Sears — the original "everything for everyone" retailer — has filed for bankruptcy. Facing ongoing competition from Amazon, Walmart and other big-box retailers and specialty stores, Sears, Roebuck and Company, which was founded in 1892, plans to shutter another 142 stores.
Sears has a store in Alexandria's West End at the now-closed Landmark Mall. Sears and the Avis car rental company are the only businesses operating at the mall property, which is about to undergo a major redevelopment. (Carpenter's Shelter, which provides shelter and services for Alexandria's homeless, is using part of the former Macy's property while a new shelter is built across town.)
The Sears at Landmark Mall is not one of the Sears stores on the most recent Sears and K Mart store closures list.
As part of this bankruptcy, the K Mart in Springfield (6364 Springfield Plaza) will be closing. K Mart stores in Oxon Hill and Frederick. Maryland, and in Waynesboro and Williamsburg, Virginia will also close.
Sears stores in Columbia, Bowie and Westminster, Maryland will close, as will a Sears store in Hampton, Virginia.
As of last month, Seritage Growth Properties, which owns much of Sears real estate nationwide, and the Howard Hughes Corp., which owns the rest of the former Landmark Mall property, were working on a redevelopment agreement that would include the Sears property.
With full control of the entire site, Howard Hughes Corp.'s options for redevelopment are much wider. Redevelopment plans include a combination of retail, residential, office and public space. Inova is reportedly considering building a new facility there.
Seritage Growth Properties
A map outlining the Sears property at Landmark Mall.
Earlier this month, Washington Business Journal reported that with the mall site redevelopment, a Sears itself may not end up being part of the final project.
Seritage "has been redeveloping many former Sears properties into mixed-use developments that encompass retail, restaurants, even coworking spaces — but often do not include the department store itself," WBJ reported.
Meetings and more information about the redevelopment will be posted at www.alexandriava.gov/planning/info/default.aspx?id=90965 in the coming weeks. The next meeting of the Eisenhower West/Landmark Implementation Advisory Group is Nov. 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Cameron Station Great Room.
