In the wake of confirmation that Sears Canada will be closing its doors for good, shoppers in Metro Vancouver are looking back at the iconic department store.
Earlier on Friday, an Ontario Superior Court gave the company the final green light to liquidate its stores, ending 65 years in business for an outlet that was once the anchor of many Canadian malls.
Outside Sears Canada’s Brentwood Mall location in Burnaby, many shoppers told CKNW it feels like the end of an era.
“I’ve shopped at Sears since I was a little girl, my mom actually worked at the catalog office in a small town in the Okanagan,” said one.
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“I’ve shopped here, believe it or not, for 40 years. I feel, you know, it’s my second home, actually, because I buy everything here,” added a third.
Many market analysts have attributed Sears Canada’s downfall, in part, to stiff competition from online retailers such as Amazon.
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However, outside the store many customers said they felt a personal connection with the business that’s increasingly rare in the era of e-commerce.
“I’m so sad because I used to work here,” said one shopper.
“It’s my second home,” added another.
“I buy everything here, my cosmetics, furniture, appliances. And I feel bad for the employees because I know a lot of them personally.”
Liquidation of Sears’ assets is expected to begin as early as next Thursday.
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Market watchers estimate the closure will wipe out about 12,000 jobs, one in ten of them in B.C.
Earlier this summer, the company took heat for the way it’s handling some of those layoffs — paying out $9.2 million in retention bonuses to key executives while many staff members lost their jobs, benefits and pension plans.