Matthew U.
Yelp
Talk about seeing a ghost. That's exactly what I saw here. I had that that the whole brand had closed up shop with them going belly up. However, upon furth inspection, there are only 20 Sears left in the US with the Frederick location being one.
It felt like right after Blockbuster closed up shop and you would stumble upon one of their old locations. I walked in here expecting it to be a perpetual closing sale going on. Don't get me wrong, it nearly looked like that, but they were still here, doing their thing.
When I walked in the first time I though I was being punked. But I was not, they had every department that you would expect. Everything right down to the appliances that we were all too familiar with seeing.
Don't let me mislead you here. It may be a Sears, but it is a bareboned Sears. It was great being in here, kind of reliving my childhood adventures. Before school starts shopping, late Christmas last minute shopping, middle of the summer detour shopping, and all that good stuff in between.
In this store I can assure you they have items and all departments are open. Although each department is pared down. Some walls had maybe one or two items hanging on the racks and the rest was scattered to make it look like it was well stocked, but it really isn't. It is quite odd to see. They are attempting to make it look like a fully functional store, but it really looks way too lowkey.
Some sections hardly had any lighting. The store pick up area was dead, no one there, so I assume pick up is gone and/or done elsewhere. All the little outlying areas are gone. When I asked if they were about to close to an associate I was assured they are not closing, any time soon.
I was just weirdly put off because the fixtures that aren't in use are for sale. That is a usual sign that a store is about to close up shop. Only time will tell if this will remain true. I would love to see Sears make a comeback, but it is like hoping for water in a drought.
