FOG BLOG RETAIL LOG: SEARS TO CLOSE OUT LAST DEPT. STORE LOCATION WHERE IT BEGAN IN ILLINOIS:

Sears is closing its last department store in Illinois, the retailer's home state........Sears will shut the doors on its last department store in Illinois come fall; the state in which its first retail store opened in 1925.

The Sears department store in the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, a Chicago suburb, will close on November 14....Transformco, which acquired Sears Holdings after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2018, confirmed its plans to redevelop the property.

"We intend to reinvigorate and maximize the value of the real estate while enhancing the consumer experience with popular retailers that fit the regional draw of Woodfield Mall," said Scott Carr, president of Real Estate for Transformco..........Transformco said the company is focused on growing sears.com and the Sears Home Services business.

"This is part of the company's strategy to unlock the value of the real estate and pursue the highest and best use for the benefit of the local community," Larry Costello, Transformco's public relations director said in a statement. Sears will still have a presence in Illinois. There are 11 Sears Hometown Stores in the state, operating primarily in small towns by independent dealers or franchisees of Transformco affiliates. The stores are typically between 6,000 to 8,000 square feet — far smaller than Sears department stores which were each more than 100,000 square feet — and sell mainly hard goods and appliances. Transformco's strategy is to operate more stores like the Hometown Sears.