Sears to close its last Chicago store

On Thursday afternoon The Chicago Tribune reported that Sears Holdings will close its last department store in Chicago by mid-July. Sears’ connection to Chicago goes back 1938, when the retailer opened its store at Six Corners. The Sears location was sold to real estate investment trust Seritage Growth Properties as part of 260 other locations in 2015.    

The store will go out of business in mid-July with the liquidation sale of its merchandise starting on April 27. Hundreds of Sears stores have been shuttered since 2017 due to slow sales and competition from retailers such as Walmart, Best Buy and Amazon.

Sears first moved its headquarters to Chicago from Minnesota in 1887 and established Sears Tower, then the world’s tallest building as its corporate headquarters in 1973.

“For more than 120 years, Sears has called Illinois home and that is not changing. Although we are disappointed by this last store closure in Chicago, by no means does this change our commitment to our customers and presence to Chicago’s residents,” Sears said in a statement.