Sears at Six Corners, last in Chicago, closing permanently next month
CHICAGO (WLS) -- For nearly 80 years the legendary Six Corners intersection in the Portage Park neighborhood has been anchored by a Sears. But soon the store will be no more.
"Very sad," Gale Birch, a longtime customer, said of the store's closing. "The only thing still here from when I was a kid. Everything else is gone."
Bowing to the competition from online retailers and other chain stores, Sears is closing the Six Corners location it first opened in 1938 - But not without an opportunity for neighbors to look back at history.
Dale Harris has worked at the store for 47 years and knows the place intimately. He led behind-the-scenes tours on Thursday.
"We have stairways that go nowhere and stairways that come from nowhere. Doors that open into brick walls," he said.
Soon those doors will be locked for good, causing some former employees to come back for one last look.
Cheryl Kalkirtz and her friend Melanie met working at the store in the 1980s. Melanie brought her old name tag with for her visit.
"It's part of my upbringing," Kalkirtz said. "Sad that it's ending."
The store is a neighborhood fixture and a city landmark. At one time Six Corners provided more sales tax revenue to the city than any other neighborhood outside the Loop.
"A lot of people talk about coming here as a kid, met their spouse here," said Kelli Wefenstette of the Six Corners Association.
The store is set to close permanently in mid-July, though no specific date has been set. It also hasn't been announced who will take over the space.
