Part of tough trend in retail, Sears Outlet in East Naples to close
Laura LaydenAbout a week ago, Allan Stearns learned he'll lose his part-time job at Sears Outlet in East Naples.
The store at 4929 Rattlesnake Hammock Road is closing. Its last day of business will be Friday.
"That's the end of the game," Stearns said. "I'm out of work."
For Stearns, 75, the three-day-a-week gig at the outlet store was more of a hobby. He is not sure whether he will look for another job.
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The closing took him and other employees a bit by surprise.
But the owners of Naples South Plaza, where the store is, saw it coming with the "changing national climate for department store-related businesses," said Rick Baer, president of American Commercial Realty, the center's leasing and management agent.
Sears Outlet stores are owned independently and operated under license from Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sears Holdings Corp.
Sears has been closing both it namesake and Kmart stores at a rapid rate. Although the outlet stores aren't tied to those closings, George W. Kleier III, director of leasing and development for American Commercial Realty, pointed a finger at the mega retailer.
Sears "did not have the patience or resources to develop their Naples market," Kleier said.
"They made a mistake," Stearns said about the decision to close the East Naples store, which operated on 25,000 square feet of space.
Stearns, a store salesman, said business had slowed since the end of busy season. But he still saw a need for the outlet in this area, with the next closest one in Medley, near Miami.
Outlet stores carry home appliances, household goods, lawn and garden equipment, fitness equipment, tools, electronics and more, offering discounts of 25 to 70 percent off the manufacturer's retail prices. They offer new, discontinued, scratched and dented, out-of-carton and reconditioned items.
Extra savings, which one store associate described as "random savings," were offered at the local store this week.
No word yet on what will replace the outlet, which opened in October 2015.
"The East Naples market is thriving, and the right retailer will prosper in this great location," Kleier said.
As the hunt continues for the "right retailer," the redevelopment of Naples South Plaza is moving ahead.
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Later this year, construction is expected to begin on a Wawa gas station and store, which will replace part of the plaza near U.S. 41 East and Rattlesnake Hammock Road.
Collier County's first Wawa is expected to open this summer. It's under construction at Radio Road and Livingston Road. Andrew Saluan, owner of Naples-based AJS Realty Group Inc., said his company leased the land for the project to Wawa, which hopes to open the much anticipated location in August.
"Everything seems to be on track," he said.
Another Wawa is still in the works for the southwest corner of U.S. 41 and Price Street, just north of Collier Boulevard, in East Naples.
In April 2015, Wawa — with a cultlike following — opened its first three stores in Southwest Florida, two in Fort Myers and one in Cape Coral. It announced plans to open 12 locations in Southwest Florida by 2017, a timeline that now appears to have been overly ambitious.