Infortech and Sears

Lou D’Ambrosio, chief executive officer of Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD), said creatively combining technology with spending on stores is the best way to turn around the largest U.S. department store chain.

On Dec. 27, Sears announced it was closing as many as 120 locations after same-store sales slipped 5.2 percent in the eight weeks ended Dec. 25. The shares plunged 27 percent on the news, the biggest drop since April 29, 2003. Sears fell 3.4 percent in New York on Dec. 30 to $31.78.

A former Avaya Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) executive who joined theHoffman Estates, Illinois-based company in February, D’Ambrosio is drawing on his tech background and telling managers to gather more information about customers’ buying patterns and product preferences and to ramp up Web operations.