Sears will close Arden Fair mall store, hit by e-commerce competition and COVID-19
Longtime national retail chain store Sears will close its Arden Fair store on April 15, Arden Fair officials said Monday.
The Sears chain is among many retailers hit hard by online e-commerce expansion over the past decade and by shutdowns related to the COVID-19 virus over the past year.
Sears did not respond to a request for information about the closure on Monday.
However, Arden Fair mall executive Nathan Spradlin told The Bee Monday that Sears has confirmed its plans to close the store on that date.
It is the second major anchor retailer at Arden Fair to close in recent years, following the Nordstrom closure in May of 2020.
“I have been told that they have confirmed that they will be closing on April 15th and will start their pre-closing sale starting this Thursday,” Spradlin said.
He later added this official statement: “Arden Fair has been proud to have Sears be a part of our center for over 50 years. While it is sad to see this iconic retailer close, we have known this day was coming for over 5 years and are excited about the potential for this wing of the mall.
“With a large housing development underway adjacent to the Sears location, we see this as a launching point for the evolution of Arden Fair to meet the needs of the 21st century consumer.”
Forbes magazine reported earlier Monday that Sears plans to close 10 stories nationally in the coming weeks. Sears, whose parent company went bankrupt in late 2018, has closed hundreds of stores nationally since 2018, and is left with only a handful open.
The Sears store in Clovis, in Fresno County, was also listed on the closure list published by Forbes.
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 2:44 PM.