Kmart, Sears distribute emergency items, provide loyalty-card points to storm-affected areas

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears and Kmart are offering more than a quarter-million dollars in rewards for members of their loyalty program and sending emergency equipment from 42 distribution centers in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, parent company Sears Holdings said.

The company said it would provide $350 million in rewards to Shop Your Way members in the hardest-hit areas that can be used to buy anything — including groceries, clothes and toiletries — between Saturday and next Thursday, equal to $20 per member. The company also is ramping up stocking of generators, sump pumps, flashlights, batteries and other items that may be needed in areas hit by the storm, with more than 100 truckloads now arriving at stores in affected areas in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Connecticut, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Delaware and Vermont.

“The resilience of these communities is once again being tested by Mother Nature,” Sears Holdings SVP and president of marketing, online and financial services Imran Jooma said. “Kmart and Sears are helping residents and the thousands of employees who work in our stores get back on their feet.”

The company also has partnered with nonprofit group Rebuilding Together, which works to preserve affordable homeownership and provide assistance to communities in their rebuilding efforts.