Eastwood Mall Sears among 142 new store closings

Staff report

NILES

The Sears store located in the Eastwood Mall is among the 142 stores the retailer announced in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will close.

The news follows the announcement in August of 46 store closings. Others Sears locations in the Mahoning Valley, including in Boardman and Austintown, have already closed.

Joe Bell, spokesman for the Cafaro Co., which owns the Eastwood Mall complex, said the news did not come as a surprise. He said the retail development company has quietly been planning for future redevelopment of the 155,000-square-foot retail space for quite some time.

“Everyone’s sad this venerable retailer is going out of business, but in the retail industry there has been a sense of inevitability about it,” he said. “Quite honestly, we see this as an opportunity to redevelop a store space that wasn’t living up to its potential and create something that would be useful and popular for the people of the area.”

Bell said he could not go into detail about future development plans, as there are no formal agreements in place. He said the Cafaro Co. does not yet know when Sears will close.