Some celebration.
Summit County residents are observing the 50th anniversary of Sears at Chapel Hill Mall by clearing its shelves during liquidation sales.
Sears announced this month that it would close 42 stores nationwide, including the one at the struggling mall in Akron. The last remaining Sears in the county is expected to shut down within two months.
Older residents remember when cars jammed the parking lot and shoppers swarmed the aisles.
“A fabulous new Sears store is coming to Akron!” the retailer advertised before the grand opening in September 1966. “It’s going to be big and beautiful, complete with everything from rolling pins to mink coats, from spark plugs to a custom tailoring shop for men, from diamonds to clothespins to carpets. Complete and convenient for one-stop family shopping.”
Predictably, the shiny new building was the beginning of the end for the old Sears store on South Main Street in downtown Akron, which quietly shut down March 1, 1967, as customers flocked to the suburbs.
Sears arrived in Akron with great fanfare 85 years ago — another anniversary that is being overlooked in 2017. Although the nation was wallowing in the Great Depression, the Chicago retailer proudly announced in April 1932 that it would open its 29th Ohio store in the Rubber City.
“Akron is financially and economically sound,” explained C.B. Roberts, assistant vice president of the company.
Beyond catalog
Akron residents had ordered from Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogs since the late 19th century, but this was their first opportunity to shop at a brick-and-mortar Sears. The company chose the former Kirk Furniture Co. building at 265 S. Main St. next to the new Mayflower Hotel and spent more than $19,000 (about $344,000 today) to remodel the two-story structure and basement.
“Akron’s newest retail store, really eight specialty stores under one roof and management, will be opened tomorrow morning,” Sears advertised June 15, 1932. “Sears, Roebuck and Co., famous purveyors of first-quality merchandise for nearly half a century, brings to Akron a new kind of retail store.”
Akron City Council President Ed S. Rose served as master of ceremonies at the grand opening. Rose introduced H.F. Murphy, district manager for Sears, who introduced store manager O.B. Kemmerer to the large, waiting crowd. Rose unlocked the door and customers streamed inside, where 65 employees cheerfully greeted them.
“The main floor offers a bright display of washing machines, electric refrigerators, fishing tackle, golf equipment and beach attire,” the Beacon Journal reported in 1932. “Automobile tires, brushes, paints, varnishes and enamels are also exhibited. Ascending the broad staircase against the south wall, the shopper finds furniture groups and rugs on the second floor.
“The downstairs store is brilliantly lighted with a display of electrical goods; there are bathroom fixtures, a furnace exhibit, and equipment for the poultry raise and dairyman.”
Customers could find just about anything in the store: a steel hammer (95 cents), a push mower ($4.95), a 50-pound mattress ($3.95), a corn broom (19 cents), a Kenmore washer ($49.50), a 2-gallon can of motor oil ($1), an electric fan (89 cents), a 12-quart pail (10 cents), a Peerless bicycle ($19.95), work overalls (59 cents), a garden hose (79 cents), a gas range ($29.75) and an electric refrigerator ($99.50).
“We understand the needs of the American family,” Sears boasted during a three-day opening sale. “We guarantee satisfaction or your money back.”
Store expands
Business was so good that the store opened a third floor within a year, adding clothing and shoe departments for women and children. Still crunched for space, Sears moved in February 1948 to a brick, two-story building across the street — where Canal Park stands today.
“O-o-o-s and ah-h-hs will be heard far and wide when you folks of Akron and surrounding communities step through the welcome doorways of your new enlarged Sears store at 290 S. Main St. next Thursday morning!” Sears advertised Feb. 15.
“Never have you seen such eye-catching beauty … such modern display technique … such glorious coloring in a retail store. It is truly the last word in what an up-to-the-minute shopping center should be!”
Within two decades, the downtown store was obsolete.
Chapel Hill beckoned from afar, promising 150,000 square feet of retail bliss and free parking for Sears shoppers.
“Sears at Chapel Hill will be Akron’s newest, most fashionable department store … a convenient one-stop shopping center opening very soon!” the retailer advertised in 1966.
Soon all we’ll have left are memories — and questions.
How could a store survive the Great Depression but shut down when the stock market is high and unemployment is low?
And if consumers fled downtown for the suburbs, but then abandoned the suburbs, too, where do we go from here?
Beacon Journal copy editor Mark J. Price can be reached at 330-996-3850 or mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.