Sears, Whirlpool end relationship after 100 years

NEW YORK -- Sears no longer will sell Whirlpool-branded appliances, curtailing a business relationship that dates back more than 100 years.

In a note recently sent to its stores, Sears said Whirlpool was making demands that would've made it difficult to sell those name-brand appliances at a competitive price.

Sears has been ravaged by new competition for years, from stores such as Home Depot and from Amazon.com and other online retailers.

It's been closing stores as competitors take a bigger slice of the territory it dominated for decades.

In the U.S., consumers buy most of their small appliances, from Walmart, according to market research firm TraQline.

FILE - In this March 22, 2017, file photo, a shopper walks up to a Sears department store at the Tri-County Mall, in Springdale, Ohio. Sears will no longer sell Whirlpool appliances, ending a business partnership that dates make more than 100 years. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Amazon comes in second, with Sears placing fourth behind Target.

The change to the Sears-Whirlpool partnership is effective immediately, and Sears also is pulling products from its floor from Whirlpool subsidiaries such as Maytag, KitchenAid and Jenn-Air.

Sears said it would sell off the remainder of its Whirlpool inventory. Its stores now will sell only its Kenmore products and other brands such as LG, Samsung, GE, Frigidaire, Electrolux and Bosch.

Whirlpool's CEO Marc Bitzer told investors last week the company told Sears in May it no longer would supply branded products because it could not reach terms that were "acceptable to both parties."

He said Whirlpool will continue to supply the Kenmore products it makes for Sears.

Bitzer also said the entire Sears business has declined over time and accounts for only 3 percent of Whirlpool's global business, of which branded products are only a small fraction.

The relationship between the two companies reaches back to 1916, when Whirlpool began making two types of wringer washers for Sears, Roebuck and Co., according to Whirlpool's website.

At that time, Sears operated exclusively through mail order. The Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company, now Sears Holdings Corp., also owns Kmart.