In the latest round of Sears closures, Sears Holdings announced plans to shutter more stores across Florida, including Lakeland and Orlando locations, the company announced on Monday, October 15.
In a move unrelated to yesterday’s announcement, Sears Holdings still plans to terminate its lease with WestShore Plaza, which means by the end of this year Tampa Bay will have no more Sears stores.
Sears, Roebuck and Co. has local ties to the Tampa Bay area; Alvah Roebuck, who co-founded Sears, took a buyout from Richard Warren Sears in the late 19th century and moved to what is now Gulfport. He bought large tracts of land and built his kit homes — moving into one himself — during Florida’s 1920s land boom. When the real estate bubble burst, Roebuck returned to work at Sears, Roebuck & Co., where he toured the country as the face of Sears.
Although Tampa Bay will no longer have a Sears, it does still have Roebuck Park in Gulfport.
Here’s a complete list of Sears stores in Florida that will close:
303 US HWY 301 Blvd W., Bradenton
3800 US HWY 98 N., Lakeland
1050 S. Babcock St., Melbourne
300 Mary Esther Blvd., Mary Esther/Fort Walton Beach
3100 SW College Road, Ocala
733 N HWY 231, Panama City
And here are the Kmarts that will close.
900 N W 76 Boulevard, Gainesville
12350 SW 8th St., Miami
This article appears in Oct 11-18, 2018.


