Sears Cambridge closure a ‘sign of the times’

By cceolin

What was once a shopping mainstay in Cambridge is now closing its doors.

Sears Canada announced Thursday plans to restructure under bankruptcy protection — a process that will include laying off 2,900 workers and closing 59 locations across the country.

The retailer says 20 full-line locations are getting the axe, in addition to 15 Sears Home stores, 14 Sears Hometown locations, and 10 Sears Outlets, including the store at the Cambridge Centre. It’s unknown how many jobs will be lost locally.

“These are retail jobs, and there aren’t a lot of those out there, so I think it’s certainly going to have an impact,” says Greg Durocher with the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce. But he adds Sears is certainly not untouched by the demise of the department store. “Let’s face it, we all know that consumer confidence in purchasing online is going up every single day.”

Many Cambridge shoppers, however, tell 570 News they grew up with the retailer and are sad to see it go. You can hear what they had to say below.

While Durocher doesn’t think the department store was losing touch with its local customers, he says if the Cambridge location was struggling with operating losses and negative cash flows, it would come as no surprise.

“When Sears originally decided to move it from a traditional Sears store to more of an Outlet store, I think it probably lost the appeal of some of the customers who would make their way up to Kitchener to go to a regular Sears store,” says Durocher.

Sears says the store in Fairview Park Mall will not be affected.

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