Vancouver Mall Sears store set to close this year

Vancouver Mall is losing one of its original anchor stores this year, as Sears announced it will shutter another 46 stores ahead of the holidays.

The closure is the latest in a series of closures for the struggling retail company

VANCOUVER — Residents of Clark County will have one fewer big box retailer to choose from when it comes to this year’s Black Friday shopping binge.

Sears Holdings Corp., which also owns K-Mart, announced this week that they’ll be shutting down another 46 stores that have been losing money. That includes the Sears stores at Vancouver Mall, as well as Happy Valley, Ore. and a K-Mart in Gresham. In all, 33 more Sears stores will be closed, and 13 K-Marts. “We thank associates affected by these store closures for their many contributions to our company,” Sears Holdings Corp. said in a statement on their company website. “Eligible associates will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores.”

The latest round of store closings comes following Sears’ announcement in January that they would shutter 100 locations, followed by the announcement of another 100 closures last May as the company looks to streamline operations hurt by increased online shopping and changing habits by shoppers. “We continue to evaluate our network of stores, which is a critical component to our integrated retail transformation, and will make further adjustments as needed,” the company’s statement read. According to CNBC, the number of Sears and K-Mart locations in the U.S. has fallen from nearly 1,400 in 2016, to around 800 locations after this most recent round of closures.

Sears is reportedly considering a $400 million dollar bid from ESL Investments, a hedge fund run by Sears Holdings CEO Eddie Lampert, for their Kenmore appliance brand. Sears already sold its venerable Craftsman tool brand. The Sears location at Vancouver Mall has been there since the mall opened in 1977. The two other anchors at that time, Meier & Frank and Nordstroms, have already closed. They were replaced by Cinetopia and Gold’s Gym. Sears said liquidation sales will begin as soon as August 30 at locations that are being closed, with full closure happening sometime in November.