SAN ANGELO, TX — Sears Holdings announced yesterday it was closing 45 K-Marts and 18 Sears stores in January 2018. The San Angelo Sears located in Sunset Mall was among the stores slated to close.
At the Sears Thursday night, employees didn’t believe the news. “Internet rumors,” one employee said. None of the employees who we saw had been notified by their supervisor of the pending closing.
The store was almost empty last night at 7:30 p.m., 30 minutes before the store’s 8 p.m. closing time. One customer browsed clothing in the children’s clothing section.
“Sears Holdings continues its strategic assessment of the productivity of our Kmart and Sears store base and will continue to right size our store footprint in number and size. In the process, as previously announced we will continue to close some unprofitable stores as we transform our business model so that our physical store footprint and our digital capabilities match the needs and preferences of our members. The company on Thursday, November 2 informed associates at 45 Kmart stores and 18 Sears stores that we will be closing these stores in late January 2018,” Sears Holdings said in its press release.
Above: The empty parking lot in front of Sears on Nov. 2, the say Sears Holdings announces the closure of its San Angelo store in Sunset Mall. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)
Only one other Sears in Texas is closing, in Lufkin. A K-Mart in Texarkana is also closing.
Earlier Thursday, in an interview with Sunset Mall manager Sabrina Tatsch, covering a wide-range discussion of the attractiveness of the mall and its anchor stores for Christmas, she didn’t mention the pending closure of Sears.
The press release stated that the Sears would remain open through the Christmas shopping season and close its doors in January 2018.
Already, signs inside the store touted 10-50 percent off everything.
Above: Sears in San Angelo is already promoting 10-50 percent off everything. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)
The announcement of the closure of Sears comes after a series of closures of national brand stores and restaurants in San Angelo. Among them:
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Just like those mentioned, •Freebirds Burritos, •Applebee’s, •Johnny Carino’s, •Neighbors Emergency Center
•Logan’s Roadhouse, •Hasting’s........ Not a single person has missed any of them yet, Sears is going to be just like them. Sears actually died many years ago. Everything they had was over-priced and better quality items could be found with cheaper prices in numerous other places across town........ So with no remorse, I say so long, adios, nobody's gonna miss you either......
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PermalinkAnyone who has followed Sears corporate problems or shopped in the local store the past few years expected this. Still, for most people my age, it is a sad end.
I first entered the San Angelo Sears when the store was downtown on Beauregard. My parents came into town from the farm for me to start grade school, I remember being fascinated (and very confused) by the multiple bathrooms and water fountains maintained for segregation.
Later, as a HS student working in a garage, I bought my first tools from Sears. The Craftsman brand was popular with those of us on a budget. I still have many of those tools 50 years later, just a serviceable now as then.
After I married and starting a family placed new demands on my income, we returned to Sears often for appliances, lawn tools, air conditioners and housewares. Most Sears products were affordable and reliable, and there was great selection. I probably owed a payment to Sears credit every month of the first 20 years of my working life.
I understand that everything must change, and has changed, but I'll sure miss the familiarity of the Sears brand. It's been around my entire life.
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PermalinkUnlike Dr. Dingbat, I miss Applebees and really miss Hastings. That loss left San Angelo with no bookstores. I now travel to Abilene when I want to purchase a book, or purchase on Amazon. It was a nice place to hang out, drink coffee, buy a book and read. I think Hastings stores killed themselves when they stopped concentrating on the book end and started with the robotics and models, etc.
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