Sears Holding Corp., parent of the Sears and Kmart retail chains, filed for bankruptcy protection this past week in the hope of saving the iconic store that’s been part of American culture for more than a century.
The corporate office in Hoffman Estates is where many Fox Valley residents work. The Sears store at Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee has been spared for closure so far; 142 locations have not been so lucky.
It’s a tough situation to swallow given that it follows the closure of the Carson Pirie Scott and Toys R Us stores earlier this year.
“Sears was a part of my growing-up years,” area resident Pauline Curran said. “I used to wait for the Christmas Wish List catalog to show up at my home. I would circle every toy that I wanted from Santa.”
The jingle “Sears has everything” was true. A trip to the store was a weekly occurrence for my family in my childhood. We could pick up almost any clothing we needed, and it later became my go-to store for furniture and Kenmore appliances when I was a young adult.
“My family purchased husky jeans for my brother,” Curran said. “Sears was the only place we could buy jeans for him that would fit and last.”
In those days, the quality of the products never wavered. The stores were always crowded and customer service was outstanding.
Somehow, though, Sears lost sight of the reason why people went there. The quality started to deteriorate, although the prices stayed the same. People slowly stopped shopping at Sears.
One of the things people remember about Sears is that you could by kit houses through their catalog. They’d ship the materials and the buyer or a contractor would put the structure together.
Many of those homes were built in Elgin, and have been featured during the Gifford Park Annual House Walk. The homes were spacious enough for a family, included featured and had ceilings that were high for their time.
Although many retailers have closed their doors in recent years, and most people have stopped shopping at Sears some time ago, it still tugs on the heartstrings.
