Sears to close Shoreline store

The Aurora store opened in 1967
Photo courtesy City of Shoreline

By Diane Hettrick

In the fall, Sears closed all of its Canadian stores.

It had been a staple of malls and of small towns in Canada, often the only department store and the biggest employer within miles.

Now the troubled retailer is closing 103 stores in the United States - both Sears and KMart.

The company on Thursday, January 4 informed associates at 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores that we will be closing these stores between early March and early April 2018.

The Shoreline store in Aurora Square is one of those stores.

Eligible associates impacted by these store closures will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores.

Customers can use the store locator function on our websites to find the location of their nearest Kmart and Sears stores. 

The only KMart stores left in Washington are in Bellingham, Burlington, Chehalis, Kent, Spokane, and Walla Walla. The Chehalis store is closing.

The company has closed over 400 locations in the past year.

We will continue to close some unprofitable stores as we transform our business model so that our physical store footprint and our digital capabilities match the needs and preferences of our members.

The Aurora store is expected to close by April. Liquidation sales will begin as early as January 12.

Sears opened at Aurora Square in September 1967. In July of 2017, it sold its property to Merlone Geier, then leased back part of the space to continue store operations.

Corrected date - Sears property was sold in 2017, not 2016.