Another year has reached its end, and the barren remains of Sears pushes on. We have repeatedly documented the state of Sears around the holiday season (2019, 2021, 2022) and each year it seems the stores become more empty. With 13 stores remaining (with even the strange twist of two reopening this year), it is more challenging to get to an open store, but this year we traveled to Jersey City, New Jersey.
Sears in Jersey City
The Sears at the Newport Centre or Newport Mall in Jersey City, New Jersey opened in 1987. It is located in a unique mall with a very urban feel in its location very close to New York City and with access to trains and bus lines nearby and several massive parking garages for the shopping center. Sears is an anchor along with AMC Theaters, JCPenney, Macy’s and Kohl’s.
The mall itself is a very busy retail hub and overall seems to be successful and thriving, however, the Sears, even during the holiday season, seemed pretty empty and low on inventory. The second floor of the Sears was closed with signage indicating that this was due to remodeling. However, speculation has been that the second floor of this Sears will soon become a Primark store.
There were a few employees on the floor but many signs of store neglect. At one point, I browsed the shoe section and noticed a shoe box that had a very dirty used pair of shoes in it that was clearly a result of a shoplifter swapping it out for a new pair. Who knows how long this went unnoticed. As always, duplicative inventory was spread out to fill space.
Why do these stores still exist anyway?
People wonder, with these stores looking so empty with few customers and associates, why are they even here? Since Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and reemerged as Transformco, it is technically a privately held company that does not have the transparency requirements of its publicly traded past. It is quite possible that these stores only exist due to lease or legal requirements, or to make the retail space seem marketable. After all, would it not be more appealing to take over a barely surviving retail space rather than a long vacant one?
Sears in 2024?
It looks like Sears has survived into another calendar year. They lost all of the Hometown stores in 2023 but, as we previously stated, re-opened two of their previously closed full-line stores. We will look forward to watching the slowest ever disappearing act as we move into 2024 and see where the chain stands next year’s holiday season. Enjoy our video tour of the visit below:
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Sears at Christmas in 2019
Sears at Christmas 2021
Sears on Black Friday 2022
A Strange Twist: Is Sears actually reopening stores in 2023?
