Sears, The Garden Gate in Pompano Beach are closing
Sears and The Garden Gate in Pompano Beach are closing Dec. 16.
Sears and The Garden Gate in the Pompano Citi Centre are closing Dec. 16.
A Sears spokesman confirmed the store, at 2251 N. Federal Highway in Pompano Beach, was closing to the SunSentinel.
Sears Holdings sold the property to an affiliate of the Sterling Organization of Palm Beach, it was reported in May, but had not announced it was closing the now nearly empty anchor store. Final sale items are 40 percent to 70 percent off. It was not immediately known how many staff members will be affected by the closing. Sterling, a private equity real estate firm that owns the mall and the Shops of Kendall, is finalizing leases with two national retailers, but declined to name them, said spokeswoman Dana Verhelst. She said the space would be occupied in early 2020.
Sears sold the building to Pompano City Centre for $11.75 million in December 2017, property records show.
The Garden Gate native garden center leased the space outside of the north entrance of Sears since 1997. Items are now 50 percent off, and owner Donna Torrey is planning a farewell party
from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, serving refreshments and giving away plants, she said.
Torrey has taken a job at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Commercial Horticulture program in Davie, she said.
"Those of you who have come this past month, using your 'green cards' or just as a show of support for our 21 years here, have made my heart melt with your kind words. It has been a tremendous blessing to serve you over the years and I am so very thankful, Torrey wrote in a farewell note in her newsletter.
Illinois-based Sears Holdings has been closing hundreds of Sears and Kmart stores as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filed in October. It also has been selling off its real estate and the venerable Craftsman brand as it tries to raise cash.
Currently, there are eight Sears department stores in South Florida including in Palm Beach Gardens, Boynton Beach, Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, Hialeah, Miami and Cutler Bay. There are five Kmart stores in Boca Raton, Lantana and Hollywood, and two in Miami.
As part of the October bankruptcy filing, Sears announced it was closing 142 stores, including a Kmart on Eighth Street in Miami. A Sears on 107th Avenue in Doral was included in a 40-store closing announcement in August. The Westfield Broward Mall Sears in Plantation closed this summer as the chain shuttered more than 100 stores nationally. Sears at Town Center at Boca Raton closed in April as part of 40 store closings in 24 states.