Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

[rwsandiego]

I think Schaumburg (Woodfield Mall) was their last store in their home state of Illinois.

Yes, it was. It was also one of Sears' showplaces back in the day. It's sad to see it go. Many fond memories of trips to that store when I was a kid.

[storewanderer]

Went to Sears in Concord, CA. This mall was really busy. Did not observe any safety issues which was good because I had heard this mall has gone downhill. In any case, it sure has a lot of people inside, and they seem to be buying. Definitely not a high end mall anymore by any stretch, but lots of busy stores/food operations in there.

The Sears Store which is open 11 AM to 6 PM basically has three ways in- you can enter through the "merchandise pick up" area or you can enter via the mall either main level or basement level. I entered onto the first floor and upon entering the store the place is huge, the biggest Sears I've ever seen, and the top floor has clothing racks that aren't very full spread out taking up most of the floor space. The clothing is strange stuff but I did see some branded items like Levi's, etc. There was a probably 10k square foot area that had blue paint all around that I assume was the former Land's End space and if so that is by far the biggest Land's End space I've seen. I was really surprised how much product this store had out, even if it isn't great product, and very spread out, the assortment here is much greater than the Stockton Sears. Most clothing was either 30% off or 70% off. Shoes area was full of empty spaces. Jewelry cases were surprisingly full; bored looking employee there sitting on a chair. There were at least 25-35 customers mulling around on the first floor.

I noticed three cashiers open on the first floor of the Sears Store, plus that 4th in jewelry; this is the most staffing I've seen in a Sears since before COVID.

Decided to go downstairs- there are multiple staircases or escalators to get down there. I chose the one that produced the expected results and walked into what I thought was an empty space. Probably 15k square feet of just nothing except a lone display of blankets out there alone for some reason. Upon further examination I walked and found the appliance/tool/home areas. Lots of floor model appliances attempting to be liquidated. Giant space of mattresses. Tired looking largely empty giant spaces for tools, sport tables, exercise equipment, and home goods. This was very strange in that there were at least 8 employees around this area and probably 20 customers. Have not seen this many employees or customers in any other Sears I've visited in the past 3 years.

So this Sears in Concord- is the most alive Sears I've seen in quite some time. Perhaps since the Reno Sears closed. Sure, it is full of empty spaces, lightly stocked on clothing, missing various relevant brands, etc., but it actually has active customers and employees present in the store. And that is a lot more than I can say for other Sears visits in the year leading up to COVID and since the stores reopened after COVID that I got to visit.

[Alpha8472]

Sunvalley Mall improved their security in the past few months after the rash of car break-ins and the rat infestations. The Food Court got new restaurants and the customers have returned. I still would avoid the dark underground garage on the East side.

The Safeway at the mall by JCPenney has also been cleaned up. The bum fights at Safeway were quite a scandal. The employee warned me about a deranged homeless guy in the store once. Now they have a security guard.

This Sears store has been my main Sears store. I never realized that it was one of the largest Sears stores. It is truly a classic 1960s Sears. There were smaller ones in Hayward, California and Mountain View. I once took the freight elevator to the warehouse on the third floor, but some employees saw me and I did not look around.

This Sears once only had 1 small set of narrow 1960s escalators. Back then escalators were so narrow only one person could ride single file. The store remodeled around 2007 and they cut a huge hole in the floor to install a set of wide glass escalators.

The Land's End area was cleared a couple of years ago. The blue paint remains. The basement level used to be a huge Homelife Furniture Store in the 90s. It was amazing! They had dioramas including Little Red Riding Hood and a life-size wolf dressed up as her grandma in a giant bed. The recording would play and you could hear Little Red Riding Hood talk to the wolf. I would walk around the store as a child and it was like being in Disneyland. There were rooms, kitchens, (whole houses set up inside).

That area later became a huge mattress store as well as the home goods area. The Sears dentist, eye doctor, watch repair shop, and tax preparation office closed in the past year or two.

The most spectacular Sears was the San Francisco Sears. It had a tall tower with a giant S that you could see for miles. The store was built on a steep hill and had multiple levels with many entrances and parking lots. It had a very fancy art deco decor and the ground floor lobby entrance was very dramatic.

It later was split up into Best Buy and Toys R Us. Target turned it into a CityTarget.

[storewanderer]

Also interesting in this Concord Store was the basement loading dock, accessed from what feels like the middle of the parking lot. Whatever happens with that building, I expect it to be demolished when Sears decides to finally give up. The building doesn't feel like it is falling apart but it feels like it needs a lot of basic repairs and maintenance.

I wonder what they did with all of the basement space before they had the furniture concept down there.

Ironic Sears exited the furniture business (though I guess you could say got back into it with mattresses in the past decade) yet Macys stayed in it all these years.

[ninersdd]

Also interesting in this Concord Store was the basement loading dock, accessed from what feels like the middle of the parking lot. Whatever happens with that building, I expect it to be demolished when Sears decides to finally give up. The building doesn't feel like it is falling apart but it feels like it needs a lot of basic repairs and maintenance.

I wonder what they did with all of the basement space before they had the furniture concept down there.

Ironic Sears exited the furniture business (though I guess you could say got back into it with mattresses in the past decade) yet Macys stayed in it all these years.

Is it like this at JCPenney at Arden Fair? https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6021796 ... 384!8i8192

[Alpha8472]

The loading dock is out in the parking lot and is a steep slant.

The Sears store was built years before the mall. Sunvalley mall was added years later. The mall dug underground and created a basement level so that it would link up to Sears underground and on the surface level.

[J-Man]

The Sears store was built years before the mall. Sunvalley mall was added years later. The mall dug underground and created a basement level so that it would link up to Sears underground and on the surface level.

The first part of this is incorrect. The Sears may have opened a few months before the rest of the mall, but definitely not "years before." (My mother worked at Macy's Sunvalley from its opening day, so I'm pretty familiar with its early history.)The second part is true -- there was no lower level access to Sears when the mall opened. That happened years later--maybe when Emporium/Capwell was added? I don't know, because I moved out of the area before that happened.

[Super S]

More closures
Sears Downey, CA
Sears Pasadena, CA
Sears Maui, HI
Sears Schaumburg, IL
Sears Raleigh, NC
Sears Brooklyn, NY
Kmart White Plains, NY
Sears Harrisburg, PA

Leaves 19 Sears and about 16 Kmart.

How long... can this go on?

I am really surprised that the Sears at Southcenter Mall in Washington somehow stays open. The mold smell in the HVAC system was overpowering last time I was there.

[SamSpade]

I am really surprised that the Sears at Southcenter Mall in Washington somehow stays open. The mold smell in the HVAC system was overpowering last time I was there.

A Sears spokesman declined to comment Tuesday, while a spokeswoman for the city of Tukwila said municipal officials have not heard anything from the company about its plans for the nearly 175,000-square-foot store that sits on 1.7 acres.

From 2018 when pretty much all their Washington real estate was on the market. It really is interesting, a department store open 11 am to 6 pm and the only location for hundreds (would be thousands if not for Yakima!) of miles.

[Alpha8472]

The Sears Concord opened in October 1966. Sears opened in 1951 in nearby Walnut Creek and moved to Concord in 1966. It was a relocation of sorts.