By Jim Bohman DAYTON DAILY NEWS
If you want a refrigerator, car battery or lug wrench, there's only one place you can buy it at the sprawling Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek - Sears Roebuck & Co.
But for a evening gown or business suit you can shop any number of places, including Elder-Beerman, Parisian and assorted specialty shops - and now Sears, too. The familiar general merchandise store no longer is primarily for children's clothing, appliances and durable tools.
Following the fashion theme set for the new Beavercreek mall, Sears has filled its upper floor with stylish - even glitzy - gowns and dresses in addition to practical garments for office wear and after hours.
"Stand here and tell me if you are in Sears," asks store manager Bob Fowble, looking across racks of dresses, sportswear and party gowns. He held up a cocktail dress festooned with a splash of gold lamme. "We're reflecting the tone of this mall with these fashions," Fowble said.
But the plunge into fashions goes beyond the two-level Sears that opens Wednesday at the 1.2 million-square-foot mall. Sears is repositioning itself nationally by promoting the new "softer side," said Monroe Greenstein, a retailing analyst with Lazard Freres & Co., New York.
The goal: to persuade shoppers that Sears is the place for clothing as well as TV sets, personal computers and house paint.
The retailer is spending much of this year's $190 million corporate advertising budget to promote apparel lines. That's already producing positive sales figures, Greenstein said. "Same store women's apparel sales are up 15 to 20 percent."
The change was ordered by Arthur C. Martinez, who was named chairman and chief executive of the Sears Marketing Group a year ago. Martinez came from Saks Fifth Avenue, where he was vice chairman of the fashion apparel chain.
While Sears is giving new emphasis to apparel, more than half of the lower level is devoted to appliances and hardware.
"We're in the business of taking care of the weekend handyman," Fowble said. The television, electronics and personal computer departments have more depth of merchandise than in many other Sears stores, he added.
"Hardware and home appliances represent the two largest income areas of the store," the manager said. They produce about 60 percent of sales.
One area where shoppers will notice a difference is in auto service.
"We don't do oil changes anymore," Fowble said. The company also doesn't repair automobile starters or flush radiators. "Now all we sell and install are tires and wheels, shock absorbers, batteries, mufflers and brakes," the manager said.
[ILLUSTRATION] PHOTO: Robert Fowble, manager of Beavercreek mall's Sears, shows example of store's new fashion sense
CREDIT: By WALLY NELSON/DAYTON DAILY NEWS\
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SEARS FOR STYLES\ -------------------------------------------------------------
*Company: Sears Roebuck & Co.
*Location: Mall at Fairfield Commons, Beavercreek.
*Size: 126,000 square feet on two levels.
*How get there: Interstate 675, Fairfield Road exit.
*When open: 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
*What's new: More clothing for the family.
*Telephone: 427-8500. Fax: 427-8585.
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