Sears to help customers who lose jobs

CHICAGO, June 30 (UPI) -- U.S. retail giant Sears Holding Co. said it would start a program to help customers who use credit to buy large appliances then lose their jobs.

The program applies to customers who purchase items that cost $399 or more between July 6 and Aug. 1 using a Citibank-issued credit card, Crain's Chicago Business reported Tuesday.

Customers who lose their jobs and are unemployed for 60 days will have a twelfth of the purchase price taken off their bills each month. A customer who stays unemployed for a full year, with the bill paid in full, can keep the item.

The program is designed to kick sales up a notch. It was "borne out of listening to our customers; and they kept telling us that they were deferring their much-needed appliance purchase because of concerns over their personal situation or the economy in general," Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Brown said.