Sears closes last department store in home country

Sears is closing its last large brick-and-mortar store in the company’s home state of Illinois, as the Chicago-based retailer continues to close stores.

Transformco, the parent company of Sears, announced this week that the department store at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg will be closed on November 14, explaining, “It’s part of the company’s strategy to unlock real estate value and continue the highest and best use for the benefit of the local community, ”according to The Daily Herald.

Sears went bankrupt on October 15, 2018, sagging under massive debt and huge losses. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel, File)

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When the mall opened 50 years ago, Sears was the flagship store. The announcement of its impending permanent closure marks the end of an era for some local observers.

“For me personally, and for the village and its people, Sears has been such a presence in the Chicago area and across the country,” Schaumburg Mayor Tom Dailly told the newspaper. “It’s going to be sad to see this up close. I grew up with Sears. I have Sears devices. All of my tools are Sears.”

Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, expressed similar sentiments to WGN-TV. “First of all, we have to stop for a moment. I think we must be a little sad about what we saw,” Karr said. “None of us are surprised, it’s certainly another sign of the evolving nature of retail, but most have to do with Sears itself and the decisions they’ve made. that we must be sad and we must remember what an iconic one, not only the national brand but the international brand that it was and the generations that it covered “,

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Founded in 1892 as Sears, Roebuck and Co., the company has grown into the nation’s largest retailer in large part thanks to its iconic catalog. After years of decline, the retailer went bankrupt in 2018 before being acquired by Transformco. Sears had more than 1,600 stores in 2016 and will only have 34 after the closure of Schaumburg.