If you imagine the floor plan of Alderwood Mall as a crucifix, J.C. Penney is at Christ’s head and Sears is at his feet. That’s the way it has always been at countless malls around the country. Sears and Penney: the original anchor stores. It’s almost too obvious to note that the internet has not been kind to either business. Having been laid low by big-box retailers like Walmart and Home Depot in the ’90s, they were then repeatedly kicked in the teeth by Amazon. This is obviously old news, and whatever pity you may have felt for these retail dinosaurs has likely been drained by repetition. But bear with me.
A local angle: The Sodo branch of Sears in the Starbucks Center (which itself used to be known as the Sears building) closed down this summer. Sears opened at that spot in 1925. Until its closure, it had reportedly been the longest-running Sears location in America and was at one time the fulfillment center for the chain’s entire West Coast catalog business. At the beginning of this month, the J.C. Penney store that’s been holding down one corner of Bellevue Square for more than half a century also closed…