http://baytownsun.com/news/article_30800282-c6ba-11e8-a5d7-3bc2e1d718d7.html
https://tylerpaper.com/news/local/sears-store-in-tyler-to-close-in-mid-december/article_33125020-b78f-11e8-b798-974725d9e249.html
I don't think there's been threads for either of these stores yet. The Baytown news just came out on Oct 3, though they started liquidating 2 weeks prior. Tyler hit the news in advance, but started liquidating the same time Baytown did.
"Even today, this store [Baytown] is the 3rd or 4th most profitable in the company."
WOW! Of all the locations to close! My understanding was that Sears had the right to stay there and make the San Jac mall redevelopment happen around them, but I guess they finally got a big enough buyout offer and didn't have the money to start over in a rebuilt building like the other anchors there are.
Our store manager drives a 15-year-old Honda Accord with missing hubcaps and an oxidized paint job complete with peeling clearcoat. Even most of the part timers have a better-looking car than his. One of our assistant managers doesn't even drive. Rumor is she lost her license to a DUI charge. They're not the brightest bulbs. They sit in the office all day and do nothing.
Yes, how the mighty have fallen.
What a shame. I opened that Baytown store 36 years ago. Even today, this store is the 3rd or 4th most profitable in the company. I can still see the 1981 store. in my mind's eye as I spent so much time there. It was beautiful and state of the art for the time. The SGM drove a Cadillac, was president of the Chamber of Commerce and was seen as a leader in the community. He was also a very nice person. A far cry from the semi-literate id--ts who call themselves Sears managers today. How the mighty have fallen.
The mall is being redeveloped and largely torn down. Sears, Macy's, and JCPenney were the stumbling blocks to redevelopment. Word is the Macy's and JCPenney will be moving into new locations in the revitalized mall. Sears, well......relegated to the sc-ap heap of history.