Sears shutdown

Westfield mall site closing Sunday

Site likely to be replaced with bowling alley.

Sears at Plantation’s Westfield Broward Mall is closing Sunday — and the site could become a bowling alley.

Game Time — an entertainment venue with a bowling alley, restaurant and amusement arcade — is proposed for the repurposed Sears location, along with a fitness center, office space, and as many as eight restaurants and eight retail shops.

“The proposed development is part of the ‘demalling’ trend seen nationwide,” according to a memo written by Plantation city staff and the developer. “This trend involves converting department store spaces into better attractions for consumers. This proposal [is] part of a larger effort to get restaurants and entertainment in malls and make it more of an experience that will draw people in.”

Paul D’Arelli, senior vice president of Seritage Growth Properties, which is the company that bought 235 Sears and Kmart stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico in 2015, and leases the space back to them, told the Sun Sentinel last year the preliminary name of the project is “Plaza at Broward Mall.”

The plan is expected to come before the City Council on July 25 for a rezoning request, according to city staff.

“The City of Plantation currently lacks indoor entertainment venues for a city of its size and additional opportunities are needed for residents to be entertained closer to home without needing to leave the jurisdiction,” according to the memo.

Last winter, Seritage, the landlord for the Sears store announced the site would be reduced in size to make way for new shops, outdoor dining and entertainment space, including bowling and video games, according to records.

But in May, Sears announced plans to shutter 31

Sears and nine Kmart stores in 24 states, including the one in Plantation. Later that month, Sears Holdings said it would close another 63 unprofitable stores after another quarter of losses and slowing sales.

Now, with the closure of Sears at the Westfield Mall, the 209,609-square-foot site on two stories will be remodeled “by demising the existing floor areas into lifestyle restaurants and retailers on the first floor together with offices, a sports center and entertainment/amusement arcade use on the second floor,” according to records filed in June by Seritage.

The move is leaving some employees devastated.

Roxie Pelliccia, owner of Wonder Gardens, which has leased space out of the former Sears nursery for 29 years, said she doesn’t know what will happen to her shop.

“We haven’t found a place to go, we’ve been looking,” she said.