The Company: Tough Second Act; She Used Her Name and Face to Build Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia into a Powerhouse. Can It Survive without Martha?

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Byline: Peg Tyre

In the hours after the verdict was announced, the question reverberated from CNBC to the aisles of Kmart: can Martha Stewart Living survive without... Martha Stewart? The company, once a Wall Street darling, has been pummeled the past two years, its prospects clouded by Stewart's legal problems and the bankruptcy of Kmart, distributor of Martha-approved bedsheets and housewares. The day before the verdict, CEO Sharon Patrick assured investors that "we have made appropriate contingency plans" in case Stewart was found guilty. Few were convinced. After the verdict, the stock dropped by nearly a third.

It could fall even further. Since Stewart took her …