Sears Holdings to spin off its Lands' End unit Sears plans to spin off its Lands' End unit, which has stayed profitable amid losses by the department-store chain. Sears Holdings Corp. plans to spin off its Lands' End Inc. unit, giving investors a piece of a profitable clothing brand amid almost nine years of market-lagging returns for the department-store chain's shares. The distribution is subject to the approval of the board and other conditions, Sears, based in Hoffman Estates, said Friday in a statement. The unit's registration filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission didn't say how many Lands' End shares Sears investors would receive. Edward Lampert, Sears' chairman, chief executive and largest shareholder, is breaking off for investors a unit that has remained profitable while the department-store chain has started losing money. Sears shares slid about 57% since March, 28, 2005, when Lampert merged Kmart Holding Corp. and Sears, Roebuck & Co., through Thursday, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 52% in that time. "It's a good thing for shareholders," said Robert Passikoff, president of consultant Brand Keys. Land's End, the brand itself, was weakened by its association with Sears. Sears shares fell $1.89, or nearly 4%, to $48.09. Lands' End, founded in 1963 and acquired by Sears in June 2002 for about $1.9 billion, said in its registration statement that it had net income of $49.8 million on revenue of $1.6 billion in its fiscal 2012. Although that performance is better than Sears' $930-million loss last year, Lands' End's net income has dropped 63% since 2008 as revenue has slid 4.2%. Lampert has been selling and spinning off Sears assets as 27 straight quarterly sales declines have sapped Sears' cash pile. Sears said Friday that it expects the Lands' End spinoff to be a tax-free distribution to shareholders and didn't mention a dividend for Sears.