Crain’s Chicago Business is reporting that Sears plans to open an “experience: store featuring Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances in River North.
I remember when Sears opened what was planned to be its prototype urban store of the future, in Piper’s Alley, on North Avenue. The store had an enormous display of Craftsman tools, including table saws, band saws, drill presses, routers and more. Its street-facing window displayed an array of washers and dryers to taunt all the condo and apartment dwellers unable to have them in their units. I vaguely remember that the manager lived in a distant suburb after having (just) relocated from suburban Kansas City.
The store, and a companion operation in Manhattan, was an utter and rapid failure, to no one’s surprise but Sears.
The Crain’s article suggests River North is ” seemingly an odd choice for a flagship tool store.” Odd, as in nutty.