Yellowknife Sears dealer to shut down at end of month

First KFC, now this: Yellowknife is losing yet another popular chain outlet — this time, the family-owned dealer for the American appliance and department store giant Sears.

Michelle Lucas, who owns the store with her husband, David, confirmed Sears would be shutting down on July 29. The couple has run the Yellowknife branch on Old Airport Road — which includes a showroom and the catalogue business — since October 2004.

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"The expenses for running the business…were too high to make a living off of it," Lucas said. "The bills were more than what we were earning and it wasn't worth staying around any more."

Lucas says the decision came after a big hike in rent and utilities expenses over the past few years.

Though there are appliances on display inside the Yellowknife Sears, it is better known for its catalogue business. It was a popular pickup location for orders from the renowned Sears catalogue.

Sears Canada wants customers to still be able to pick up catalogue orders, however.

The company says it's looking for qualified candidates to start a catalogue agency in the city. These are typically located in existing small businesses, anything from a flower shop to an insurance agency, and feature a small desk where Sears parcels can be picked up. 

"We want customers to know that we are committed to the local community in Yellowknife and would like to open a catalogue agency in town," said Alicia Richler, Sears Canada's director of corporate affairs and communications. 

"We recognize that we have many loyal customers in Yellowknife who buy from our catalogues, such as the Christmas Wish Book, or through our website, and rely on a local agent to facilitate these deliveries."

Katie the four-legged mascot

Another fixture of the Yellowknife store is Katie, its wide-eyed four-legged greeter, who has been coming to work with Michelle since she was a six-week-old puppy. She's 11 now and sniffs almost every customer as they walk in the door.

"She thinks she works here too," she says.  

Lucas says while there's been a few inquiries, Sears has not found anyone to take over the contract. When the Lucas family closes the store at the end of the month, it won't reopen until the company can find new owners.

"Everything will go on a truck and will be shipped back [south] until someone starts over again," said Lucas.

That means Sears customers will either have to pay for home delivery — Lucas says they won't home deliver appliances — or make the six-hour drive to Hay River to pick up orders from their town's dealer.

'They were my outlet'

The news has upset some loyal Sears customers.

Donna MacEachern is 81 and has been catalogue shopping from Sears in the N.W.T. for the past 48 years. She still shops from the catalogue today.

"They were my outlet. I don't have a computer or anything like that, but I pick up the catalogue and I buy and I have never, ever been disappointed," she says.

"To hear that they're closing, I thought, 'Oh my god', I'm gonna be lost."

MacEachern says she's going to miss the store dearly, specifically the Christmas Wish Book. She says it meant a lot to her kids and her granddaughter, Camilla. 

"It was basically like a bible, my bible, when I was a child," said Camilla MacEachern, of the Wish Book.

"I would hog it. I would sleep with it. It was kind of ridiculous actually."

Donna MacEachern still refuses to order online, so she thinks she might just stop shopping altogether once the store shuts down.

"I guess this is the time in my life where I don't really need to be buying and buying. I can get by because I've got a closet full of clothes."

'We don't want to close'

There's been lots of changes throughout the 11 years the Lucas' have owned Sears. 

In 2008, the store outgrew its old location, also on Old Airport Road. It moved next door into its current home, increasing inventory and the number of staff.

In recent years, Lucas says she's noticed a drop in sales with the opening of furniture and appliance competitors. She says this isn't why they decided to close though.  

Once they do close, Lucas says the family is thinking of moving back home to Alberta.

"It'll be a relief that we're done but I'm sure I'll be shedding a few tears at the end too," she said. 

"We would prefer to not close. We don't want to close. I love this business."