Sears closing last store at Triangle Town Center in Raleigh NC

RALEIGH

The Triangle’s last full-service Sears store is closing after 20 years, but it’s not the end for the building at 7330 Old Wake Forest Road.

Sears at Triangle Town Center in northeast Raleigh — one of the mall’s original department store anchors — is the last one to go in the area as Sears’ physical retail presence largely vanished over the last decade in the Triangle and across the country.

Sears’ parent company, Transformco, hasn’t said exactly when the store will close and did not respond to requests for more information. New temporary jobs posted on the company website for a cashier and backroom associate at this location on Aug. 6 indicate that the store is closing.

The 12.3-acre property was sold last week for $5.85 million to Blue Empire LLC, a commercial property rental company.

The LLC is associated with David and Lois Tsui from Orange County, who own the Burlington Outlet Village shopping center.

The couple previously owned Wellcare Compounding, a now-closed pharmacy in Hillsborough. The U.S. Justice Department said this week that the Tsuis paid nearly $1.1 million to settle allegations that they submitted false claims for payment to TRICARE, tha military health program for active-duty military, retirees and their families, The N&O reported earlier this week. David Tsui was previously convicted on federal charges related to health care fraud in 2007.

New future for a former Sears

There are already prospective tenants for the Sears property, according to Don Moss of real estate firm Colliers, who spoke to The News & Observer by phone.

“Obviously it’s very early (for plans),” said Moss, the broker of the transaction, who declined to give more details on future tenants. “We do have some interest in the property currently and are in the process of putting together and marking plans for the entire property.”

“Currently what’s allowed under the building’s use is office and retail … our plans are following the zoning guidelines,” he said.

Moss said any other use of the space would require approval from LNR Partners, the company that owns Triangle Town Center, and that more details would be revealed by the end of the year. County records show the property is zoned for office, residential, retail and building up to three stories.

The only other full-service store operated by Sears in North Carolina is in Greensboro. Similarly, a past Sears store at a mall a Winston-Salem closed and its building was sold to Novant Health in 2018, which has used it this year as a vaccination site, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

Sears operates several smaller appliance repair stores in the Triangle, including a Sears Hometown store in Sanford and a home appliance showroom in Knightdale.

The once mighty chain store that provided Americans with furniture, appliances, electronics and even entire homes at one point is disappearing from malls after years of economic decline. Its former parent company, Sears Holdings Corporation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018.

Sears closed its department stores at Crabtree Valley Mall and Streets at Southpoint mall that year as part of nationwide store closings.

The remaining department stores at Triangle Town Center are Belk, Dillard’s, Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue.