Discount sales are being held at the last remaining Sears store in a US state as it prepares to close.
The location inside Seattle's Westfield Southcenter mall will soon be a thing of the past.
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Bosses confirmed the store will close its doors for the final time on November 15, according to the Seattle Times.
Shoppers have already been met with signs warning them that everything must go.
Bosses are rushing to liquidate the last remaining inventory as prices on items have been cut by 70%, according to radio station KIRO-FM.
The store has been a fixture at the mall since 1994 and is the last remaining Sears store in Washington.
Read more about store closures
There are only nine Sears locations left in the country — more than 120 years after Sears was founded.
Sears has been part of the U.S. retail landscape since 1893, but its store portfolio has been significantly reduced.
Less than 20 years ago, Sears was once the largest retailer in the United States.
There were 3,500 Sears and Kmart stores combined.
More than 2,000 of those outlets were brick-and-mortar stores.
But Sears was struggling financially.
Declaring bankruptcy in 2018, Bosses has significantly reduced store numbers.
At the time of the bankruptcy filing, there were 700 outlets.
But, there were only 22 when the company emerged from bankruptcy in August 2023.
The total number of stores continued to decline.
Last remaining Sears location
Sears emerged from bankruptcy with very few locations left. As of 2024, only nine remain in the United States and one in Puerto Rico. Here's the full list compiled by The US Sun:
ca
Florida
Massachusetts
Washington
Texas
Puerto Rico
This summer, the chain's store in Stockton, California, closed its doors.
Items were being sold at up to 75% off in the lead up to the lockdown.
Bosses have cut the prices of clothing by up to 50% and gym equipment by up to 40%, according to the Stockton Record.
Earlier this year, the chain's last location in the New York area was recalled after 40 years in business.
In September, company leaders closed their location in Yakima County, Washington.
In the run-up to the lockdown, shoppers were warned that “everything must go”.
How does bankruptcy work?
Bankruptcy is a specific legal process that helps businesses get rid of debts they cannot pay.
This process allows businesses to start over and obtain new credit.
Bankruptcies, which are overseen by federal courts, allow a company to more easily sell its assets to pay off creditors, according to Investopedia.
Chapter 11, a common process for businesses, is used to restructure a business with the goal of remaining open — even if that means selling most of the company's holdings.
Chapter 7, on the other hand, sells all of the company's assets, putting it out of business.
Instead, Chapter 15 allows for cooperation between U.S. and foreign courts to conduct bankruptcy proceedings with “parties in interest involving more than one country,” according to U.S. courts.
Sears isn't the only chain to have financial struggles.
Big Lots stores across the country continue to close after executives declared bankruptcy in September.
At the time of the original application, bosses revealed around 340 stores would close.
The closures came in waves, and the company recently revealed it was closing 19 more locations.
The American newspaper The Sun reported recently yThe Kohl's store in Herndon, Virginia — about 20 miles from Washington, D.C. — will close permanently in the new year.
A Family Dollar store in Ohio is scheduled to close before Thanksgiving, leaving locals in shock.
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