Executives from a historic department store chain have pulled out of Washington state following the permanent closure of its Southcenter Mall location. The Sears store, a longtime fixture in the shopping center for over three decades, shut its doors for good on December 15.
Leading up to the closure, the store held discount sales, attracting a steady stream of customers eager to get their final purchases. However, despite its popularity and long-standing presence, Sears’ days in Washington were numbered.
Once a dominant retail force, Sears has dramatically reduced its footprint, with only a handful of locations left across the U.S. Founded in 1892, the chain now operates just eight stores nationwide, with the Washington location being the last in the state. Sears still has stores in California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas, but its presence continues to shrink.
The closure of the Southcenter Mall store has left longtime customers reminiscing about the once-iconic retailer. “It’s a landmark, something you grew up with, something you could trust,” said Barbie Talamante, a former Sears employee, speaking to Seattle’s NPR station KUOW-FM. Many shoppers reflected on fond memories of their visits to Sears, from buying appliances to exploring the famous catalog. “I grew up with Sears… both the stores and the catalog,” one customer shared, while another recalled how they had described Sears to their grandson as the “original Amazon”—though the younger generation didn’t quite grasp the reference.
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Sears has faced a steady decline since filing for bankruptcy in 2018, when it had around 700 stores and employed more than 60,000 workers. In an attempt to revitalize the business, executives closed 142 stores that year. Despite emerging from bankruptcy in 2022, Sears continued to scale back its operations, leaving only 24 stores by October of that year. Since then, further closures have followed, including the Southcenter Mall location.
The closure has sparked concerns among some shoppers about the future of other department store chains. With Macy’s recently announcing the closure of 65 stores by the end of January 2025, some customers are fearing a similar fate for the iconic brand. Macy’s, which also has a history of store closures, recently revealed a plan to close 150 stores over the next three years, further fueling worries about the state of brick-and-mortar retailers.
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