Sears closes its last store in Illinois

The last Sears store left in Illinois will close for good in November.

Transformco, parent company of the storied but embattled retailer that was founded in Chicago in 1893, announced the decision Thursday, Crain’s reported.

The location was in the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg.

Transformco is discussing plans to redevelop the two-level nearly 250,000-square-foot space and is negotiating with retailers, the report noted. The company also owns the parking lot and auto center nearby.

Sears has been a key tenant of the Woodfield Mall since it opened in 1971, according to Crain’s. The mall itself is actually named for Sears Chairman Robert Wood as well as entrepreneur Marshall Field.

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With the Sears location closing, Schaumburg Mayor Tom Dailly said it was the end of an era. Sears, he said, has been a major presence in the village, in Chicago and in the nation.

“It’s going to be sad to see that close. I grew up with Sears. I have Sears appliances. All my tools are Sears,” he told the Daily Herald.

Sears, the country’s largest retailer until the 1990s, filed for bankruptcy in 2018 in part after its inability to shift into the e-commerce market.

Another Sears store in Six Corners in Chicago closed its doors the same year. City planners are discussing rezoning that property for redevelopment. Clark Street Real Estate and Ryan Companies have proposed a renovation project that would convert the building into a residential property.

[Crain’s, Daily Herald] — Victoria Pruitt