MIDDLEBURY — The Sears Hometown Store at 383 Exchange St. in Middlebury will close for good on July 23 after an almost 10-year run.
Efforts to reach owner Ed Gregory were unsuccessful as the Addison Independent went to press on Friday. A worker who answered the store phone Friday morning said he could not discuss the reason why the store was closing.
Sears Holdings Corporation announced last month plans to close 70 stores in 2018 due to eroding sales, according to a recent report on cnbc.com. That same report indicated Sears has identified a total of 100 stores nationwide that were “unprofitable.”
It wasn’t clear at press time whether the Middlebury store was part of that “unprofitable” group.
The Sears store has attracted business from Addison County residents looking for washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers and other major appliances and tools. Prior to the arrival of Middlebury Sears, customers had to go to stores in Rutland or Burlington, or order online.
It was in November of 2008 that original owners Mike and Kym Harrington opened the Middlebury Sears store.
Brian Carpenter is landlord for the 383 Exchange St. building that Sears is vacating. He’s looking for a new tenant for the approximately 8,000 available square feet.