http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/east-county/sd-se-elcajon-sears-20180419-story.html
ears, Roebuck and Co. was the anchor tenant at Parkway Plaza in El Cajon when it opened in 1969. Its presence there helped the shopping mall to become the city’s largest retail center.
But after a half-century at the corner of Fletcher Parkway and Johnson Avenue, Sears will be shutting its doors for good this summer. It is one of hundreds of Sears stores facing closure nationwide as the company struggles with declining revenues, unable to compete with online sales and a growing list of competitors.
The 250,000-square-foot department store chain will shutter in July, putting 104 employees out of work. Some of them have asked to be transferred to other Sears stores; others are retiring. The automotive center closes this Saturday.
Some locals are already rueing the day Sears shutters its doors.
“Oh no!” Alpine resident Kathy Downs wrote on Facebook when she heard the news. “I also remember when it opened. Largest Sears store west of the Mississippi. I still have the sewing machine I bought there. And now where will we get our Diehard batteries?”
La Mesa resident Charlie Wells wrote on Facebook: “I remember when it opened! The only building on that whole property, I think. A great store.”
Sears’ closures around the country show some of the changes in people’s shopping habits over the decades. ........................ the rest of the article is in the link