BANGOR TOWNSHIP, MI — After 24 years at the Bay City Mall, Sears is closing, and many MLive readers say another department store should take its place.
Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications for Sears Holdings, said the Sears store, located at 4125 E. Wilder Road at the Bay City Mall in Bangor Township, is closing its doors in mid-January.
The store sells apparel, jewelry, shoes, appliances, tools, electronics, lawn and garden merchandise and fitness merchandise, among other things. It also has a portrait studio and optical department.
Related: Sears official: Company to close anchor store at Bay City Mall after holiday shopping season
A liquidation sale at the store is to begin Friday, Oct. 31, Riefs said.
We asked MLive readers what kind of store they'd like to see take the place of Sears at the Bay City Mall. The poll garnered 594 votes as of Friday, Oct. 24.
Here are the results so far:
With Bay City Mall anchor store Sears closing, what would you like to see take its place?
- Another department store (such as Macy's) 37.04 percent (220 votes)
- An outdoor store (calling Bass Pro Shops) 33.33 percent (198 votes)
- A specialty grocery store (Hey, Trader Joes!) 29.63 percent (176 votes)
One reader suggested a computer super store, another hopes Kohl's will come to the mall.
Do you agree? Take our poll here.
"Store closures are part of a series of actions we're taking to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base and accelerate the transformation of our business model," Riefs said in an email to The Bay City Times. "These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers and members through integrated retail — at the store, online and in the home."
Other anchor stores at the Bay City Mall are Target, Younkers and JC Penney.
— Heather Jordan covers business, Saginaw Valley State University, health and hospitals for MLive/The Saginaw News/The Bay City Times. She can be reached at 989-450-2652 or hjordan@mlive.com. For more news, follow her on Twitter and Facebook.