http://www.chicagotribune.com/...-20180412-story.html



Sears opened its first-ever store in Chicago 93 years ago. This summer, it will close its last department store in the city.

The embattled retailer informed employees at the Six Corners store on the edge of the Portage Park neighborhood Thursday of its plans to close in mid-July. With the store’s demise, Chicago is losing one more reminder of the heyday of a hometown company that was once the world’s largest retailer.

It’s just one store, but its planned shutdown comes after the company closed nearly a fifth of its U.S. department stores and shed more than 50,000 jobs in 2017. In the past seven years, it’s racked up more than $10.8 billion in losses.

A liquidation sale at the store, at the intersection of Milwaukee and Cicero avenues and Irving Park Road, is set to begin April 27. The adjacent Sears Auto Center will close in mid-May.

The company declined to say how many employees work at the Six Corners store. Employees will be given severance pay and the opportunity to apply for open positions at Sears or Kmart, also owned by Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings, the company said.

Customers at the store on Thursday, some of whom said they’d been shopping there for decades, were sad to hear it would close and expressed concern for the employees.

"I'm gonna miss this store," said Cecilia Wietrzak, a resident of the Jefferson Park neighborhood who’s been shopping at Sears since 1975. These days, she goes there to buy inexpensive pajama pants and slippers for her father.

Elizabeth Cuebas, a great-grandmother who lives in the Uptown neighborhood, said she still shops there regularly for herself and her grandchildren.

"I was there three times last week," said Cuebas, clutching a colorful reusable shopping bag. "That's my store."

But there seem to be fewer shoppers like her, said Tom Rogers, who lives nearby and came hoping to find some deals. “These days it doesn’t seem to be so busy,” he said.
Six Corners Sears

Sears informed employees at its last store in Chicago, at Six Corners in the Old Irving Park neighborhood, that it is closing this summer. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Sears had already built a mail-order juggernaut out of its onetime headquarters in Chicago’s Homan Square neighborhood when it launched an experiment that would start a second retail empire: its first store.

The store opened in 1925 at the company’s mail-order plant at Homan Square, with an optical shop and soda fountain. Seven more stores followed that year.

The Six Corners store opened on Oct. 20, 1938. A $1 million building designed by Chicago architecture firm Nimmons, Carr & Wright, its single display window overlooking the intersection was the largest in the city at the time, according to Sears.

It was a massive one-stop shop, featuring a candy store and pet shop along with items shoppers expect to find in department stores today.

But as consumers have increasingly shifted where they shop, first to specialty big-box chains and more recently online, the store, however iconic, likely has much more value as real estate, said Neil Stern, senior partner at Chicago-based consulting firm McMillanDoolittle.

“Even if Sears was doing great, you would still question whether they need these urban stores, and certainly the size they had,” he said.

Stern said he thinks the closure could ultimately be an opportunity for the Six Corners retail district. The once-bustling area has seen some redevelopment in recent years.

“It’s a loss in terms of the nostalgia and for families who grew up shopping there, but in terms of what the next generation of shoppers is looking for, it’s not going to be a Sears,” Stern said.

The Six Corners property was one of 265 sold to Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust, when it was spun off from Sears in 2015. Sears CEO Edward Lampert is an investor in Seritage and chairman of the company’s board.

Sears continues to operate many of those stores, but Seritage has begun redeveloping others, including a former Sears at Orland Square Mall.

Seritage’s website lists the Six Corners property, including the 127,110-square-foot main building and the 56,180-square-foot auto center, available for lease.

Another option could be to demolish the buildings and redevelop the site. CoStar Group’s real estate database shows renderings of what appear to be new retail and residential structures built around an enclosed, outdoor area with a pool and other amenities. It’s unclear whether the renderings are conceptual or if Seritage already has specific redevelopment plans.

Seritage’s leasing broker for the site, CBRE Senior Vice President Joe Parrott, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Preservation Chicago has sought to have the store and three other remaining Sears buildings in the city considered for landmark designation. One, in the Ravenswood neighborhood, operated for 90 years and was the longest-standing store in the chain when it closed in 2016.

“I think that would be a double tragedy to lose the retail institution as well as this really wonderful building,” Preservation Chicago Executive Director Ward Miller said.

Ald. John Arena, whose 45th Ward includes Six Corners, said he thinks there are potential opportunities to use some or all of the existing building in a redevelopment, but there are no firm plans for the site. In conversations with Seritage, “they understand the iconography of the building and how much it represents Six Corners,” he said.

“It’s sad, it’s a piece of history, but now we can start looking at what do we do going forward,” Arena said.

The store’s closure in July won’t be the end of Sears’ presence in the city.

Parent company Sears Holdings Corp. still has about 150 employees at its Loop office. Kmart still has one Chicago store, and there are Sears stores in North Riverside, Niles, Chicago Ridge, Vernon Hills, Schaumburg and Bloomingdale. The store at Oakbrook Center closed last summer for renovation and downsizing. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment on the status of the renovations.

“For more than 120 years, Sears has called Illinois home and that is not changing,” company spokesman Howard Riefs said in an emailed statement. “Although we are disappointed by this last store closure in Chicago, by no means does this change our commitment to our customers and presence to Chicago’s residents.”

Sears isn't keeping up with Target, Wal-Mart, and Amazon. I bet the whole company is bankrupt and closed within 10 years. Maybe 5.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Sears isn't keeping up with Target, Wal-Mart, and Amazon. I bet the whole company is bankrupt and closed within 10 years. Maybe 5.

Costco is also a problem for Sears.

Sears and K-Mart were at one time the mainstays of American retail. They simply didn't keep up with consumer trends. The would probably better serve the remaining shareholders to liquidate now.

10 years ago I would have felt sad about what is happening to Sears. Not now however. I haven't been to a Sears store in years and won't miss them when they are all closed. Like jhe888 said, they haven't kept up with their competition and are paying the price for it.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
10 years ago I would have felt sad about what is happening to Sears. Not now however. I haven't been to a Sears store in years and won't miss them when they are all closed. Like jhe888 said, they haven't kept up with their competition and are paying the price for it.

Jim

I do feel sad but it is the way of the world.
Sometimes you just can't stop a train wreck.
It's not entirely Sears's fault > business changes and some types are not geared for the change.
I do feel sad.

The value is in the real estate, not the retail operations. Closing the stores and repurposing the real estate is the plan. Eddie Lambert is masterminding this. It’s not without risks, but has potential.

quote:

Costco is also a problem for Sears.

has been since 1975

the only thing that being huge gets you is a huge failure

if they would have stopped trying to be everything to everyone in 1965 , and stopped all the expanding.

they would still be going very strong imo

What's sorta sad is that if Sears had leveraged what they used to do better than anyone, and what built their brand, they could have been Amazon before Amazon existed.

quote:

Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
What's sorta sad is that if Sears had leveraged what they used to do better than anyone, and what built their brand, they could have been Amazon before Amazon existed.

Sears was bedeviled by unions which typically impose all sorts of idiotic inefficient work rules, outsized benefits, etc. making it very tricky, if not impossible, to compete. That is never the sole cause, of course, but inflicting it inevitably induces snd exacerbates management misjudgments.

quote:

Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
What's sorta sad is that if Sears had leveraged what they used to do better than anyone, and what built their brand, they could have been Amazon before Amazon existed.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. I know because that's my song, too.

They were the Amazon of their times with their catalog going to millions of homes before going to the outhouses.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
What's sorta sad is that if Sears had leveraged what they used to do better than anyone, and what built their brand, they could have been Amazon before Amazon existed.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. I know because that's my song, too.

They were the Amazon of their times with their catalog going to millions of homes before going to the outhouses.

Montgomery Ward too. They were Sears big competitor in catalog sales back in the day.

They both had those big catalogs that were the size of the New York City phone book. a paper version of shopping on the internet back before anyone even heard of the internet.

I can remember going into a Sears store and buying long guns.
But I also remember buying Smith & Wesson revolvers at "Monkey Wards" too.
The good old days!?

quote:

The company declined to say how many employees work at the Six Corners store.

Based on my last visits to a Sears and trying to find someone to check me out I’m guessing no more than four total

When they moved all of Craftsman to China, they lost me.

Go fuck yourself, your prices didn't come down any. If I am going to buy Chinese crap tools, Ill just go to Harbor Freight and be done with it.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
The value is in the real estate, not the retail operations. Closing the stores and repurposing the real estate is the plan. Eddie Lambert is masterminding this. It’s not without risks, but has potential.

But, in the end, that is just a bailout strategy. Had they stayed competitive in retail, they wouldn't need to repurpose the land. Maybe that wasn't possible, but Target seems to be doing fine.

It probably was impossible for Sears to become Amazon. They were too committed to the Sears model, and couldn't see any other way. It would have taken an extraordinary vision to turn a behemoth like Sears into something different.

" they could have been Amazon before Amazon existed."

along with others, I agree they indeed were such long before the internet;

recent large store closures left me wondering just where-Oh-where have those insipid non-productive key-board punchers gone (certainly were NOT 'sales staff') now they have nowhere to stand & lean on counters ignoring the customers;

recently visited the only LARGE Sears I know, in Boise, to return an item, fully expecting to be rejected.

I walked into the place, asked for help, got directions to 'the right department', was actually accompanied through two other large (and customerless) building areas into a 3rd, where no one was home. The can of 'energy drink' led me to believe someone was about, and within 5 minutes a pair of employees did appear; she was a sweet young thing & he was an older disheveled wank with a grin & bad attention.

She took the lead on my return, found a replacement, suggested a trade & closed the deal while Mr. Wank was trying to find the secret to opening the box I had opened already from the other end.

Deal was satisfactory, I left with a new replacement nearly in shock. While I did see about 8 separate employees along the 200 yard march each direction, it seemed like I was the only one in that part of the extensive mall.

Goody bye Sears. It was sorta good since the days Mom took me in for on site fluorOscope of my feet so we could get shoes that fit.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
The value is in the real estate, not the retail operations. Closing the stores and repurposing the real estate is the plan. Eddie Lambert is masterminding this. It’s not without risks, but has potential.

But, in the end, that is just a bailout strategy. Had they stayed competitive in retail, they wouldn't need to repurpose the land. Maybe that wasn't possible, but Target seems to be doing fine.

It probably was impossible for Sears to become Amazon. They were too committed to the Sears model, and couldn't see any other way. It would have taken an extraordinary vision to turn a behemoth like Sears into something different.

I remember the Sears store in San Diego, downtown, a huge store, freestanding, many acres, lots of parking. It closed decades ago and was redeveloped into a multi use neighborhood, of stores, a Ralphs, a Trader Joe, small shops, taco shops, a French restaurant, untold numbers of condos and townhomes.

Somebody made a boatload on that, the city has the sales tax revenue, the enormously higher property taxes, a nice neighborhood of somewhat affordable living units close to downtown.

That is going on all over the system, redoing those old megastores from the ‘50’s, releasing the value that would never be realized at the pace of the old stores, even if operating normally.

Fixed assets are $1.7 billion, liabilities are $11 billion. Just kill it already. Why the long, slow, agonizing, inevitable death?

And, nobody wants the empty anchor store building at the mall.

ohhh,Man. when I was a kid, I got all my back to school clothes at that very Sears store. Sad to see it go, from a nostalgia perspective, not a business perspective.
That Sears store anchored a whole urban shopping district where three main drags came together. It was surrounded by specialty shops of all kinds. It's how I think of the Chicago i grew up in in the '50's

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
Fixed assets are $1.7 billion, liabilities are $11 billion. Just kill it already. Why the long, slow, agonizing, inevitable death?

And, nobody wants the empty anchor store building at the mall.

Those are the book values, of course, and while asset values are speculative, liabilities are real.

Nonetheless, I remember hearing many years ago now that the land containing a Ford plant near Detroit then turning out thousands of automobiles a year, is carried on Ford’s books at $30,000, what Henry paid for it in ~1910 or some such.

Eddy Lambert thinks some of those fixed assets are worth a lot more than the depreciated book value. Maybe.