The Chicago-based retailer said it expected to transfer most of the employees to vacant positions or to jobs that would open up because of attrition.

The overall sales of the Chicago-based retailer dropped by 1.2 percent.

An lawyer for the Chicago-based retailer suggested that the Department of Consumer Affairs' actions were politically motivated.

The certificates represent an undivided ownership interest in the Sears Credit Account Trust 1990 D, which was established by the giant Chicago-based retailer.

A Sears spokeswoman said the Chicago-based retailer planned to continue the pilot program at least through October.

In trading today on the New York Stock Exchange, the shares of the Chicago-based retailer rose 12.5 cents each, to $36.75.

The seller is the Sears Savings Bank, the thrift unit of the Chicago-based retailer.

Sales in 1987 by the Chicago-based retailer were estimated by industry experts yesterday at about $4.2 billion, and its pretax profit was put at about $245 million.

At the time, Chicago-based retailers like Sears, Roebuck & Company; Montgomery Ward; and Spiegel dominated the field.

They attributed the mall's shaky start to the management problems of the mall's main tenant, John Chung, a Chicago-based retailer who specializes in discount merchandising.