The last remaining Sears store in the New York area is closing, reducing the 138-year-old department store's U.S. footprint to just 12 stores.
At its peak as the world's largest retailer in 2011, Sears boasted approximately 4,000 locations worldwide, according to . Statista.
By 2014, that number had more than halved, according to data intelligence companies.
Currently, the Illinois-based company has just 12 locations nationwide and one in Puerto Rico.
Sears once had about 12 stores in New Jersey alone.
But the last store in Jersey City, just nine miles from Times Square, is closing.
That Sears in the Newport Center mall recently put up an “Explosive Event” poster and a sign that says, “Everything must be canceled!”According to locals, this location is planning to close its store permanently, so it will offer huge discounts of up to 70% patch.com Post.
It was not immediately clear when exactly the Sears would close.
A Sears representative for TransformCo, which acquired 425 Sears and Kmart stores in 2019, did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment.
Once it goes bankrupt, the closest Sears store for shoppers in New York and New Jersey will be in Braintree, Massachusetts, more than 355 miles away.
Dave & Buster's, an arcade and sports bar, will be moving into part of the two-story Sears space at Newport Center Mall, it has been reported. Another Patch.com reportsaid a person familiar with the matter.
Patch says affordable clothing retailer Primark may also occupy part of the building.
Sears has been trying to survive since filing for bankruptcy in October 2018.
The company emerged from Chapter 11 proceedings four years later after more than 10,000 court filings, reducing its portfolio from about 700 stores to less than 20.
In 2022, the bankruptcy estate's reorganization plan goes into effect, marking the end of Chapter 11 and the beginning of the process of liquidating remaining assets.
In its heyday, Sears advertised itself as “America's Store,” boasting product lines featuring supermodel Cheryl Tiegs and “Charlie's Angels” star Jaclyn Smith.
At its peak, Sears (officially Sears, Roebuck & Co.) was the world's largest retailer, with approximately 3,500 Sears and Kmart stores, including 2,350 full-line and off-mall stores and 1,100 specialty retailers. It had a
Sears also had a portfolio of prominent brands and operating businesses, including Kenmore, DieHard, Craftman, Sears Home Services, Sears Auto Centers, and Innovel.
For reference, retail rival Walmart had over 3,000 stores at the time, including 1,353 discount stores and 1,713 supercenters.
Mr. Lampert, the former chairman of Kmart Holdings, bought Sears for $11 billion in March 2005 in an effort to keep the company in check against brick-and-mortar competitors such as Walmart and e-commerce competitors such as Amazon.
At the time of the merger, Transformco, the Sears/Kmart conglomerate, had annual sales of $55 billion, one-fifth of Walmart's 2004 fiscal year total of $256 billion.
Amazon's annual sales in 2005 were $2.54 billion.
Since then, the e-commerce giant has become the world's largest online retailer, earning $554 billion in 2023, up more than 10% year over year.
Walmart ended 2023 with an impressive total revenue of $611 billion.
TransformCo is a privately held company and does not report financial results.
