That mall was built in the early 1980s.storewanderer wrote:I was in a Sears today in Aberdeen, WA. It is just what you expect. This is a basically abandoned mall and Sears is the only retailer in an anchor space. There is some sort of indoor rec facility in another former anchor space and an operating cinema in another anchor space. The mall itself is largely abandoned.
The Sears was trying to make a go of it but it was pretty bad. Giant empty spaces in men's and children's clothing. Lots of appliances out in walkways to give an appearance of items on the sales floor. Tools/hardware areas were trying to appear full but as you looked more closely, lots of out of stocks.
The Sears also had a strange logo I never saw before. It was just basic plain text "SEARS." That logo must pre-date me.
That Sears has the Times New Roman logo on the outside, but surprisingly, has the 1990s logo on the inside mall entrance. The rec center is a former JCPenney, and the big empty "hole" at the front of the mall is where a Kmart once stood that was closed in the early 2000s. The building was demolished due to structural issues, which are evident by the wavy floors in parts of the mall. There is also a GNC still open in the mall that has a logo that was used for a very short time before returning to their old one still in use today.
Aberdeen's economy has struggled more than just about everywhere in western Washington, not just due to an economy heavily dependent on timber and fishing, but also due to the Satsop nuclear plant that was never finished which is not too far away. (This was a WPPSS plant, better known as "Whoops" where construction stopped in the 1980s due to a loan default.) The owner of the theater actually took ownership of the mall within the last couple years, but with malls in general on the decline, it will be a miracle if they ever fill this one up again as big names won't open in areas with a bad economy.
According to news stories Sears owns their own space. However, they are in no hurry to unload this one. Aberdeen isn't exactly an area in demand at the moment. This location will either hang on until the very end, or just close when sales fall below a certain point. I do not believe this location has ever been remodeled. This is the only true "mall" on the Washington coast.