Sears Planning to Modernize 11 Stores in State : Retailing: Two of the units are in Southern California. In all, 135 will be upgraded nationwide this year.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. said Thursday that it will spend $12.5 million to modernize stores at two Southland sites and nine other California locations as part of a five-year, $4-billion capital spending plan.

The California stores are among 135 stores nationwide that Sears plans to upgrade this year, with a major emphasis on increasing apparel merchandise lines by up to 30%. In all, Sears will upgrade 500 stores nationwide over the next three years as part of the overall spending plan.

In the Southland, the Chicago-based retail giant will renovate stores in Carson and Montclair. The other California stores to be modernized are in Cupertino, El Centro, Escondido, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and Yuba City.

Sears will expand floor space in its men’s, women’s and children’s apparel departments at each of the 11 California stores to accommodate a broader range of merchandise. The company plans to install brighter lighting, new carpeting and new merchandise fixtures, said Greg Rossiter, a Sears spokesman.

Rossiter said store aisles will also be widened. The renovations in the California stores are scheduled for completion by the end of the year, Rossiter said.

The renovations are the first major in-store changes announced since August, when Sears hired former Saks Fifth Avenue Vice Chairman Arthur Martinez as chief of its merchandising group.