Small cities and their malls brace for pending Sears store closures
VANCOUVER — At Heritage Place Mall in Owen Sound, Ont., an empty Sears department store would leave a mammoth void. The insolvent retailer is one of the mall’s largest occupants. More than 60 people work in the anchor tenant’s roughly 6,500 square metres, a space big enough to fit 14 basketball courts.
If the court approves Sears Canada’s bid to liquidate its roughly 130 remaining stores, the decision will send shoppers, employees and mall owners in Owen Sound and dozens of other smaller Canadian cities scrambling to find alternative shopping destinations, jobs and tenants.
“My first reaction was: Oh, crap,” said Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy of hearing the nearly 30-year-old location, is likely to close soon.
“We’re pretty disappointed.”