The Sears Store In The Willow Grove Mall Is Closing After Decades In Business

WILLOW GROVE, PA — The Sears store at the Willow Grove Mall has announced that it will be shuttering, ending an era of big box retailers at the suburban Philly shopping destination.

The business confirmed its closure in a Facebook post, and numerous media outlets have reported that the store is going out of business.

The Bucks Count Courier Times reported that a Sears spokesperson, Larry Costello, confirmed the Willow Grove store's closure, saying that the ultimate plan is to transform the now-Sears space as part of parent company Transformco's desire to "unlock the value of the real estate and pursue the highest and best use for the benefit of the local community."

Patch reported this fall that the Willow Grove Mall was eyeing up a transformation, with a goal to return to its former amusement park glory days with the planned addition of an entertainment complex to be housed in the portion of the mall that had been home to another longtime retailer, J.C. Penney.

The entertainment component is part of a strategy to bring life back to the shopping mall — which originally started out as an amusement park and later turned into a retail destination — but has been affected, like many other malls and big box stores, by online shopping destinations like Amazon.