"The lifestyles of our customers are changing," said Alfred Goldstein, president of Sears Specialty Merchandising. "Our experience shows they prefer receiving Sears catalog merchandise shipped directly to their home or workplace because it's faster, easier and more convenient. The charge is the same as it would be for in-store pickup."

The spokesman said the move would have no impact on Sears' aggressive plans to offer its own Visa cards through a thrift owned by its Dean Witter financial services subsidiary. Plans to offer its own Visa card to an initial 6.5 million customers have been blocked by Visa U.S.A., which considers Sears a competitor because of the retailer's Discover card.