Tom Aiello

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced the launch of a wholly owned subsidiary called MetaScale, that will provide data-management services. Sears sees the venture as a natural expansion of the resources it has spent to build the infrastructure it needs to manage data for its more than 4,000 Sears and Kmart stores nationwide. “We have this great capability," said Tom Aiello, a Sears Holdings VP public relations, in a report by Crain’s Chicago Business. "Why don't we go ahead and take this to other companies that can benefit, and get the revenue?" Sears is not the only retailer

Sears stores will open at 4 a.m. Black Friday, reversing last year’s decision to open on Thanksgiving Day. Sears stores will remain closed this Thanksgiving to give its store employees and their families the ability to celebrate the holiday.

Sears has been delivering refrigerators and washing machines to U.S. homes for decades. Now the company is looking into delivering groceries too. The service, an expansion of Sears' year-old MyGofer online shopping portal, quietly launched on Memorial Day in Manhattan and in the Hamptons, said Tom Aiello, spokesman for the Hoffman Estates-based company. The home delivery service — which brings groceries, prescriptions, electronics and other goods from its Kmart stores — is slated to roll out to Chicago and other markets this summer, he said.