THUNDER BAY – Rhonda Tetreault says she’ll miss shopping at Sears.
“I’m really sad about Sears closing. I’m not much of a shopper, so I can always find some really good sales there at Sears. The city of Thunder Bay is really going to miss Sears, and so am I,” Tetreault said on Tuesday, after news broke that Sears Canada intends to file for approval to liquidate its assets in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
The move, if approved, would mean the end of the line for the nationwide retailer, which first opened its doors in Canada in 1952, a joint venture of the Simpson’s retail chain the United States-based Sears.
Tetreault wasn’t alone in her disappointment.
George Celinski said he’s a long-time Sears shopper who will have to adjust to finding what he needs somewhere else once the store closes.
“Over the last 30 to 40 years I’ve come here. I’ll miss it. I’m used to coming here to shop and look around. The products are pretty good here and whenever anything goes wrong, you can bring it back and they fix it up for you and help you out,” he said.
Celinsky agreed the closure would mean less choice for consumers in the Thunder Bay market.
“Especially for me because I’m used to this one,” he said. “Everything’s handy and I’ve come here for so many years.”
Sears was the last of the three big department stores to call Thunder Bay home to close. Chapples Department Store shut its doors in 1981 after 68 years in business, while Eaton’s went out of business in 1998.
The company has been under the Company’s Creditors Arrangement Act for the past four months and in a release said they’ve made the request after failing to find a buyer for its business, assets and/or leases.
“Sears Canada received and implemented going concerns transactions for various lines of business, but following exhaustive efforts, no viable transaction for the company to continue as a going concern was received,” the company said in a statement released on Tuesday.
The court is expected to hear the motion on Wednesday.
“The company deeply regrets this pending outcome and the resulting loss of jobs and store closures.”
Liquidation sales are expected to begin no later than Oct. 19 and continue for between 10 to 14 weeks. More information on the process is expected in the coming days.
