Sears ‘Bumpy’ Return Sees Closure of Union Gap WA Store

Sears, once the largest retailer in the US many years ago, filed for bankruptcy in October of 2018. They had 700 stores at that time, down from their peak of 3,500 in the 1970s and 80's. Now, one of the remaining stores, in Union Gap, is closing again. Few people knew these stores had survived.

  Union Gap Sears will close for good on September 22nd.

Sears emerged from its bankruptcy with 22 stores in the US, and a few overseas. At one point it was the largest US retailer but was rapidly overtaken by Walmart and others.

Their post-bankruptcy parent company, Transformco, had quietly attempted a "Rediscover Sears" campaign in 2023, and the company has maintained an online presence as well.  However, after closing its Union Gap, WA Store in December of 2022, it reopened in November of 2023.  Now, according to Yahoo, it is closing again for good.

According to Yahoo, the Union Gap store was #2 in overall sales among the surviving stores, which officials now say will be down to about 12:

 "The closure leaves one remaining Sears presence in Washington state: at Westfield Southcenter in Tukwila, one of about 9 left in the United States according to one estimate as of July 2024, along with two Kmarts and a handful of sites in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands."

Financial observers say more signs point to the eventual complete extinction of the brand. The company's former massive headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, once housed 9,000 workers and was one of the 30 largest structures in the world, based on square footage.

The building has been bought and is being demolished and a new data center will be constructed at the site. Reports also indicate slowly but surely, remaining stores are being auctioned off.

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They still maintain an online presence, but business experts say it's mostly 3rd party items. The volume of actual "Sears" branded items continues to shrink every month until the experts say it will eventually hit zero.