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Sears leaving San Antonio Shopping Center
Company plans move after lease ends in March 2007

by Jon Wiener

Sears department store will be abandoning its location in San Antonio Shopping Center when its lease expires next March, marking an end to the company's 50-year run in Mountain View. The company, which was planning to notify its employees this week, decided to make the move after losing an arbitration hearing that set the rent for the building.

Palo Alto developer Thoits Brothers, Inc., owns the property. Fred Thoits said Tuesday that the company is negotiating with an unidentified company about moving into the space. The company is planning a neighborhood meeting within the next 30 days, according to Thoits.

Chris Brathwaite, a Sears representative, confirmed in a statement e-mailed to the Voice that the store will close in March 2007. "We hope to place the associates of the store at nearby Sears and/or Kmart stores after the Mountain View store closes," he wrote, adding that the local Sears "will be here for almost 12 more months and will continue to be able to meet the needs of their homes and families."