After serving shoppers from around Chicagoland for decades, Illinois’ last remaining Sears store is closing its doors for good this weekend.
The department store at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg will close Sunday after 50 years at the popular suburban shopping center.
Transformco, the chain’s parent company, announced the closure in mid-September. The company said it would look for ways to revive the space with another tenant because it also manages the real estate.
Sears Holdings, which also owned Kmart, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2018. Transformco later acquired Sears out of bankruptcy and has since closed dozens of the remaining Sears and Kmart locations across the United States.
Photos: The Final Months at Woodfield Mall’s Sears, Illinois’ Last Location
In September, a spokesperson for Transformco declined to confirm how many Sears and Kmart stores were still open. At the time, the company’s website listed 35 Sears locations, including the one at Woodfield Mall, and 22 Kmart stores.
Sears was founded in Chicago in the 1890s. Its business blossomed through much of the 20th century, as it sold everything from homes to apparel. Sears was once the largest retailer in the nation, boasting thousands of stores.
The company had about 700 stores, many of them barren of goods, when it filed for bankruptcy protection.
Scott Carr, president of Transformco’s real estate division, previously said in a statement that the company plans to maximize the value of the Woodfield Mall property through a redevelopment.