Requiem for Sears

A photo of the Simpson-Sears store located in Park Place Mall in Lethbridge in
October of 2017,  just after the announcement the Sears stores would be closing.
Source: Photo taken by Rob Vogt

I happened to be at my Mom’s when I heard the news Simpson Sears was closing for good.

It made me think about how much a part of life, and how many memories, are tied up in Sears and stores like it.

Hanging on my Mom’s living room wall is a picture of a young, blonde blue-eyed boy with a mushroom-shaped head – taken at Sears when I was four.

I went into my garage and saw my very first ghetto blaster sitting on a pile of old junk. It was a Christmas present from my parents – purchased at Sears.

That reminded me of all those Christmases we anxiously waited for the Sears Christmas catalogue to see what the latest toys and games were, and got our requests in early.

I remember sitting on Santa’s lap at Sears every Christmas and telling him exactly what I wanted. He always seemed to come through too.

There was the Sears coffee shop, where my mom and I would talk for hours.

Even the last few years, I bought a wedding gift for some dear friends here in Claresholm. Why? They were registered at Sears.

Wasn’t everybody?

Not anymore, and Sears’ inability to change with times, along with poor business leadership, led to its demise.

Parting thoughts
We are all poorer for the loss of Sears, because it is more than a store, it is an institution. Anyone of a certain age has memories of Sears. Shared memories are what bind us together as a community and a society.

When we lose that, and there is nothing to replace it, we lose a bit of ourselves. Still, I do have fond memories of Sears, and for that I am grateful.

*This is from the vault, and was first published in the Claresholm Local Press