It wasn’t as if the news was unexpected. In fact, the owners of Bridgeport’s Meadowbrook Mall had actually been preparing for the situation for more than year.

 

Prior to the New Year, officials with the Ohio-based Cafaro Corporation that own the mall, got the news they knew may come, but were hoping it wouldn’t. Sears, open for nearly 30 years at the Meadowbrook Mall, had announced it was closing operations.

 

Sears is closing locations nationwide. The mall location in Bridgeport was one of them.

 

“It’s important to note that us, along with others in this industry, have seen this possibility coming for some time. Our real estate leasing experts have been working for several years to gauge those type of retailers interested in large spaces or multiple tenants that we could subdivide the space at the mall with among three or four tenant,” said Joe Bell, the director of corporate communications for Cafaro. “We didn’t just start on this. We’ve been working at this possibility rather diligently for some time to hopefully make sure the space that will soon be vacant won’t be vacant for long.”

 

Sears takes up 87,800 square feet at the Meadowbrook Mall, which includes the Sears Auto Center. The auto center will not be closing. Bell said it’s safe to say that the Sears space attached to the main building that will be closing occupies 70,000 square feet. That 70,000-plus feet will likely be vacant by the end of March, Bell said.

 

“The auto centers are actually good profit centers for the company because it’s a commodity they sell not subject to the whims of fashion and merchandising,” said Bell. “People will always need work on their brakes, need tires or an oil change and that type of landscape, typically, doesn’t change much.”

 

Retail, however, does change. And it changes frequently. Because of that, knowing if another major anchor store – such as Target – could be coming is anyone’s guess.

 

“There are other anchor type stores out there, but we realize that there are just not as many as past 10 to 20 years due to consolidation and due to others going out of businesses,” said Bell. “At the same time, we’re also seeing retailers of great size that are willing to come into similar markets. I guess we’ll know and hopefully know soon.”

 

That, of course, led to the question to which it was certain Bell wouldn’t – or perhaps couldn’t – answer. What’s likely to be next at the Meadowbrook Mall?

 

“I was just talking with another individual in another part of the country facing a Sears closing and they were ringing their hands on what was next. I honestly don’t know what’s next,” said Bell, who laughed when told that there was no doubt speculation would begin and people would be wanting to see a Macy’s arrive (Macy's is also closing stores nationwide). “Here’s what I can tell you and that discussions are already under way with any number of retailers and even other types of business that would be preferable for that type of space. The goal is to find a group, or groups, to use that space that provide value to all the merchants, the community and the customers.”

 

For those thinking Bell is using corporate speak, when asked if Cafaro has had any success filling spaces vacated recently by Sear’s, he gave an answer to the affirmative. Ironically, it’s located just off of Interstate 79.

 

“In Erie, Pa., the Sears there just closed and work is already underway retrofitting it to be the new home of Boscov’s, which has actually been around for about 100 years and is based out of Reading, Pa. They have about 45 stores in several states and are opening roughly a store a year in several places,” said Bell.

 

The location is the Millcreek Mall in Erie, about 3.5 miles from downtown Erie. According to their Web site, Boscov’s stocks “a full range of brand-name merchandise that runs the gamut from fashion items for men, women and children to a complete line of home furnishings.” They have no stores in West Virginia, but several border the state.

 

So are they in the mix?

 

“I can’t speak to the specifics of what our real estate people are doing, but I wouldn’t doubt that they’ve had discussions with them or other big box stores,” said Bell.  “It’s just hard to pinpoint anything this early. It’s not hard to say, from this line of work, it is tough seeing Sears struggle.”

 

Bell is hopeful that the closing of stores will right the ship as opposed to simply buying the legendary chain more time before an ultimate demise. He said, however, that he believes it’s a possibility.

 

“It’s a sad situation, and the closing there had nothing to do with health of the situation of the (Meadowbrook) Mall because the overall economy in and around that mall is pretty well,” Bell said. “I would hate a predication about their future, but it’s been mentioned by more than one person that understands this business that it is on a descent that it can’t pull out of.

 

Bell added that the best case scenario for the space would be a department type store that brings something different to the local economy. He added that if the space is broken up, it wouldn’t be a bad thing either as long as it’s complimentary to the mall and the consumer.

 

“Ultimately, we’d like to see something take place sooner rather than later,” said Bell. “I can’t predict what’s going to happen this calendar year, but I can tell you work to make it happen is under way. I guess we’ll find out how long or how quickly it will take place.”

 

If recent history is any indication, it likely won’t be immediate. The last anchor store to close at the mall was Montgomery Ward. City records show it closed March 31, 2001. The replacement, Target, came more than two years later. Records provided by the city show Target opened its doors on July 20, 2003.

 

Sears opened at the mall in 1988. The Bon Ton was the original store in that location when the Meadowbrook Mall first opened its doors in 1982.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the iconic Sears logo, while the second photo - courtesy of the Cafaro Company - shows an aerial of the 900,000 square foot plus mall and the space occupied by Sears. Bottom photo is of Joe Bell during the multi-million dollar renovation of the facility in 2013.