Business

SEARS SOCK’D AGAIN

Sears Holdings booted its CEO, a former fast-food executive, as billionaire Chairman Eddie Lampert faces increasing heat over the direction of the struggling retailer.

Aylwin B. Lewis, who oversaw years of cost-cutting under Lampert, is to step down this week. The measures temporarily boosted profits but left sales in free fall.

While critics have faulted Lewis’ lack of direct retail experience, industry insiders contend finding such a successor isn’t likely to be easy given Lampert’s reputation as a tight-fisted micromanager.

Last week, Sears announced it would split itself into five business units, with Lampert saying the move would increase executive accountability.

But the chairman had also cited accountability when he dissolved various divisions upon merging Sears and Kmart under a single umbrella in 2005.

The recent moves followed a warning from Sears this month that fourth-quarter profit may fall more than 50 percent amid disappointing holiday sales that capped an unbroken string of quarterly declines in comparable sales since the merger.

Lampert is reputedly reluctant to pay for top retail talent while he tinkers with new ideas on how to run stores more profitably.

Nevertheless, Sears approached former Gap CEO Mickey Drexler and former JC Penney CEO Allen Questrom in the past, according to press reports. Neither has warmed up to Sears.

Lewis, 53, had been successful at the helm of Yum Brands, which owns the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains. He was credited with pioneering the practice of putting all three under a single roof, helping eliminate what restaurateurs call the “veto,” when one member in a carload of hungry people objects to a particular roadside stop.

“He couldn’t stop the veto at Sears,” a former company executive told The Post.

Sears shares gained 1.3 percent, or $1.28, to $100.28 in New York Stock Exchange trading yesterday.

james.covert@nypost.com