Sears has highs, then lows in the Corridor

In the Corridor, Sears operates a store in Cedar Rapids and Kmart has a store at 901 Hollywood Blvd. in Iowa City. That represents a sharp reduction from Sears stores in Coralville and in Cedar Rapids as well as two Kmart stores in Cedar Rapids.

In 2012, Sears sold its 98,000-square-foot store in Coral Ridge Mall to General Growth Properties, the owner of the mall, after it closed the anchor store. General Growth has gutted the building, added 6,000 square feet, and repurposed the building for multiple tenants including Home Goods and Marshall's.

Sears sold its 129,000-square-foot store at Lindale Mall to Seritage SRC Finance LLC, a publicly traded real estate investment trust that it created but does not control. The anchor store, constructed in 1960, was remodeled in 1994 and gained additional retail sales area in 1999 when 15,000 square feet of storage space was converted.

Kmart closed its 127,000-square-foot store at 2727 16th Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids in 2012. MidAmerican Aerospace, a supplier of aircraft arts, bought the building and remodeled it.

In December 2013, Kmart closed its store at 180 Collins Rd. NE, ending a 43-year presence in Cedar Rapids. That building was remodeled in connection with the redevelopment of the surrounding 146,000-square-foot retail complex by RCG Ventures of Atlanta.

Tenants of the rebranded Collins Crossing include Firehouse Subs, Great Clips, Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, Shoe Carnival, Versona and Wendy's. Specialty grocer Fresh Market operated a 24,000-square-foot anchor store from October 2014 to May 2016, when the Greensboro, N.C.-based chain closed 13 stores across four states.

Read the full story on Sears and how it has faired over the years here.