City Of Muskogee Making Sure Sears Closing Doesn't Impact Town

One of the anchor businesses in downtown Muskogee is shutting down. Sears will only be open for about another three months or so as the company is closing stores to cut down costs and transform into a new business model.

The City of Muskogee is doing whatever it can to make sure losing the retailer doesn't transform the town. It's a store many folks in Muskogee count on.

8/6/2014 Related Story: Muskogee Sears To Close Doors In November

“They're not, ya know, real bad priced,” said Muskogee resident, Sandra Glass.

She said she makes a trip to the mall at least once a week and Sears is always on her list of stores to shop. She's sad to hear it will no longer be an option.

“I said, 'Oh no! Really?'” Glass said.

The hardest part of the store closing is that it’s closing down the livelihoods of 60 people who work for Sears.

“We feel very saddened for the employees of Sears, many of whom I know. Some of them it's their full time job, some of them it's their part time job to make their ends meet for their family,” said City Councilor, Marlon Coleman.

The business not only pumps money into its employees’ pockets, but also into the city's.

Sears is nestled inside Arrowhead Mall just a block away from downtown and both are important players in the town's economy.

“The mall is one of our key arteries to keep the whole heartbeat of the city going,” Coleman said.

Coleman said losing the Sears store could slow the sales tax heartbeat in town, but not if he has anything to do about it.

“We have to press ahead and work forward to make certain that we do everything we can to keep this mall as one of the key economic drivers for our city,” said Coleman.

He said the city is in the process of revitalizing downtown, with hopes of pouring in 3 million dollars to help bring the old Main Street back to life.

Its success, he said, weighs heavily on the success of the mall, and right now, he said business there is thriving.

Most storefronts are filled and he said the mall's property manager won't waste any time finding a new retailer to fill the 50,000 square foot space that Sears will soon leave empty.

It's too soon to know what could move into the space, although there are a lot people around who have ideas of what they'd like to see.

The store will close in early November, but the automotive center could shut its doors by next month.

Some of the employees will be offered severance packages and will be able to apply for open positions at other area Sears or K-Mart stores.