Photos of the Day: Sears Canada Closes Remaining Stores

By Craig Patterson

Today's photos are of the Sears store at North Vancouver's Capilano Mall, which was one of only a few Sears stores remaining in Canada when it closed on Sunday, January 14. Most of Sears Canada's stores shuttered a week ago or more. 

Sears Canada began in 1952 as Simpsons-Sears, which was as a joint venture between the Canadian Simpsons department store chain and the U.S. Sears chain, which also operated a mail order business. The joint venture was dismantled after the Hudson’s Bay Company bought Simpsons in 1978, resulting in Sears dropping the Simpsons name. Until recently, Sears Canada operated stores coast-to-coast ranging from large department stores to smaller pick-up and service centres. 

This week, we’ll be reporting on Sears Canada’s demise, including interviewing experts to discuss its real estate and job losses — Sears will no doubt be an ongoing story as landlords repurpose store real estate, and retail workers seek positions elsewhere. In the meantime, there are several interesting articles on Sears Canada in the news, including the following: 

-Final Sears Canada stores shuttered for good (CBC) 

-‘I’m sorry to see you go’: Shoppers bid farewell to Sears as the doors close for good (Toronto Star) 

-Jen Gerson: Sears Canada's legacy: private profits and socialized losses (National Post) 

A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say, so we’ll generally be brief with our new ‘photo of the day’ series that we’re launching this week. Several exceptional publications already do this (including one of our favourites, Urban Toronto) and we’re now also doing this as a way to build further engagement on our site as well as across our social media channels. Photos were taken by  Lee Rivett, who lives in West Vancouver. And while we may typically only include one photo in a 'photo of the day' post, Mr. Rivett provided several photos and also created the video of the Capilano Mall Sears store that can be viewed directly below. 

Mr. Rivett noted that in the photos above, taken Sunday January 14, discounts were advertised at 80-90% off. On Saturday, signage indicated sales generally 70-80% off, with some more photos below. 

If you have a photo you’d like featured, feel free to tag us on Instagram @Retail_Insider_Canada or email directly to Retail Insider’s Editor-in-Chief, Craig Patterson, at: craig@retail-insider.com. 

(Parkade entrance at Capilano Mall. Photo: Lee Rivett) 

(Saturday, January 13. Photo: Lee Rivett)

(Saturday, January 13. Photo: Lee Rivett)

(Saturday, January 13. Photo: Lee Rivett)

Craig Patterson, now based in Toronto, is the founder and Editor-in-Chief Retail Insider. He's also a retail and real estate consultant, retail tour guide and public speaker. 

Follow him on Twitter @RetailInsider_, LinkedIn at Craig Patterson, or email him at: craig@retail-insider.com.

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