WILMINGTON — After months – or years – of speculation, the Sears at Independence Mall is clearing its shelves and closing its doors for good by late June.
The troubled Sears Holding company, which owns both Sears and Kmart, has closed hundreds of stores at a time, including the Wilmington Kmart location last year. Two weeks ago, Rouse Properties announced they would demolish the current Sears location as part of their overhaul of the Independence Mall into a renovated project called The Collection at Independence. Rouse Properties did not specify whether or not the move was permanent at the time.
Related story: Sears to be demolished as part of Independence Mall renovated
According to signage around the store, everything in stock at the Independence Mall Sears is currently being discounted between 10 to 30 percent. As one might expect, all of these sales are final, and online sales will not be affected.
Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications at Sears Holding, issued the following comment:
“We can confirm that we are making the difficult, but necessary decision to close the Sears store in Wilmington, NC. The store will close to the public in late June 2018. Until then, it will remain open for customers. The store began its liquidation sale on April 6,” Riefs said.
Rief said the Wilmington store was being closed because it was not profitable, “We have been strategically and aggressively evaluating our store space and productivity, and have accelerated the closing of unprofitable stores as previously announced. This is not an effort solely aimed at cost savings but is part of a strategy we have been executing against as many of our larger stores are too big for our needs. Having fewer stores – and the right format – will help us bring Sears Holdings to a size and place to meet the realities of the changing retail world.”
Rief also commented on members of Sears Holding’s “Shop Your Way” program.
“We understand that members may be disappointed when we close a store, but our Shop Your Way membership platform, websites and mobile apps allow us to maintain these valued relationships long after a store closes its doors. As a result, we hope to retain a portion of the sales previously associated with this store by maintaining our relationships with the members who shopped this location,” Reif said.
Reif added that members and customers can also shop at our other Sears locations, which are listedat https://www.sears.com/stores.html. Reif said eligible associates from the Wilmington Sears “will receive severance and have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Sears or Kmart stores.”
Send comments and tips to Benjamin Schachtman at ben@localvoicemedia.com, @pcdben on Twitter, and (910) 538-2001.
