In 2021, Sears finally closed. The store’s closing was no great surprise. Sears stores were closing all over the country. For our East Pasadena store, it was only a matter of time.
I don’t recall any big todo made about Sears’ closing. There were a few business pieces in local press, but that’s it. And I haven’t heard any great pining for the days of Sears or wishing for Sears return.
It is kind of like Sears was never here.
About the only remnants of the old Sears store are street signs for the grandly named “Sears Way.” In 1956, city approval for the Sears store required dedication to the city of a public street running east to west from Michillinda Avenue to Hastings Ranch Drive. I don’t know how or why the street was named after Sears but the naming implies a sense of permanence about Sears — as if in the 1950’s it was inconceivable Sears would fail.
Seems unusual to me for a public street to be named after any commercial enterprise, let alone a retail store. Off hand, I can’t think of any other Pasadena street named after a store or company. Might be time for a name change. Perhaps “Sears Gonna Way.”
Of course, Sears also left acres of paved parking and a cavernous building which is now occupied by three new retailers.
As big as the building is, there was a real effort in the original design to create an attractive structure with nice horizontal lines. The original building bears the Sears name but projects a certain genuine and inviting quality. Regrettably, that initial design effort seems all but lost in the current version of the building which seems more at home in an outlet mall.
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