Sears Plans To Expand Cda Store Project Includes Addition Of An Automotive Center

Sears, Roebuck and Co. revealed the worst kept secret in local retailing Friday when it announced a major expansion at its Silver Lake Mall store.

The store will grow to 55,000 square feet from its current 31,000 square feet, and should have a grand reopening next summer, said Glen Seely, general manager.

“This store has the highest sales per square feet of any Sears store in the Northwest,” he said Friday. “That’s why we need to expand.”

The project has been bandied about for more than two years. As a national chain, very few Sears stores are going through an expansion like this one, Seely said.

“We’re seeing some new stores and a few stores doing renovations, but this kind of large expansion is pretty unique,” he said.

A Sears Automotive Center will be built in the lot behind the current store. The seven-bay building will offer tires, batteries, accessories and other services.

Sears is spending $4 billion over five years to spruce up its stores and build 25 more next year. According to Coeur d’Alene building records, Sears expansion and the addition of the auto center will cost $900,000.

One focus of the new Sears will be women’s apparel, Seely said. About 3,100 square feet of the store currently showcases women’s clothes, but that will grow to more than 10,000 after the expansion.

The expansion could add up to 30 new employees to the 150 who already work at the Coeur d’Alene store, Seely said. “It will depend on the sales.”

The store will double its hardware department, add fine jewelry and boost its men’s clothing, Seely said.

FRCH Design Worldwide, based in New York, has done the design for the new store. Work on the project will begin Monday. Sears will remain open during the expansion.

“We think it’s incredibly exciting for our customers and employees,” he said. “It’s been talked about for a long time, but now it’s here.”

Sears announced last August that it will build a 114,000-square-foot store in the Spokane Valley Mall scheduled to open in late 1997. JP Realty of Salt Lake City owns both Silver Lake Mall and the Valley mall currently under construction.

The affordable retail sector is a very competitive one in the region, with Wal-Mart opening its latest store in Sandpoint last month.

, DataTimes