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Sears Holdings Earns Top Marks in 2009 Corporate Equality Index

Sears Holdings Gets 100 in Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Seventh Annual Index

Hoffman Estates, IL – September 4, 2008 – Sears Holdings Corporation, the nation's fourth largest broadline retailer with over $50 billion in annual revenues and approximately 3,800 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada, proudly announced that it has earned the top rating of 100 percent in the 2009 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), an annual survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Sears Holdings joins the ranks of 259 other major U.S. businesses which get top marks for their treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees and consumers.

Gina Turner, vice president of talent acquisition, diversity and relocation, stated “This is the fourth consecutive year that Sears Holdings has achieved a 100% rating and we remain committed to continuing to score a 100%. Diversity is embedded in our culture and expressed through our vision, mission, pace and values. We value diverse people. Our formula for success is sharing ideas, communicating honestly and respecting each other as people and co-workers.”

The CEI rated 583 businesses in total, evaluating LGBT-related policies and practices including non-discrimination policies, transgender health benefits and domestic partner benefits. Sears Holdings’ efforts in ensuring LGBT equality in each of the survey’s main criterion earned it the prestigious 100 percent ranking.

For more information on the 2009 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei.

About Sears Holdings Corporation

Sears Holdings Corporation is the nation's fourth largest broadline retailer with over $50 billion in annual revenues and approximately 3,800 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada. Sears Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer as well as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, home electronics and automotive repair and maintenance. Key proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, and a broad apparel offering, including such well-known labels as Lands' End, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as the Apostrophe and Covington brands. It also has Martha Stewart Everyday products, which are offered exclusively in the U.S. by Kmart and in Canada by Sears Canada. The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 13 million service calls made annually. For more information, visit Sears Holdings’ website at www.searsholdings.com.