Sears in Yuma on list of company closures

The Sears off 32nd Street and Fourth Avenue is one of the last standing additions to the original Southgate mall in Yuma. However, after the company filed for bankruptcy on Monday, the long-standing location here in the Desert Southwest is on the company’s list of closures.

The Yuma location is one of more than 100 Sears stores closing this year, according to recent court filings.

“In the 60’s and 70’s, that’s when it was most popular, we used to buy jeans for the kids here, appliances from them, they were the number one retailer,” said Gary, who is from Chattanooga, Tennessee and seasonally visits Yuma. “We bought everything from Sears, it’s tough to see them leave.”

There were two Sears stores from his home town, one closed and the other is on the brink of closing, he said.

KYMA was able to speak with an employee at the Sears location in Yuma who has worked there for several years. He said the news came as a shock and that employees are not to speak publicly about the companies decision.

Sears got its start as a watch seller in 1893, a time when Roy Disney, the brother of Walt Disney was born and Glover Cleveland was inaugurated as the 24th President of the United States.