Sears was once a retail giant with over 3,500 stores, a number that included Kmart locations after its 2005 merger. But today, it is a mere shadow of what it once was, and people are wondering if it will live to see Christmas 2026.
“With other both brick and mortar and online retailers with better product selection, location advantages and better convenience, Sears just can’t compete anymore,” said Dan Hamilton Rice, director of E. J. Ourso College of Business Behavioral Research Lab and an associate professor of the Herbert Huey McElveen Developing Scholar & Leslie and Dal Miller Professor,
There are just five Sears locations left in the country: one in California, one in Texas, one in Massachusetts, and two in Florida.
And some specialists, like Rice, believe it “certainly could be” Sears’ last Black Friday.
“With so few stores, there’s serious doubt from industry experts and former insiders that they could be profitable anymore,” Rice told USA TODAY in an email.
The company was founded in 1893 as a mail-order business, according to Britannica. It opened its first retail store in 1925 in Chicago and grew to be one of the biggest retailers in the country, comparable to Amazon.
Today, there are only a handful of locations left after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2019, and several are at risk of closing.
Here’s what to know about the retailer and whether it will be here next year.
In Coral Gables, Florida, a Miami-Dade County municipality, stands one of the two Sears stores left in the state. The other is located in Orlando.
But according to the Miami Herald, the retail location, which has been there since 1954, could be transformed into residential and retail space.
The remaining Sears are located in malls owned by Simon Property Group, the largest mall operator in the nation, CNN reported.
Sears is located in the following cities:
A few factors led to Sears’ current state.
“The consumer issues all basically boil down to the company not adapting to the changing consumer,” said Rice.
Sears used to have house brands, like Craftsman and Kenmore, but once those were sold elsewhere, there was no reason for people to go to Sears, according to Rice. The retail giant also took longer to adapt to online shopping and fell behind other retailers.
“With less reason to visit and a reduced footprint as stores closed, the company just can’t attract customers with any compelling reason to choose them over other retailers on or offline,” Rice said.
Julia is a Trending reporter for USA TODAY and covers scientific studies, shopping trends, holidays and trending news. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com