Sears Holdings to close 40 more stores during bankruptcy, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

I have more news on the Sears Holdings bankruptcy, the first since I posted Sam Seder on the Sears bankruptcy, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse two weeks ago.  Wochit News reported Thursday Sears To Close Another 40 Stores.

Sears is closing another 40 stores Sears and Kmart stores, reports Business Insider. The closings are in addition to the 142 stores planned to close before the end of the year. The new list of closings, scheduled for February, will bring Sears' store count to around 500. Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, after years of closing stores and selling assets. This will bring Sears' total store count down to around 500, down from nearly 2,000 stores in 2013.

Eric of Retail Archeology included the Arizona location in Paradise Valley Mall: More Trouble In Paradise | Retail Archaeology Dead Mall Tour.

In this episode we return to Paradise Valley Mall a year later to see how things are going there.

He expressed surprise that the store was as well-maintained as it was while still having so little business and expected it would be on a store closing list soon.  Sure enough, it was.  I left a comment on the video reporting the closure and told him I was looking forward to his coverage of the liquidation sale.

Another store on the list is in the Lakeview Square Mall in Battle Creek, Michigan.  Its closure does not come as a surprise, either, as WOOD-TV reported in March of last year Sears struggles may mean trouble for Battle Creek mall.

Lakeview Square Mall in Battle Creek is looking at losing all three of its anchor stores.

With the Sears location closing, Lakeview Mall will have lost all of its anchors by early next year.  While this has been a long time in the making, hope is not lost as WWMT reported yesterday Battle Creek city leaders develop new plans to re-vitalize Lakeview Square Mall.

City leaders admit the loss of Sears is a problem, but they are not giving up hope and have a unique plan they think will help Lakeview Square Mall grow.
...
"Obviously we are very disappointed to see Sears depart the mall. It's been a long time anchor there," said Battle Creek Assistant City Manager Ted Dearing.

Dearing knows the score and has been working on a plan to change Lakeview Square. To keep it viable, he thinks there needs to be more specialty mom-and-pop shops that you can see from the outside. He also thinks the mall needs to open itself up to more non traditional uses.

"That's some of what we've been working on with the mall. We brought them a skate park that we thought was a good fit there. It seems to have worked out really well but it isn't a traditional retail use," Dearing said.

Dearing said the city is working to bring a hotel to the mall, but some hurdles need to be addressed.

I wish this group of Crazy Eddies luck; they're going to need it.