One of the last vestiges of the mid-century development boom along Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park will close this fall.
Sears Holdings announced on Thursday that it would be closing 20 more United States stores, including the location that had operated near 95th Street and Metcalf since the 1960s. The company, which has seen sales plummet as consumers turn toward internet giants like Amazon for much of their shopping, had already announced nearly 250 store closures this year.
Sears, which owns the land and building used for its Metcalf location, had announced it intended to keep operating on the site even as real estate executives pitched plans for the wholesale redevelopment of the Metcalf South Mall site and the French Market site to its north across 95th Street.
Now, Sears says it will shutter the Metcalf store by mid-September, with closeout sales set to begin in the coming weeks.
LANE4 Property Group and the Columbia, Mo.,-based Kroenke Group purchased both the Metcalf South and the French Market sites in 2014. At present, the companies are demolishing the mall to make way for a Lowe’s-anchored retail development. It’s unclear at this time what impact the Sears closure might have on the potential for expanding that project.
