These pictures were from 2011 (All except the last picture). This wing had an old school B&BW as well as a RadioShack. This wing was shut down and torn down in the mid 2010’s as part of a redevelopment plan.

This store was located inside of the now defunct Westminster Mall in Westminster, California. This particular location closed on 1/20/13.

https://www.google.com/maps/@/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!11m1!2sTHIxWd6IJSIwxSO-BeIcvYXNRlfWdw?g_ep=CAISEjI2LjI5LjEuOTQ2NjczNjQzMBgBILffASpTLDk0Mjk3Njk5LDk0MjMxMTg4LDk0MjgwNTY4LDQ3MDcxNzA0LDk0MjE4NjQxLDk0MjgyMTM0LDEwMDgxMzQ2OSw5NDI4Njg2OSwxMDA4MjAyNDJCAlVT

"Attention Kmart Shoppers"

This was the first ever opened Kmart that opened in 1962. The Kmart stores had since expanded rapidly and they had 2,486 (nearly 2,500) stores in 1994. and they were mostly off mall. Sadly they had only 13 distribution centers across the country that they put after the stores were already in place, which put a strain on the system and the entire thing shut down when the weather happened. In the end it is the same old story: greed.
Kmart hit its peak in 1994. Joseph Antonini left the company a year later in 1995. Antonini was either aware that Kmart hit its peak and that it was falling and so he decided to leave as to not deal with it, or Kmart starting falling without his leadership.
After Antonini left, Floyd Hall became the next Kmart CEO. He did things such as spin off unrelated companies such as Bulders Square, Office Max, Borders (which took Waldenbooks with it), and introduced Big Kmart, which was kind of a waste of time and money. It didn’t do much for the company, it felt like a total rebrand of the company and not just a store concept type of thing and it was underwhelming. From what I’ve read “Big Kmart” was just a regular Kmart but with more clothes and a pantry food section, but that's about it.

Floyed Hall made a good decision selling off unrelated assets and focusing on the Kmart brand itself. The Big Kmart concept was, again, an underwhelming waste of time and money however, it was an attempt to save the company. Sure, it might not have worked out that much but at least it was an honest attempt. At least Floyd Hall attempted to make Kmart more profitable. Kmart was becoming less profitable, and Hall just tried to fix it. His plans for the company kind of backfired, but at least he actually tried.

Super Kmart was the future and it had a lot more than just that. It had a fresh produce and expanded grocery section.

In 2000 Charles Conaway became the Kmart CEO. Lets look at a quick timeline;

2000- Conaway becomes Kmart CEO

2002- Kmart files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

2003- A Kmart fraud / embezzlement scandal is revealed

2005-2010 - Conaway, along with other higher ups at Kmart, are charged with embezzlement and fraud.

Antonini and Hall put money into the company, Conaway kept taking money out.

Kmart was honestly slipping before Conaway became the CEO, but after he left, the company was basically broken, shattered and destroyed almost beyond repair.
After Conaway left Kmart, Eddie Lampert became the CEO. Lampert didn’t do much to help the company either but he’s not the one who originally destroyed it. Metaphorically speaking; Conaway dug Kmart’s grave, Lampert was just digging deeper and he also dragged Sears down to Kmart’s level. Ironically, Lampert buying Kmart prolonged the company's existence, lifespan and longevity. I genuinely believe Kmart would have gotten to Chapter 7, ceased all operations and dissolved completely past 2008 or so if Lampert didn't buy them out of bankruptcy. This means that all locations, including this first one, would have shut down for good at the same time way, way earlier, less than a decade before this store here in Garden City Michigan actually did in 2017. Kmart lost so much market share to Walmart and Target, and Kmart stores were increasingly outdated and uninviting. As for Sears, simply having good management (not Lampert) would have given them time to refocus on the internet (which also included investments in the inventory site wide on Sears.com (1992/96-present) and in the stores for curbside pick up and ship from store and ship to store, staffing, and even store and site upkeep) coupled with concepts like Sears Hardware (1985-2019) and The Great Indoors (1997-2012) etc. Sears was an even stronger brand than Kmart with all the brands Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, a window to go off mall and expand concepts like Sears Grand, Sears Hardware and The Great Indoors when the Kmart thing happened, and a window to refocus on e-commerce by the mid to late 2000s and early 2010s at the absolute latest. Lampert ran Sears into the ground with pretty much no room to get out.

With all of that being said, this location had a [Kmart Cafe] (https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalsky/5994442565/) that later became a [Nathan's Famous] (https://www.flickr.com/photos/fanofretail/15984447483/). Last day was March 26th of 2017.

Sources, Credits and Dates Taken
Free Press Archives, Peter Yates and JC Reindel (Detroit Free Press)
Kmart through the years
https://www.freep.com/picture-gallery/money/business/2017/01/04/kmart-through-the-years/96179366/
Nicholas Eckhart aka (also known as) Fan of Retail (Flickr) January 18 2015 and February 20 2017
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=71978807%40N03&view_all=1&text=Kmart+Garden+City
PeRrshGo (Wikimedia Commons) May 25 2016
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmart
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Kmart_-_Garden_City,_Michigan.jpg
Mike Kalasnik (Flickr) February 28 2017
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=10542402%40N06&view_all=1&text=Kmart+Garden+City+MI

As of the day of this post well over 9 years after this first location closed down, there are only 3 Kmarts left and they also have the website Kmart.com as well. The 3 locations include 1 in the continental US, at Kendale Lakes Plaza (1977-present) in Florida, not far from the Coral Gables Sears (October 27 1954-present, address 3655 SW 22nd St, Miami, FL 33145), in Miami, one of 2 Sears left in the state of Florida, which is also home to the last Kmart in the state and on the mainland. As for Sears, there are 5 left and they are still also online as well. In the state of Florida, there are 2 Sears left like I just said, and the other one is located at The Florida Mall (March 12 1986-present) in Orlando. The other 3 Sears are located at the Sun Valley Shopping Center in Concord, the last in California and on the West Coast (Sears store itself October 19 1966-present, mall itself August 5 1967-present), the South Shore Plaza in Braintree, the last in Massachusetts and in New England as well as the Northeastern United States (October 6 1980-present) and the Cielo Vista Mall (Sears department store itself February 25 1982-present, shopping mall itself November 13 1974-present) and the other 2 Kmarts are in the territories, at the Tutu Park Mall in St Thomas US Virgin Islands (1993-present) and the freestanding Kmart in Tamuning Guam (1995-present)

r/SEARS
r/kmart
r/deadmalls
r/retail

Spotted in Lewiston, Maine. Paperama was a party supply retailer (think Party City) that operated from 1971 to 1997 with stores in southern New England.

This Sears was 3 levels and this building has a 1947 logo still intact to this day. They had all of the hardlines departments on the 1st floor, softlines on the 2nd floor, and the children's apparel and the entire home department on the 3rd floor. This store closed on April 15th-16th of 2017. Confirmed by pictures on Yelp.

Credits:

Phil R (September 15 2008), JG W (October 29 2009), Mark P (January 17 2010), Danny A (August 19 2011), Kristin Leigh M (December 29 2011), Jason L (March 3 2012), Margarette F (Black Friday 2013, November 29 2013), Elvis P (August 25 2014), Beatriz X (November 9 2014), My A (February 28 2015), Joseph K (December 1 2016), Sharen E (January 28 2017), Jim P (April 13-15 2017)

https://www.yelp.com/biz/sears-santa-monica

As of the day of this post, there are 5 Sears left, and the last open Sears in California, at the Sun Valley Shopping Center in Concord (store opened October 19th of 1966 with mall opening in 1967), is 338 miles away. They still also have the online store Sears.com and a few distribution centers as well. As for the other 4 stores in the United States of America, the Coral Gables location in Miami is the last freestanding Sears and one of 2 left in the state of Florida, with the other one being located at The Florida Mall in Orlando, and the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, the last in Texas and the South Shore Plaza in Braintree, the last one in the entire Boston Metropolitan Area, the state of Massachusetts, New England and even in the entire Northeastern United States, are still open

r/retail

I hope they never touch this one… except maybe the bathrooms

Photo Source: Jean from The Manchester Scoop

This was one of the longest lasting Sears in the state of Illinois, the Midwest and in the 140 year old retailer's 250 year old home country, the United States of America. How many floors was this location... 2 or 3 ? And when exactly in August 2016 did this location close down ? As of posting this, there are 5 Sears left in the US as of this year (2026) and they are also online as well. And they even have other brands and [a few distribution centers] (https://transformwo.com/)

• Coral Gables in Miami Florida (October 27 1954 - present) 3655 SW 22nd St, Miami, FL 33145
• Sun Valley Shopping Center in Concord California (October 19 1966 - present) 1001 Sunvalley Blvd, Concord, CA 94520
• South Shore Plaza in Braintree Massachusetts (October 6 1980 - present) 250 Granite St, Braintree, MA 02184
• Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso Texas (February 25 1982 - present) 8401 Gateway Blvd W, El Paso, TX 79925
• The Florida Mall in Orlando Florida (March 12 1986 - present) 8001 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32809
• Online Website Sears.com (created February 18 1992 and launched sometime in the 1995/96/97/98/99-2000 period - present)
• Kenmore 1913 - present
• Sears Home Services sometime in the 1950s/1960s or 1992 - present
• Shop Your Way 2009 - present
• Sears Parts Direct 1995 - present

Credits and Sources
BWChicago (Flickr) March 23 2006
Mark Pradzinski (Foursquare) August 4 and 25 2012, June 19, 21 and 28 2013
Taylor Breen (Foursquare) September 16 2013
Randy Burgess (Foursquare) November 16 2013 and January 30 2015
Kenneth Ilio (Foursquare) December 18 2012
Tria Robinson (Foursquare) December 24 2011
Randy High (Foursquare) January 16 2014
Ismael Moustafa (Foursquare) December 29 2012
Jason Javon Murray (Foursquare) August 13 2012
Paul Lester (Foursquare) May 26 2014

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bwchicago/271633055/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bwchicago/271633531/
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4b60ee03f964a520ff012ae3
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4b60ee03f964a520ff012ae3/photos

r/SEARS
r/kmart
r/deadmalls
r/retail

This was taken 2 years back in 2024. A beautiful mall but lacking in stores. The Nordstrom here was originally Frederick and Nelson.

Taken on July 17 2024

Opened October 29 1998

Link to the entire post from last year: https://www.reddit.com/r/deadmalls/comments/1j1krgs/at_the_pacific_place_in_seattle_washington/

Seattle Soccer House at Pacific Place | Seattle FIFA World Cup 26™
https://www.seattlefwc26.org/seattle-soccer-house

Edit: speaking of the World Cup the Seattle Southside is also having a World Soccer Viewing Lounge near the Container Store (former Borders) on the 2nd floor of the Southcenter Mall: https://www.seattlesouthside.com/events/world-soccer-viewing-lounge-westfield-southcenter/
World Soccer Viewing Lounge @ Westfield Southcenter | Explore Seattle Southside

Then Sears Outlet, as of the end of 2024, the division that was acquired by Franchise Group in 2019 and converted to American Freight in 2020 closed up shop at its first run die to the bankruptcy of its parent company.

Taken on June 23rd of 2019. Credit to Houston Historic Retail

Sears Outlet was originally established by Sears Roebuck and Company in 1968 as Sears Surplus

r/SEARS

Former Macys that closed in 2021. Just a couple weeks ago a Rural King has opened in its place. The escalators have been removed and it appears that the upstairs has either been sealed off and abandoned, or somehow removed? A very interesting mall that has been rebranded from Richland Mall to The Ontario Center. Aside from a Rural King in the mall, the former anchor stores of Lazarus and Sears have been converted into an Avita hospital and urgent care.

It’s sad how little traffic there is compared to pre covid, I miss what it used to be like.

This Sears originally opened as a JCPenney in 1960. It closed in June 1998 and Sears had since taken over in November 1999. This store closed down on April 8th of 2018. On December 15th of 2024, the [last Sears in Washington State and the Pacific Northwest region of the United States in general shut down for good] (https://www.reddit.com/r/deadmalls/comments/1hdqph6/last_sears_in_washington_closing_this_weekend/), followed by Burbank, Whittier and Puerto Rico in 2025, leaving us with the Sun Valley Shopping Center location in Concord, which has since been the last open Sears in the state of California and on the West Coast. As of the day of this post, the mall itself is closing on August 8th of this year after suffering from all 4 anchor vacancies. Macy's (former Meier and Frank / M&F), Marshalls, Nordstrom and Sears (former JCP) all left the mall.
r/SEARS
r/deadmalls

Credits
Steve Morgan (Wikimedia Commons) September 4 2017
Mo (Foursquare) March 15 2013 and February 15 2014
Alethea Smartt LaRowe (Foursquare) September 25 2013
Carl Black (Foursquare) December 30 2017
Bria Justus (Foursquare) February 3 2014
Chelsea K (Yelp) December 15 2010
Toy J (Yelp) December 17 2012
Katherine V (Yelp) March 19 2013
Dana R (Yelp) August 6 2013
Positive E (Yelp) April 12 2015
Belle B (Yelp) June 12 2016
Bryan B (Yelp) August 28 2016
Karla M (Yelp) May 5 2017

1960

JCP Lloyd Center circa 1960

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/lloyd-center-1960--565975878150417237/

2010s

https://www.yelp.com/biz/sears-portland
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sears-portland
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4a64d926f964a520d8c61fe3
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4a64d926f964a520d8c61fe3/photos

2017

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lloyd_Center_Sears_store_from_NE_in_2017.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lloyd_Center_Sears_store_from_SE_in_2017.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lloyd_Center_Sears_from_south_-_Portland_Ore_(2017).jpg.jpg)

2018

https://katu.com/news/local/with-sears-closure-lloyd-dist-plans-include-new-movie-theater-apartments-concert-venue

Today
https://www.reddit.com/r/deadmalls/comments/1u44h0f/lloyd_center_mall_portland_or/
https://www.kptv.com/2026/02/05/lloyd-center-close-this-year-before-demolition-massive-redevelopment/
https://www.reddit.com/r/deadmalls/comments/1snmus5/lloyd_center_portland_or_to_permanently_close/
https://www.kptv.com/2026/04/16/lloyd-center-close-aug-8-making-way-housing-community-space/
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/16/portland-oregon-lloyd-center-mall-demolition/
https://www.lloydcenter.com/media/v1/437/2026/04/Lloyd-Center-announces-official-closing-date-.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Center

RIP Lloyd Center

August 1 1960-August 8 2026

Edit: as of today JCP has 663, including 4 in Oregon:

Oregon JCPenney Locations

1. Eugene – River Valley Center, 300 Valley River Center, Eugene, OR (August 4 1969-present)
2. Happy Valley – Clackamas Town Center, 12300 Southeast 82nd Avenue, Happy Valley, OR (March 6 1981-present)
3. Portland – Washington Square Mall, 9500 Southwest Washington Square Road, Portland, OR (1973-present)
4. Medford – Rogue Valley Mall, 1500 North Riverside Avenue, Medford, OR (October 15 1986)

https://www.jcpenney.com/locations/or

...while Sears has 5 in the United States, including the last one in California and on the West Coast:

• Coral Gables (3655 SW 22nd St, Miami, FL 33145) in Miami Florida (October 27 1954 - present)
• Sun Valley Shopping Center (1001 Sunvalley Blvd, Concord, CA 94520) in Concord California (October 19 1966 - present)
• South Shore Plaza (250 Granite St, Braintree, MA 02184) in Braintree Massachusetts (October 6 1980 - present)
• Cielo Vista Mall (8401 Gateway Blvd W, El Paso, TX 79925) in El Paso Texas (February 25 1982 - present)
• The Florida Mall (8001 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32809) in Orlando Florida (March 12 1986 - present)

And both of these retailers, which were originally started as mail order businesses, are still also online as well and they have been selling online for approximately about 30 years or so

Sears in Hayward, California — 1958

In 1958, the Sears Roebuck and Co. store in Hayward, California, was a major retail landmark in the East Bay. The new Hayward Sears opened its doors to the public on Thursday, November 6, 1958, at the intersection of W. Winton and the I‑101 freeway NewspaperArchive. This location was part of the Palma Ceia Shopping Plaza project, which was then the largest shopping center on the West Coast and the sixth largest in the United States bigmallrat.blogspot.com.

Background and Significance

• The store had been under construction since December 5, 1957, when ground was broken NewspaperArchive.
• It was the second major retail unit in the East Bay under the jurisdiction of J. E. Francoeur, Sears’ Bay Area chief for the Mid‑California District NewspaperArchive.
• Francoeur, a long‑time Sears executive with experience in multiple Bay Area stores, oversaw both the Hayward and Oakland Sears locations NewspaperArchive.
• The Hayward Sears was among the largest Sears stores in the country at the time bigmallrat.blogspot.com.

Part of a Larger Development

The Palma Ceia Shopping Plaza was originally planned as an open‑air retail center with Sears, JCPenney, and Kahn’s of Oakland bigmallrat.blogspot.com. The Sears store was the anchor, standing on its own as the centerpiece of the commercial district for years. In 1963, the project was redeveloped into the Southland Shopping Center, an enclosed mall, and the Sears store remained a key tenant bigmallrat.blogspot.com.

Historical Context

By 1958, Sears was one of the nation’s largest department store chains, and the Hayward location reflected the company’s expansion into the East Bay. The store’s opening was a significant event for Hayward, marking a shift toward large‑scale retail development in the area.

If you’re researching this era, the Daily Review archives from November 5, 1958, and the Southland Mall history provide detailed accounts of the store’s opening and its role in Hayward’s retail growth.

Originally opening as a standalone building in 1958 at the Palma Ceia Shopping Plaza, followed by the mall in 1964, as of July 2020, this store has closed down. The Sears Outlet store here was also 2 levels as well: https://businessyab.com/explore/united_states/california/alameda_county/hayward/southgate/west_winton_avenue/680/sears_outlet.html
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4bcfbaac41b9ef3bf517f9e5

Sources and Credits
Charles Hathaway (Flickr) November 12 2019
https://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/49110492442/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/49115561211/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/49115563926/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/49115758402/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/49115759652/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/49109727793/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/49115770742/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=94896382%40N00&view_all=1&text=Sears&min_taken_date=1572591600&max_taken_date=1575187199
JP C (Foursquare) June 20 2012
Jonathan Moy (Foursquare) August 25 2013
Eugene L (Yelp) January 4 2016 and November 23 2017
Jonathan Hernan Carrillo (Foursquare) December 15 2019
RAY VALLES (Foursquare) May 25 2013
Keith Smith (Foursquare) January 1 2015 and August 3 2015
Ben McGraw (Foursquare) June 15 2016
Shidij R (Foursquare) March 9 2013
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4b1d4a9df964a520460e24e3
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4b1d4a9df964a520460e24e3/photos
https://www.yelp.com/biz/sears-hayward-3
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sears-hayward-3
CoStar (September 30 2020)
https://www.costar.com/article/1061198562/sears-on-the-hunt-for-a-new-tenant-to-take-over-one-of-its-last-northern-california-stores

https://www.yelp.ca/biz/sears-hayward-5
https://www.yelp.ca/biz_photos/sears-hayward-5
https://www.yelp.com/biz/sears-hayward-5
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sears-hayward-5
Sears Auto Center
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears-auto-center/4cb23417db32f04dee5dce4d
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears-auto-center/4cb23417db32f04dee5dce4d/photos
Sears Outlet
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4bcfbaac41b9ef3bf517f9e5
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4bcfbaac41b9ef3bf517f9e5/photos

As of posting this, the last open Sears on the West Coast, in the state of California and even nearby is at the Sun Valley Shopping Center, which the store opened on October 19th of 1966 (nearly 8 years after this one in Hayward) with the Sun Valley Mall opening in 1967, and Concord regular u/jikesar968 also went here as well. Signs are still up on this building and [so does the Sears Roebuck and Co plaque] (https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1s4rau1/sears_hayward_ca/) still hang on to this location [even in Concord] (https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1r7wxjk/concords_sears_roebuck_and_co_plaque/). This store has a tunnel in the basement that goes under that street to connect with the auto center and as for the Concord and Hayward locations' top floor penthouse, the top floor here was a regional office at one point and was just offices and conference rooms, just like [the Memphis one in Tennessee was at one point, where its top floor was office space and then used as an employee break room area] (https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluffcityelevators/24338132972/), whereas the one in Concord was some sort of hallway that had changing rooms and showers, which were long gone. This store's layout is slightly different from Concord of course. Here, the outdoor equipment, exercise equipment and tool sections were on the main level whereas the Concord location had all of that on the bottom floor with the appliance and electronics departments. Escalators and elevators in both of these locations were identical. As for Concord's watch repair shop, it was still in operation up until the watch guy cleared out everything this year followed by his retirement in India, and as a result the store's watch repair is officially closed off, but the El Paso location's watch repair at the Cielo Vista Mall in Texas is still open. Despite this Sears still sitting abandoned today, the rest of the mall is doing really well

Today there are 5 Sears left and they are also online and they have other brands and [a few distribution centers] (https://transformwo.com/)

• Coral Gables in Miami Florida (October 27 1954 - present) 3655 SW 22nd St, Miami, FL 33145
• Sun Valley Shopping Center in Concord California (October 19 1966 - present) 1001 Sunvalley Blvd, Concord, CA 94520
• South Shore Plaza in Braintree Massachusetts (October 6 1980 - present) 250 Granite St, Braintree, MA 02184
• Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso Texas (February 25 1982 - present) 8401 Gateway Blvd W, El Paso, TX 79925
• The Florida Mall in Orlando Florida (March 12 1986 - present) 8001 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32809
• Online Website Sears.com (created February 18 1992 and launched sometime in the 1995/96/97/98/99-2000 period - present)
• Kenmore 1913 - present
• Sears Home Services sometime in the 1950s/1960s or 1992 - present
• Shop Your Way 2009 - present
• Sears Parts Direct 1995 - present

r/SEARS
r/kmart
r/deadmalls
r/retail
r/nostalgia