Colonie Center Anchor Store Closes
It was announced back in June that Sears would be closing its location in Colonie Center. Shortly after the announcement, a liquidation sale began. Sears Holdings, the parent company, said that it had closed 180 Sears and Kmart stores across the country and that another 150 stores would be closed by the end of September. The Colonie Center store was included in this group.
It's understandable why the big anchor stores are struggling. They sited online shopping and big department store-fronts as an enormous expense. Whole Foods has taken up a chunk of the real estate of the Sears floor plan. They are hoping to sell off most of the remaining square footage to higher end retailers like Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn like they have done with other Sears spaces.
I just think it's already weird to see that one of the major anchor stores is just a big empty space. Hopefully they can find other retailers to make that mall look whole again.