Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

[storewanderer]

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.

Yeah why is that Union Gap Sears staying? Also there is one lone Sears in El Paso staying open (nice enough store, not that that comment means anything or matters) and at this point the others are all in the east or west.

[ClownLoach]

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.

If I had to guess it probably has something to do with Westfield's merger with two other companies and subsequent announcements that they are going to exit the US market. Sears could have sold to Westfield but now they're not going to be in the market. And nobody is going to take a chance on it until they know the outcome of Westfield (does the entire portfolio sell to Simon or someone else? Or does it go piecemeal?). Once a sale occurs then I suspect the rest will follow. Been a long time since I was at Southcenter but it was still confusing to walk around and had become a very eclectic group of stores, from a new movie theater to a Seafood City supermarket. They need a vision and consistent leasing strategy for that mall being so deep in Amazon and Costco country.

[BillyGr]

If I had to guess it probably has something to do with Westfield's merger with two other companies and subsequent announcements that they are going to exit the US market. Sears could have sold to Westfield but now they're not going to be in the market. And nobody is going to take a chance on it until they know the outcome of Westfield (does the entire portfolio sell to Simon or someone else? Or does it go piecemeal?). Once a sale occurs then I suspect the rest will follow. Been a long time since I was at Southcenter but it was still confusing to walk around and had become a very eclectic group of stores, from a new movie theater to a Seafood City supermarket. They need a vision and consistent leasing strategy for that mall being so deep in Amazon and Costco country.

Though, wouldn't it be easier in the long run if they sold it to the current owner and that way that owner could sell the entire property to whoever else?

This way, they have to advertise that a buyer is only purchasing part of the property and then has to deal with someone else owning the rest (not that that is unusual in malls, but why not eliminate one party if they are willing to do so?).

[pseudo3d]

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.

The South Coast Plaza loading dock was also like that. I believe that some of the stores of that character, like the late Fallbrook store (a 300k square foot one) were designed so the auto center and garden center could be "stand-alone" but still have at least employee access between them.

The Sears Home & Life stores are still open (not to be confused with Sears HomeLife, the furniture store) with a limited selection of hard goods. Maybe if they had some sort of complementary sub-leases/boutiques in the existing stores (rather than just separate stores) they could fill space effectively but I don't think that's realistic at this point.

[Super S]

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.

If I had to guess it probably has something to do with Westfield's merger with two other companies and subsequent announcements that they are going to exit the US market. Sears could have sold to Westfield but now they're not going to be in the market. And nobody is going to take a chance on it until they know the outcome of Westfield (does the entire portfolio sell to Simon or someone else? Or does it go piecemeal?). Once a sale occurs then I suspect the rest will follow. Been a long time since I was at Southcenter but it was still confusing to walk around and had become a very eclectic group of stores, from a new movie theater to a Seafood City supermarket. They need a vision and consistent leasing strategy for that mall being so deep in Amazon and Costco country.

Speaking of Southcenter....I was talking to a friend today who was at that Sears within the past week. He told me that they have closed off the third (top) floor and consolidated everything into two floors. Not a good sign. I don't see how this can last much longer...

[ClownLoach]

If I had to guess it probably has something to do with Westfield's merger with two other companies and subsequent announcements that they are going to exit the US market. Sears could have sold to Westfield but now they're not going to be in the market. And nobody is going to take a chance on it until they know the outcome of Westfield (does the entire portfolio sell to Simon or someone else? Or does it go piecemeal?). Once a sale occurs then I suspect the rest will follow. Been a long time since I was at Southcenter but it was still confusing to walk around and had become a very eclectic group of stores, from a new movie theater to a Seafood City supermarket. They need a vision and consistent leasing strategy for that mall being so deep in Amazon and Costco country.

Though, wouldn't it be easier in the long run if they sold it to the current owner and that way that owner could sell the entire property to whoever else?

This way, they have to advertise that a buyer is only purchasing part of the property and then has to deal with someone else owning the rest (not that that is unusual in malls, but why not eliminate one party if they are willing to do so?).

Unfortunately Westfield has been cut off from spending by their new owners Unibail-Rodamco from Paris, France. They bought Westfield then proceeded to decide that they do not want to do business in the US anymore. Many malls were already sold by Westfield prior to Unibail-Rodamco buying them. Now their leadership is in turmoil and there is infighting at the board level. They're not going to do anything because they can't even figure out which way they are going on a daily basis. Malls typically did not include the anchor buildings for many years. Generally the mall owner only acquires the anchor building when redevelopment is planned (or in the case of Sears they are desperate to keep the tenant until a better one can be installed so they agree to a sale-leaseback).

[retailfanmitchell019]

The store closing in Brooklyn is a Sears/Kmart combo.
https://www.fox43.com/article/life/shop ... e7c1135f9c
How long will this go on? I'd give Kmart about 6 more months at best.

[storewanderer]

The store closing in Brooklyn is a Sears/Kmart combo.
https://www.fox43.com/article/life/shop ... e7c1135f9c
How long will this go on? I'd give Kmart about 6 more months at best.

That was the last considered "new" Kmart. They put a few Kmart aisles into the basement of Sears and used shelves, registers, etc. as fixtures. I think it is less than 10k square feet of Kmart products.

[pseudo3d]

The store closing in Brooklyn is a Sears/Kmart combo.
https://www.fox43.com/article/life/shop ... e7c1135f9c
How long will this go on? I'd give Kmart about 6 more months at best.

That was the last considered "new" Kmart. They put a few Kmart aisles into the basement of Sears and used shelves, registers, etc. as fixtures. I think it is less than 10k square feet of Kmart products.

I remember that, they had some HBA products and other stuff, in general, too little, too late (by a very wide margin). The Brooklyn Sears is perhaps the oldest store left as of this writing, having what, been built in 1930? Not many stores that can claim that.

[Alpha8472]

There are very old Sears stores that are still standing, but no longer Sears. The original Oakland Sears store still has Sears etched into the stonework. It is a now a condominium complex with live/work lofts. The Art Deco building was built in 1929. Sears was there from 1929 to 1993. It looks like a Sears from the outside. Yes, you can live inside a grand looking Sears store. I remember the grand staircases and dramatic interior spaces.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandho ... 2378-55265

In 1993, Sears moved to the former Capwell's flagship store in downtown Oakland. That store closed a few years ago. Sears had been in Oakland for about 90 years. The architecture of that downtown store was very nice as well. They are converting it into an office building.