Sears Inks Deal With Amazon To Install Tires Bought Online

Sears Auto Centers announced Wednesday (May 9) a new deal with Amazon.com to provide full-service tire installation and balancing for customers who purchase any brand of tires on Amazon.com. The service will be launching across the U.S. during the next few weeks.

In a press release, Sears Auto said it will be the first auto service center around the country to offer Amazon customers a Ship-to-Store option at checkout on Amazon. Amazon customers choose their tires and Sears Auto location and the date and time of the installation. An employee at Sears Auto Centers will confirm the appointment. What’s more, Sears said it marks the first time DieHard all-season passenger tires will be sold on Amazon. Amazon customers can purchase any tire brand and get the installation.

The Ship-to-Store feature will be available in 47 Sears Auto Centers in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Sears Auto Centers plans on quickly expanding the service to more Amazon customers. “Amazon.com customers can expect terrific performance and reliability from DieHard tires and professional installation from Sears Auto Centers,” said Tom Park, president of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands, in the press release. “We’re thrilled to expand our assortment of this iconic brand to include passenger tires on Amazon.com.” In July of last year, Sears started selling Kenmore appliances on Amazon — and in December, DieHard products were added to the lineup.

The new deal with Amazon lifted shares of Sears Auto Centers, but Chief Executive Edward Lampert, who has been trying to make Sears profitable again, warned the company hasn’t turned the corner yet.  “Let me be the first one to acknowledge we are on the right path, but we haven’t gotten over the hump. We need to convert our vision into reality,” Lampert said at the annual shareholders’ meeting, according to Reuters. “We needed liquidity; I’ve provided it, but we can’t operate if we don’t have the necessary liquidity.”


CFTC Appoints Whistleblower Office Director Brian Young to Lead Enforcement

CFTC

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has named the former director of its Whistleblower Office, Brian Young, as its director of enforcement.

The appointment was announced Friday (Feb. 14) by CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham, according to a CFTC press release. Young had been serving in an acting capacity since Jan. 22.

“He is a fearless leader that will build an even more impressive enforcement program that will stay true to the CFTC’s mission to protect the American public from fraudsters and scammers,” Pham said in the release. “I am confident that under Brian’s leadership, the CFTC will expand and scale our resources to help more victims than ever before and ensure the integrity of our markets in the name of justice.”

Young joined the CFTC as director of its Whistleblower Office in 2024, according to the release. During his first year in that role, Young oversaw a team that achieved an all-time high number of annual dispositions of whistleblower award applications.

Prior to joining the agency, Young was with the Department of Justice for nearly 20 years, most recently as acting director of litigation for the Antitrust Division, the release said.

Before that, Young served in various roles in the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division, including chief of the Fraud Section’s Litigation Unit, per the release.

While at the Department of Justice, he successfully tried criminal fraud and manipulation cases in the CFTC’s markets, according to the release.

“I want to thank Acting Chairman Pham for her confidence in me and for her commitment to continuing the CFTC’s aggressive efforts to protect our global commodity markets from fraud, manipulation and other abusive practices,” Young said in the release.

The White House said in a Wednesday press release that it sent to the Senate nominations for Brian Quintenz to be chairman of the CFTC and a commissioner of the CFTC for a term expiring April 13, 2029.

Quintenz is a former commissioner of the CFTC and now works for the cryptocurrency unit at venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, PYMNTS reported Wednesday (Feb. 12).

The commission is expected to gain new powers over the cryptocurrency sector.