The up escalator was all blocked off, which made me wonder if this was all that was left of Sears. (Spoiler alert, no, it was just broken, and I probably should have figured that out since the elevator was still up and running.) Beyond that, the jewelry counter on the left had seemingly been permanently converted to Craftsman and DieHard products, considering it had been repainted while the one that had finally been restocked with jewelry was left with its white base.
I wonder why they blocked the escalators off. They're still stairs even if they don't move (insert the Mitch Hedberg clip!), but maybe there was something physically wrong with them which made them dangerous stairs! I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI was at an Advance Auto Parts store today and saw some DieHard tools. That was certainly strange! I wonder if they are the same ones Sears sold. I know Advance had bought the DieHard name, but I figured that was for batteries. Nope, they're using it for tools too.
There are quite a few people in this photo! That seems strange for a Sears in the era where this photo was taken, but I suppose the combination of Christmas and a going out of business sale was too much for people to pass up.
I don't know, but I wouldn't use them anyway -- I have a phobia of broken escalators after a bad incident at the Northgate Target years ago!
DeleteThis part of the store was always busy with people cutting through to the mall. Cutting through Sears was the easiest way into the mall from a large chunk of the parking lot (there is a direct mall entrance nearby, but it's hidden in that weird alleyway behind Sears), and during the holiday shopping time, pretty much the entire parking lot fills up, so people end up parking far from the part of the mall they're actually trying to go through. I suspect the store closing sale attracted some more people to actually buy stuff here, but there were always lots of people on the route between the main entrance and the mall entrance.