Sears Closing Last Department Store In Illinois

SCHAUMBURG, IL — Though Sears was founded here, and its corporate headquarters are based in Hoffman Estates, there will soon no longer be any large department stores in Illinois. The last one, located at Woodfield Mall in Schamburg, is closing on Nov. 14.

Parent company Tranformco, which also owns Kmart, made the announcement last week as part of a corporate plan to "redevelop and reinvigorate the property."

Larry Costello, director of public relations for Transformco, told Patch that the Woodfield Sears is not the last Sears store in the state with Sears Hometown stores still open. Sears Hometown stores are primarily operated by independent dealers or franchisees of an affiliate of Transformco.

"In total, there are more than 300 large and small format Sears and Kmart stores nationwide, including 11 in Illinois," Costello said. "In addition, Transformco is very focused on growing sears.com and the Sears Home Services business."

Sears, founded in Chicago in 1892, was the largest retailer in the United States through the 1980s. In recent years, most of the retail store locations have closed since the former parent company, Sears Holdings, filed for bankruptcy in 2018. Transformco began acquiring parts of that company the following year.

In the last 15 years, Sears and Kmart have closed more than 3,500 stores.

Earlier this month, Sears celebrated 50 years as an anchor at Woodfield Mall.

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Transformco said details of any redevelopment at the Woodfield Mall location will be announced as "go forward plans are finalized." Transformco is in active negotiations with best-of-class retailers for the Schaumburg location.

“With redevelopment of this location focused primarily on retail use, we intend to reinvigorate and maximize the value of the real estate while enhancing the consumer experience with popular retailers that fit the regional draw of Woodfield Mall,” Scott Carr, president of Real Estate for Transformco, said in a statement.