Sears 2013 Annual Report Download - page 6

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providers, specialty retailers, wholesale clubs, as well as many other retailers operating on a national, regional or
local level in the U.S. and Canada. Online and catalog businesses, which handle similar lines of merchandise, also
compete with us. Walmart, Target, Kohl's, J.C. Penney, Macy's, The Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy and Amazon are
some of the national retailers and businesses with which we compete. The Home Depot and Lowe's are major
competitors in relation to our home appliance business, which accounted for approximately 13% of our 2013, 15%
of our 2012 and 16% of our 2011 reported revenues. Sears Canada competes in Canada with Hudson's Bay
Company, other Canadian-based store and online retailers, as well as certain U.S.-based competitors, including some
of those mentioned above, that are expanding into Canada. Success in these competitive marketplaces is based on
factors such as price, product assortment and quality, service and convenience, including availability of retail-related
services such as access to credit, product delivery, repair and installation. Additionally, we are influenced by a
number of factors including, but not limited to, the cost of goods, consumer debt availability and buying patterns,
economic conditions, customer preferences, inflation, currency exchange fluctuations, weather patterns, and
catastrophic events. Item 1A in this report on Form 10-K contains further information regarding risks to our
business.
Employees
At February 1, 2014, subsidiaries of Holdings had approximately 226,000 employees in the United States and
U.S. territories, and approximately 23,000 employees in Canada through Sears Canada. These employee counts
include part-time employees.
Our Website; Availability of SEC Reports and Other Information
Our corporate website is located at searsholdings.com. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports
on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports are available, free of charge,
through the "SEC Filings" portion of the Investor Information section of our website as soon as reasonably
practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission
("SEC").
The Corporate Governance Guidelines of our Board of Directors, the charters of the Audit, Compensation,
Finance and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees of the Board of Directors, our Code of Conduct
and the Board of Directors Code of Conduct are available in the Corporate Governance section of
searsholdings.com. References to our website address or the website address of Sears Canada do not constitute
incorporation by reference of the information contained on such websites, and the information contained on the
websites is not part of this document.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described
below, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If we fail to offer merchandise and services that our members and customers want, our sales may be limited,
which would reduce our revenues and profits.
In order for our business to be successful, we must identify, obtain supplies of, and offer to our members and
customers, attractive, innovative and high-quality merchandise on a continuous basis. Our products and services
must satisfy the desires of our members and customers, whose preferences may change in the future. If we misjudge
either the demand for products and services we sell or our members' and customers' purchasing habits and tastes, we
may be faced with excess inventories of some products and missed opportunities for products and services we chose
not to offer. In addition, our sales may decline or we may be required to sell the merchandise we have obtained at
lower prices. This would have a negative effect on our business and results of operations.