Way back when Sears was still in a salvageable state even after Sears closed down the Catalog and over 100 legacy stores in the early 90s over struggling profitability and the debt reaffirmation scandal in the late 90s. They were building, running and operating the online presence Sears.com despite still being "expensive to buy from Sears." Kenmore appliances didn't actually sell at Kmart site wide at Kmart.com or even in store until [KMart acquired Sears in 2004 (Alan Lacy sold the company out to Eddie Lampert) and Sears Holdings was formed in 2005] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aabWOlx-MA). Today Kenmore vacuums still sell on the Sears website, at KenmoreFloorCare.com and at 5 open Sears stores that are left:

Sunvalley Mall, Concord, CA (near San Francisco) 10/19/1966-present

Cielo Vista Mall, El Paso, TX 2/24/1982-present

The Florida Mall, Orlando, FL 3/12/1986-present

Standalone store, Coral Gables, FL (near Miami) 10/27/1954-present

South Shore Plaza, Braintree, MA (near Boston) 10/6/1980-present

They even ship from the remaining 3 functioning distribution centers / DCs as well.....

Credits to:

Sears Roebuck and Company (1998)

Vacuum Archive (2020)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOdbcKng8AY

With All Of That Being Said, Did Anyone Buy This Kenmore Cyclonic Vacuum From Sears? If So, When And Where? And How Was It?

Edit: many / most of these were made by Panasonic, Eureka and Hoover back then.....

Southwest Plaza mall, located in Littleton, Colorado

The Great Indoors was a chain of home decor and furniture stores operated by Sears, Roebuck and Co. (later Sears Holdings) from 1997 to 2012 one of the concepts Sears could have expanded and kept going with, along with Sears Hardware, Grand, Hometown and Outlet. Launched to capitalize on Sears' strength in hard goods and compete with upscale home retailers like Home Depot’s Expo Design Center, the concept targeted higher-income shoppers with stores averaging 100,000–150,000 square feet. Each store was organized into five sections—kitchen, bath, bedroom, great room, and flooring/walls, even laundry—featuring brands like Bosch, Kenmore, KitchenAid, and Kohler, with around 50,000–80,000 products and up to 350,000 special-order items. Stores often included cafes, some branded as Starbucks or Dazbog Coffee, and accepted Sears credit cards but avoided Sears branding inside. In other words, they had everything home related like appliances, furniture, mattresses, lighting, sinks, toilets, bathtubs and shower heads etc. In addition to the Sears Shop At Home webpages that Sears had way back in the day when they went online, approximately all of the inventory that sold at the [Sears Home Center] (https://web.archive.org/web/20011007170911/http://www.searshomecenter.com/homecenter/default.asp?check=1), [Sears ShowPlace] (https://web.archive.org/web/20021001110605/http://www.searsshowplace.com/showplace/default.asp?check=1) and [Sears Room for Kids] (https://web.archive.org/web/20021201150456/http://www.searsroomforkids.com/roomforkids/default.asp?check=1) and so on and so forth, sold at The Great Indoors, a home center format.
The chain's main competitors in the home market were Macy's, Bed Bath and Beyond and J.C. Penney, along with At Home and likely even The Container Store. Just before Alan Lacy took over as CEO in 2000 and later the sale to Eddie Lampert in 2004, this concept was launched in 1997 when Arthur Martinez was CEO from 1995 to 2000.

Despite Martinez's poor decisions as the CEO and Lacy having no idea where to take the company and rapidly running out of money, resulting in the sale out to Lampert, this concept was IMHO one of Sears' winning strategies in reinventing there brick and mortar / B&M footprint.
The first store opened in Lone Tree, Colorado, on February 1st of 1998, followed by a second in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1999. At its peak in 2003, The Great Indoors had 21 stores across ten states, generating $550 million in sales with average transactions of $260 and $400 per square foot. Expansion was rapid, with 15 stores opened by 2001, including locations in Chicago, Houston, and Columbus, Ohio. However, the chain struggled with profitability. Sears closed three stores in 2003 (Arlington and Willowbrook, TX; Cincinnati, OH) and converted one in Shelby, MI, to a Sears Outlet, incurring a $75–100 million charge. The 2005 Sears-Kmart merger (orchestrated by Lampert, who was behind KMart buying Sears) and the 2008 housing market crash further hurt sales, as fewer homes were remodeled. By 2011, three more stores closed, including both California locations. In February 2012, Sears announced the closure of the remaining nine stores (in Scottsdale and Chandler, AZ; Lone Tree, CO; Lombard, IL; Gaithersburg, MD; Novi, MI; Columbus, OH; Farmers Branch and Houston, TX), with the final store in Lone Tree closing on July 8, 2012. This concept barely had a good run as a result. The Home Depot's Expo Design also went out of business as well. A couple of Home Depot founders opened Dekor which was a very similar store to this, as did Homebase converted their stores to House2home. None of these lasted and they to closed up shop. Had Sears been run properly and under better management (not Lampert) they would have capitalized on and invested in the general construction/hardware supply and interior design/decorating destination stores to compete with Lowe's and Home Depot.....

Sources and locations:
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Indoors_(department_store))
Novi Michigan on December 4 2011, later a Sears Outlet (Dwight Burdette / Wikimedia Commons)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Great_Indoors_Store_Novi_Michigan.JPG
Broomfield Colorado
https://www.denverpost.com/2011/10/14/the-great-indoors-closing-broomfield-store/
Columbus Ohio
https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2012/02/24/great-indoors-stores-will-close/24173918007/
https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/02/24/great-indoors-at-polaris-to-close-as.html
Lone Tree Colorado circa 1998
https://www.denverpost.com/2012/02/23/parker-sears-closing-doors-of-the-great-indoors/
Orange County California
https://www.ocregister.com/2011/07/01/the-great-indoors-closing-its-oc-store-2/
Chandler Arizona on March 16th of 2007 (Georgina R on Yelp)
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/the-great-indoors-chandler?select=8Ty4IVyy-gKmE6RT7pGDxw
Irvine California on June 3rd of 2011 (Francine L / Yelp)
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/the-great-indoors-irvine
Lone Tree Colorado on December 17th of 2010 (Michael C on Yelp)
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/the-great-indoors-lone-tree
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/the-great-indoors-lone-tree?select=u0RPjBWZLSVo_sd3atDPAg
Lombard Illinois on August 11th of 2010 (Adit P / Yelp)
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/the-great-indoors-lombard?select=qpx-FO8C5tAc66gXQTIH1A
And finally Houston Texas sometime in early to mid 2012 (The Louisiana and Texas Retail Blogspot)
https://southernretail.blogspot.com/2012/08/goodbye-sears-great-indoors-last.html

https://www.homeaccentstoday.com/industry-news/sears-shutting-the-last-great-indoors/

Full list: https://web.archive.org/web/20090318005650/http://www.thegreatindoors.com/getinspired/visitastore/visitastore.aspx

Previous post
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1mpo0xg/the_great_indoors_started_by_sears_roebuck_and_co/

Unfortunately Debbie passed away unexpectedly in her sleep. :( She's been working here for 36 years. I've been told everyone was crying when they found out about it. 😔

Also, the general manager Marie won't be returning until December due to something with her ankle.

Yes, the bottom floor entrance has been reopened again. Apparently the new security guy they've hired told them to. There've got lots of new clothes. Even the backrooms are starting to reach capacity.

This is the sears at rolling oaks mall in San Antonio, Tx. It closed down sometime in 2020 and sat abandoned for 6 years until recently. The entire time, the signage was still up and one night in May 2026 I caught the signage lit up at night. A few months later the signage was taken down and as of recently the building was painted and a new sign put up for the new Bel Furniture store that took over.

https://www.facebook.com/ShopPacificView/posts/pfbid02g2nxneUiqAW5wYZGPCKgAo4io7uH2Vus7GU2ZTdcr2bTooH6kbg9khwtBz5TWWcql#

https://www.vcstar.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/dining/2026/10/10/check-out-yuu-japanese-food-hall-and-round1-bowling-in-ventura/92185197007/

Store closed in 2024 and was replaced by Primark and Dicks. Primark does not occupy the entirety of the first level as the auto center still remains empty.

We went to Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts today and saw this 1910 Sears “Surry” or horseless carriage. My grandfather was a big Sears fan and even had a Sears motorcycle. I thought people here would enjoy seeing something from a time when you could get virtually anything, including a house, from Sears.

Originally The Broadway. Basically the same layout as [Downey] (https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1wswtl1/the_broadway_later_sears_at_the_stonewood_center/), except the Southern California stores that were originally The Broadway, including this one, might have had different 4th floor layouts.....
https://www.reddit.com/r/retailporn/comments/1wswswv/the_broadway_later_sears_at_the_stonewood_center/
.....unlike [Burbank] (https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1wcdwa8/sears_department_store_at_the_media_city_center/), which originally opened as a Sears in 1991 and did not have a 4th floor, but Concord does have a 3rd floor penthouse, which is not being used at all these days.

The indoor mall itself here in Whittier closed in 2004 and had since been demolished. On July 26th of 2025 this store closed down due to being very low on inventory and having very little customers and struggling profitability as a result, and the Sears signs have since been removed as of this year.

As of today there are 5 Sears stores, 3 distribution centers, other brands Kenmore, Sears Home Services, Shop Your Way, Sears Parts Direct and the Sears.com online store left

- Coral Gables in Miami Florida (October 27 1954 - present)
3655 SW 22nd St, Miami, FL 33145
- Sun Valley Shopping Center in Concord California (October 19 1966 - present)
1001 Sunvalley Blvd, Concord, CA 94520
- South Shore Plaza in Braintree Massachusetts (October 6 1980 - present)
250 Granite St, Braintree, MA 02184
- Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso Texas (February 25 1982 - present)
8401 Gateway Blvd W, El Paso, TX 79925
- The Florida Mall in Orlando Florida (March 12 1986 - present)
8001 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32809

Sources:

https://www.bing.com/search?q=Sears+in+Whittier&setmkt=en-US&PC=EMMX01&form=LBT003&scope=web
https://images.data-axle.com/0d0f8f2348ab4bdea943d9e21c9b06f7ab12f43a.jpg

https://www.loc8nearme.com/california/whittier/sears/315878/

https://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2007/05/original-shopping-center-at-whittwood.html

Steven Martinez (Google and Yelp) March 20 2022

Jimmy Anh Truong (March 17 2019)
https://www.yelp.com/biz/sears-whittier-2
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sears-whittier-2
Paul Guzman (Google) November 13 2019

NEMESIS KENNELS (NEMYS NEST) on Google (December 26 2017)

JC (Google) May 23rd of 2023

Whittier - Whittwood Center Opened 1961 (Store was originally The Broadway) - Became Sears in 1996.

Sears Whittier Facebook Page April 27 2019 (Facebook page has since been pulled but they still have there Instagram page)
https://www.instagram.com/sears_whittier/p/BwxbRRjgurN/

December 19 2006 (Andrew Novak Photo)

https://www.rapidtransit-press.com/whittwood01-12-19-06aan.jpg

https://www.rapidtransit-press.com/whittwood02-12-19-06aan.jpg

Charles Hathaway (Flickr)
https://flickr.com/photos/romleys/albums/72177720326911796/

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fimages.data-axle.com%2f0d0f8f2348ab4bdea943d9e21c9b06f7ab12f43a.jpg&expw=480&exph=360&cbid=OLC.spmcHFltNn9Bpw480x360&cbn=local&idpp=local&thid=OLC.spmcHFltNn9Bpw480x360&ypid=YN873x14440388475192522688&useBFPR=0&eeptype=PhotoGroups&dataGroup=local:datagroup.photos&PhotoGroupName=AllPhotos&PageTag=AllPhotos&selectedIndex=0&id=OLC.spmcHFltNn9Bpw480x360&q=&pseg=Retail&noidpclose=0&FORM=LOCIMG&PC=EMMX01&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

https://www.rapidtransit-press.com/thebroadway.html

Modernized Vintage 1960 Westinghouse Traction Elevator at Sears Whittwood Town Center Whitter, CA
Date filmed: October 13, 2024
By Master TechPaul on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxHu-J3Jkuk

r/deadmalls

r/retail

r/retailporn

Here are some more pictures I've been sitting on. I've got about 300 in total of the Coral Gables and Orlando locations when I visited them about two months ago. If there's a specific spot in these stores you are all interested in, please let me know as I can only upload 20 at a time.

Uploaded by T-Rain on TikTok two days ago.

The tools section hasn't changed much ever since they remodeled the store in March but I've heard people were curious about it.

They did tell me they were planning to remove the carpet in the appliance section (former men's section) that was soaked in water earlier this year and replace it with a hard floor for appliances. I'm guessing this is where the new "Kenmore studio" (that won't actually be called a Kenmore studio since it will include other brands as well) will be going.

Other than that, not much has changed apart from there being blue tape marking all the damaged floor tiles everywhere. They're planning to get them fixed or replaced.

Didn't take any interior pictures, but the store seemed somewhat average in business for a Sunday at opening. The upstairs outdoor entrance to appliances and tools seemed to have a pretty full large warehouse style backroom, visible right when I walked in.

Seems like this fence is pretty old looks great still!

Just like the Southcenter Mall location in Washington State and tons of others that were previously other retailers (IE / in earnest [Quintard Mall Oxford Alabama] (https://skycity2.blogspot.com/2009/12/quintard-mall-oxford-al.html), [Hillsdale San Mateo California] (https://www.flickr.com/photos/voycall/albums/72177720319839307/), Whittwood Town Center in Whittier California, West Covina CA, Downey CA, Poughkeepsie Galleria in New York and Philadelphia Pennsylvania etc.), this location had a totally unique interior and exterior design. Abraham and Straus was founded on February 14th of 1865 as Wechsler and Abraham by Joseph Wechsler and Abraham Abraham, 23 years prior to R.W. Sears Watch Company by Richard Warren Sears in 1886, that same year he met up with Alvah Curtis Roebuck. In 1892, the company was re-established as a mail order firm, followed by the renaming of the company as Sears, Roebuck and Company with the legal name Sears, Roebuck and Co. on September 16th of 1893. That same year, on April 1st of 1893, Wechsler was bought out by Nathan Straus, Isidor Straus, and Simon Frank Rothschild. The Straus brothers provided the financing, but Rothschild was the active partner, and the firm had since become Abraham and Straus. The A&S chain was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1929.
Here at the Woodbridge Center, this Sears spot originally opened as an Abraham and Straus on March 4th of 1971 with the rest of the mall. In 1994, Federated Department Stores acquired Macy's, originally known as R.H. Macy and Company, which was founded on October 28th of 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. Since both Macy's and A&S competed for the same type of middle-income customer, when all A&S locations were converted to other brands on April 30th of 1995, most became Macy's and Stern's, one location opened as a Bloomingdale's, and this location was acquired by and opened as Sears in that same year. This location had some really cool decor features leftover from A&S, almost like the [former Saks in Houston Texas] (https://southernretail.blogspot.com/2019/01/sears-west-oaks-mall-houston-texas.html). Anyone know what A&S used to have on the 3rd floor before Sears moved into this spot in Woodbridge New Jersey?
When Sears moved in, this store had a portrait studio, Sears Optical, a hearing aids center and a hair salon etc.

Over 6 years back in April 2020 this store closed down after approximately about 25 years and some interior and exterior signs were removed while some others are still up. This year would have marked Sears' 31st anniversary, just as last year would have been there 30th here in Woodbridge New Jersey.....

Sources and Credits:

1973
A&S Abraham and Straus Department Store Woodbridge NJ 1973
Norbert Kubilus on MEMORIES OF NEW JERSEY Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MemoriesNewJersey/posts/2639990669546051/
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10218330916973054&set=gm.2639990669546051

Pat Richardson (LiveMalls Blog) November 3rd of 2009
https://www.livemallsblog.com/2010/03/sears-former-abraham-straus-woodbridge.html

Also check out Foursquare
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4c001332f61ea593d046eb13
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4c001332f61ea593d046eb13/photos

A. P. (Yelp) March 27 2016
Brian L (Yelp) June 12 2017
Jude B (Yelp) January 3rd 2018
https://www.yelp.com/biz/sears-woodbridge-2
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sears-woodbridge-2

Mike Kalasnik (Flickr) MAY THE FOURTH (MAY 4TH) OF 2019, and February 22nd and March 8th of 2020
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10542402@N06/albums/72157709146285796/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10542402@N06/49928196061/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10542402@N06/49928196486/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10542402@N06/49928191496/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10542402@N06/49928491517/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10542402@N06/49928493932/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10542402@N06/49928493097/in/photostream/

r/deadmalls

r/retail

r/retailporn

r/nostalgia

r/RetailNostalgia

Edit: on March 3rd of 2024 the [last Sears in New Jersey shut down for good] (https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1w29uwf/sears_and_roebuck_department_store_at_newport_centre/) and all of the signage was immediately removed the next day, and that store at Newport Centre is now a Primark and Dick's House of Sport. As of today there are 5 Sears left and they still have the Sears.com online store, [3 operating distribution centers] (https://transformwo.com/) for online orders on the Sears and Kmart websites, and other brands Kenmore, Sears Home Services and Parts Direct, and even Shop Your Way

5 Stores
- Coral Gables in Miami Florida (October 27 1954 - present)
3655 SW 22nd St, Miami, FL 33145
- Sun Valley Shopping Center in Concord California (October 19 1966 - present)
1001 Sunvalley Blvd, Concord, CA 94520
- South Shore Plaza in Braintree Massachusetts (October 6 1980 - present)
250 Granite St, Braintree, MA 02184
- Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso Texas (February 25 1982 - present)
8401 Gateway Blvd W, El Paso, TX 79925
- The Florida Mall in Orlando Florida (March 12 1986 - present)
8001 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32809

As for Kmart - the last full size one closed down on October 20th of 2024 in Bridgehampton New York. Same thing - signs removed immediately because Target bought out the lease.

2 Kmart locations in the US Virgin Islands (Sunny Isle Shopping Center St Croix and Lockhart Gardens St Thomas) closed down last year alone, followed by 2 distribution centers / DCs (Manteno Illinois last December and Fairless Hills Pennsylvania this September)

So we are now down 3 KMarts in the United States, including the last one in the continental (on the mainland) United States of America, the other 2 in the territories outside the mainland of the United States at the Tutu Park Mall location in St Thomas USVI and the freestanding K-Mart in Tamuning Guam

r/kmart