Three retailers shrinking their Washington state presence before the new year
More retail brands are now starting to look like Sears with several closures planned in the area before the end of the year.
By end of 2019, Forever 21, Dressbarn, and yes, Sears, will all have either been reduced or, in Dressbarn’s case, removed from the current retail landscape.
Forever 21
Forever 21, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, has 200 sites on its list of store closings, some of which are in the Puget Sound area.
On the list: Trails at Silverdale in Silverdale; 601 Pine St. in Seattle; Bellevue Square; the Outlet Collection of Seattle in Auburn; two locations at Westfield Southcenter in Tukwila.
Not on the list: Any stores in Pierce County, including its Tacoma Mall store.
Dressbarn
Dressbarn announced in May it was “winding down” retail operations, with the eventual closure of its more than 600 stores nationwide.
The retailer plans to move all sales to online with a new website, becoming a subsidiary of Retail Ecommerce Ventures, LLC, the company announced Oct. 30.
On Friday, liquidation sales started at its remaining locations, including its store at Lakewood Towne Center, 10330 59th Ave. SW, Suite B. Store furniture and fixtures are included in the liquidation.
According to the announcement: “Existing gift cards and merchandise credits will be honored throughout the sale, which will last until stores close (expected no later than December 26) or while merchandise supplies last.”
Other locations near Tacoma include its store at the Outlet Collection in Auburn.
Sears
After Sears’ multiple rounds of store closures, you might be wondering if they have any sites left to close in Washington.
That would be yes, with Sears store locations in Aberdeen and at the Everett Mall (one of the mall’s first anchor stores) to close in December.
The retailer’s Tacoma store was demolished this spring to make way for new development at the Tacoma Mall.
According to the store locator on its website, there are roughly 23 stores operating under the Sears umbrella in the state, four as full-service Sears stores, and the rest either as appliance outlets or Hometown stores.
Its other brand, Kmart, has one store left in the state, in Burlington.
This story was originally published November 1, 2019 at 2:03 PM.
