Bay Area will have Sears' only West Coast store soon. But that may close too
The 139-year-old department store chain is set to close its Burbank location at the Burbank Town Center, according to an online job listing posted by its parent company Transformco, first noted by YouTuber Chris Cronin, who studies store closings. Elsewhere in Los Angeles County, the retailer closed its location in Whittier's Whittwood Town Center at the end of last month, according to the local news reports. Yelp and Google pages now list the store as closed.
The Concord location, which opened in 1967, became the retailer's sole outpost in the region when its nearby Stockton store closed in August 2024. After the Southern California closures, Sears will operate just five domestic stores in addition to Concord: two in Florida and one each in Massachusetts, Texas and Puerto Rico, according to the Mercury News.
But it appears that Sears does not plan to keep the Concord location open for long. A lease brochure posted to Transformco's website marks the store property as 'available' and a 'premiere East Bay location.'
Transformco did not respond to questions regarding the impending closures.
Once known for its catalogs featuring everything from bicycles to appliances to real estate, Sears began to face growing competition in the 1980s after the emergence of discount chains such as Walmart and appliance retailers including Lowe's and Home Depot. Online sellers such as Amazon accelerated this competition in the late '90s and early 2000s.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018, announcing plans to shutter 142 Sears and Kmart stores on top of dozens of unprofitable locations it had already begun to close that year. The impacts were felt throughout the Bay Area, as shoppers saw stores in San Rafael, San Jose, Santa Rosa and Pleasanton post closing signs.
It appears many consumers long abandoned hopes for the retailer's return. Recent reviews posted to the Concord location's Yelp page have reported empty shelves, delayed service and vacant store aisles.
A Yelp reviewer from Walnut Creek expressed surprise that the store was still open in January this year.
'But if you've been here lately, you know it won't be long before this one is gone,' the reviewer wrote.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
At Home is closing several stores, including one in Indiana
At Home is closing more stores, including one in Indiana, after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 16, according to an Aug. 1 statement by retail firm Hilco Consumer-Retail. No Indiana stores were included in the initial list of closures in court documents, but the retailer recently announced more locations would close. The store at 3175 W. Third St. in Bloomington will close by Sept. 30, 2025. As of Aug. 4, none of the following stores are listed as closing.
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Bankrupt home goods chain reopens formerly doomed stores
The home goods sector has suffered through economic havoc over the last two years as major retail chains have collapsed, liquidated, and shut down stores. Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 23, 2023, and liquidated its 360 Bed Bath & Beyond and 120 BuyBuy Baby stores. in June 2023 purchased Bed Bath & Beyond out of bankruptcy, changed the company's name to Beyond Inc. Then, in February 2025, the company Bed Bath & Beyond's former BuyBuy baby brand. Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sept. 9, 2024, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, seeking to sell its assets to stalking-horse bidder Nexus Capital Management for a $760 million bid. However, the deal fell through, and the debtor on Dec. 19, 2024, said it would shut down all 1,392 stores. Related: Iconic retail chain shuts down its remaining stores in bankruptcy Eight days later, Big Lots agreed to a transaction with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners that allowed for the transfer of stores, distribution centers, and intellectual property to other retailers and companies. Under the plan, Variety Wholesalers Inc. would purchase 200 to 400 Big Lots stores and operate them under the Big Lots brand, along with up to two distribution centers. The distress in the home goods sector has continued as At Home filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2025 and said it would close 26 stores. But the company couldn't seem to make up its mind on which stores to close, as it has twice decided to reopen stores it had planned to close. The home goods retailer, for the second time, changed its mind on closing two stores when it filed a notice on Aug. 1 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware removing its Dedham, Mass., and Leesburg, Va., stores from its closing list. At Home filed an earlier notice on July 15 to remove its Princeton, N.J., and Wauwatosa, Wis., stores from the closing list. Dedham, Wis. The debtor did not indicate reasons for cancelling the store-closing sales. The home goods retailer had included the stores on its original list of 26 stores to close, or 10% of its 260 locations in 40 states, during its bankruptcy case. The retailer already closed six stores in the 12 months preceding its bankruptcy filing, according to the debtor's motion to conduct store closing sales. More bankruptcy Major iconic food brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcyPopular Dairy Queen rival franchisee files Chapter 11 bankruptcyPopular vision care chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy The retail chain also added six stores to the closure list on Aug. 1, located in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Lake in the Hills, Ill.; Bloomington, Ind.; Ypsilanti, Mich.; Ocean Township, N.J.; and West Bountiful, Utah, for a new total of 28 stores to be closed. The 28 stores designated for closing in its bankruptcy are located in California (8), Illinois (3), New Jersey, (3), New York (2), Washington (2), Florida (1), Indiana (1), Iowa (1), Massachusetts (1), Michigan (1), Minnesota (1), Montana (1), Pennsylvania (1), Utah (1), Virginia (1). California (8)Illinois (3)New Jersey, (3)New York (2)Washington (2)Florida (1)Indiana (1)Iowa (1)Massachusetts (1)Michigan (1)Minnesota (1)Montana (1)Pennsylvania (1)Utah (1)Virginia (1) The Coppell, Texas-based retail chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 16, with plans to close 26 stores and a restructuring support agreement that would eliminate $1.62 billion in debt and hand ownership to its prepetition lenders. The home decor retailer filed its petition listing $1 billion to $10 billion in assets and liabilities, which include $1.998 billion in noteholder debt, consisting of $1.94 billion in secured note debt and $58 million in senior unsecured notes. Related: Major mattress retailer files Chapter 7 bankruptcy, closes stores At Home faced financial and operational headwinds that included increased freight rates driven by rising inflation, softening demand in the home decor market, and a consumer shift away from brick-and-mortar shopping with an increased focus on online purchases, according to a declaration from Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Aguilar. The company, founded in 1979 as Garden Ridge Pottery, began out-of-court restructuring efforts in early 2025 at a time when tariffs began rising for its many foreign suppliers. After considering strategic alternatives, the company negotiated a restructuring support agreement with its prepetition lenders before filing for bankruptcy and seeking a $600 million debtor-in-possession financing transaction, which includes $200 million in new money. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Fox News
5 hours ago
- Fox News
Dr. Phil's Peteski Productions pays $925K to Merit Street Media workers following Chapter 11 filing
Dr. Phil McGraw's Peteski Productions says it voluntarily agreed to pay former Merit Street Media employees their pre-bankruptcy compensation as the legal process plays out. Merit Street Media, which was formed in 2023 and launched Merit TV in 2024, was a joint venture of McGraw's Peteski Productions and Trinity Broadcasting that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July and simultaneously filed a lawsuit against the network that specializes in Christian programming. According to a memo sent by Peteski attorneys to former Merit Street Media employees and independent contractors, Dr. Phil's production company agreed to loan the bankrupt company enough cash to fully pay workers for pre-bankruptcy work. The initial loan amount fell short once Trinity Broadcasting was allowed to delay a key hearing by three weeks, but Peteski has upped the figure to do the "right thing." "As this process has played out, one of our top priorities has been to do whatever we can for the workers. We thought the issue of worker compensation would be resolved at a July 29 hearing, but TBN asked for and received a three-week delay. In light of the real needs of the workers for this to be resolved, we felt this was the right thing to do," a Peteski spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Over 150 checks were written for a total of $925,000, according to the memo. The payments occurred outside of official bankruptcy proceedings. McGraw agreed to provide Merit Street with new episodes of his "Dr. Phil Show," primetime specials and other content, while Trinity Broadcasting contributed distribution and production services, according to the lawsuit that essentially blames the Christian broadcaster for the bankruptcy. Merit Street accused Trinity Broadcasting of reneging on its obligations and abusing "its position as the controlling shareholder of Merit Street to improperly and unilaterally burden Merit Street with unsustainable debt, doing so either without notice or in direct violation of promises not to do so." The vast majority of former Merit Street Media employees are out of work, while a select few have stayed on based on the supervision of a bankruptcy judge. The bankruptcy filing lists both estimated assets and liabilities in the $100-$500 million range. Merit Street is seeking damages, legal costs, and "further relief as the Court may deem just and proper." Trinity Broadcasting did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
