Sears, Roebuck & Co. Chairman and CEO to Retire

Sears, Roebuck & Co. chairman and CEO Arthur Martinez plans to retire by year end and will assist in selecting a successor to run the second-largest U.S. retailer.

Hoffman Estates, IL-based Sears said it has hired executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles International to evaluate candidates from within the company and elsewhere in the retail industry.

After joining the company in 1992, Martinez, 60, was credited with turning around the company's languishing retail business. He discontinued the money-losing retail catalog, slashed 50,000 jobs and closed more than 100 stores. He was credited with reviving profit and the stock, and was named chairman and CEO in 1995.