opportunity to experiment with a stand-alone service center. “The DieHard name seemed like a natural fit, give the traction we had on the tire line,” Kaner says. “We thought this would be a good pilot store for this project.”
Kaner says the store will have a full complement of oil change, brakes, shocks, struts, tire services, and other services. “Right now we are still trying to figure out how to fit an alignment machine in one of the bays, but that’s also coming,” Kaner adds.
The DieHard store will source mechanical parts through the same third party that supplies Sears Automotive Centers. “From a model perspective, not much will be different,” Kaner says. “There will be a new in-store experience, which will play on a more contemporary and comfortable setting.”
The Digital Tire Journey, which uses a touchscreen kiosk in the store, will be part of that experience. “It really turns the way tires are sold on its ear,” Kaner says. “typically, selling tires goes right into a price conversation without much recognition of what the customer is actually looking for.”
The solution leverages IBM’s Watson technology and guides the customer through a series of questions to determine the best fit for their vehicle and priorities.
“Our intention is to make the waiting area much more inviting and productive for customers who are waiting on their vehicles,” Kaner says. “We’ll have the normal amenities like Wi-Fi and a TV, but there will also be seating for people to do work, and there will be refreshments.”
Sears Holdings has struggled financially for some time, and earlier in February announced that it could sell more real estate and brands in order to cut $1 billion in costs from its operations over the next year. The plan the company announced included closing some 108 Kmart and 42 Sears locations, as well as possibly selling the Kenmore and DieHard business. The company sold its Craftsman tool line to Stanley Black and Decker for $900 million at the beginning of the year.
Sears Auto Centers are either attached to a Sears retail location, or immediately adjacent to one. If the DieHard store is successful, it opens up the possibility that the company could launch more stand-alone service centers that are separate from the retail operation.
Sears representatives emphasized in a briefing that there are currently no plans for additional DieHard service centers at this point. The company will be evaluating the store’s performance before making any decisions. If there are more service centers in the future, Kaner said that Sears’ existing real estate could play a role in where any additional freestanding stores are located.
“We are trying to get a sense of what the market acceptance will be for the new store,” Kaner says. We’ll be looking at more traditional ROI calculations, but also at traffic and seeing how people experience the brand. Does this change the type of customer we see come through the door? So we’ll be looking at demographics as well.
“Our hope is to get as many new consumers into the store as possible, and give them a great customer service experience,” Kaner adds. “Hopefully that can give us the foundation to make this more than just a pilot store.”
