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Since Sears owns its now-vacant space at Golden Triangle Mall in Denton, which is now part of the company's bankruptcy suit.
The store closed Aug. 26, but it took two more months for the 134-year-old company to file for bankruptcy Oct. 15. Now the property could be in flux for a year or so, said Matt Ludemann, manager of Golden Triangle Mall.
"We're working on a redevelopment plan for that space, but the property has been acquired through short bankruptcy," he said. "It's time consuming, and it's going to take a year or two."
Sears' financial problems bloomed in early June, when officials announced 72 stores would close, including the one in Denton. Since the closure, Ludemann said.
"There are a few people who have gone out of business, so it's made an impact but not a significant impact," he said.
The company's October bankruptcy was years in the making. Sears diversified too much. It keeps growing costs and makes them grow in the face of increasing competition from the likes of Walmart and Target. And though it was expanded on the internet, it was no match for Amazon.
The company once had about 350,000 employees; as of the Oct. 15 filing, it was down to 68,000. At its peak, it had 4,000 stores in 2012; it will be left with a little more than 500.
For generations, Sears was an innovator in practically every area, including home delivery, product-testing laboratories and employee profit-sharing. When post-World War II prospered, Sears was well-developed to cash in on another major development – the shopping mall.
By the late 1960s, Sears was the world's largest retailer. In 1975, it completed the black Sears Tower, which at 1,450 feet was the world's tallest skyscraper for 25 years.
Jim Greenfield, the senior vice president of asset services for the Golden Triangle Mall's corporate owner Weitzman, said the space will be divided into multiple other stores.
"Although Sears still owns the building, we've been working on contingent redevelopment plans since Sears closed their denton store after nearly 40 years," he said in a statement. "Based on retailer interest, the redevelopment would be more likely to create multi-tenant spaces for select junior anchors. However, the bankruptcy throws all issues relating to Sears real estate into the courts, so we can not put a firm timeline on any future plans for the rental. "
In the past, with the mall having thought of other, non-traditional uses for the space, like a gym or a grocery store.
Right now, the space can be used for a regional anchor concept, and anything else would have been approved by the other anchors and the mall developer, Ludemann said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
JENNA DUNCAN can be reached at 940-566-6889 and via Twitter at @jennafduncan.
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