BEAVERCREEK SEARS STORE TO CLOSE
Store open normal hours before Sunday closure, but go early for best appliance deals, workers urge.
Sears at the Mall at Fairfield Commons will close Sunday, ending an era of Sears in the immediate Dayton market.
Employees at the Beavercreek store confirmed the location will close Sunday. Signs on doorways have also advertised it as the store’s “last 6 days.”
The employees said the store would be open normal hours this weekend, but that shoppers who want deals on appliances should go earlier.
It was first announced the store would close in late October after mall owners Washington Prime Group negotiated an early lease. The top floor of the Sears store will be a new RoomPlace furniture store, and the bottom floor will be occupied by entertainment concept Round1.
As consumer shopping habits change, stores have had to adjust. Some haven’t adjusted as quickly as others, leading to struggles to attract a loyal customer base and keep up with online sales.
Sears has been no stranger to shifts in shopping habits, as the chain has struggled over the last several years with declining sales and round after round of store closures. In total, the company has announced more than 228 store closures since summer.
The Sears at the Dayton Mall closed last month, and the Piqua store will close in February. The Piqua store, at 987 E. Ash St., began liquidation in mid-November and was part of a list of 40 additional stores set to close at that time.
The only Dayton-area Sears store expected to stay open is the Upper Valley Mall store in Springfield.
Sears filed for bankruptcy in October. The chain is looking for bidders in bankruptcy court to take over the 505 “go forward” stores.
In a court document filed in November, Sears listed 505 stores it hopes a buyer will keep open. Among that list were 17 Ohio Kmart and Sears stores, including Springfield’s Sears, one in Cincinnati and two near Columbus.
The last Kmart store in the Dayton area, on Woodman Drive, closed Oct. 1, 2017. Approximately 73 employees at that Kmart store were impacted by the closing.