Sears to close at Bellevue Center in early August

• Move that affects 44 employees comes amid planned redevelopment of largely empty mall property

The Sears store and Sears Auto Center at Bellevue Center mall will close in early August, making way for a redevelopment project.

A liquidation sale started Friday, Sears spokesman Howard Riefs said. He said 44 employees will be affected by closure of the last businesses at the largely empty mall, adding those eligible will receive severance pay and all could apply for job openings at other area Sears or Kmart stores.

Its unclear whether Sears' closing signals an agreement between the retailer and the owner of the bulk of the 1 million-square-foot Bellevue Center and its development partner, Crosland Southeast. Last fall, Crosland executive Tim Sittema said the Charlotte, N.C.-based retail and mixed-use developer hoped to negotiate with Sears to terminate its lease, relocate Sears' store within the project or try to work around its location during construction.

The 75-acre Bellevue Center mall site would be converted into the retail-driven, walkable multiuse One Bellevue Place. Components include 600,000 square feet of retail space, roughly 300 multifamily residential units, a hotel and 1,500 square feet of professional/medical office space.

Sears has operated in the Bellevue Center mall location since 1999 and kept it open even after the mall largely closed seven years ago when the last nonanchor tenants had moved out.

"Store closures are part of a series of actions we're taking to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base and accelerate the transformation of our business model," Riefs said about plans to finally close the location. "These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers and members through integrated retail — at the store, online and in the home."

As part of the Bellevue Center redevelopment, Crescent Communities LLC plans a 335-unit apartment project on a portion of the property. A Sprouts Farmers Market grocery store also could be part of the project.

Richard Jones, a World Realty broker, attributed Bellevue Center mall's failure in part to being unable to draw customers from Belle Meade and east of the mall, who continued to shop at the Mall at Green Hills.

"The Belle Meade customer had been in such a habit of turning right and go shop at Green Hills rather than turning left to go to Bellevue," he said.

In the past, Bellevue's Metro councilwoman, Sheri Weiner, also has cited a lack of sufficient rooftops and jobs in the area to support the mall as a factor in the closing in addition to competition from other regional malls.

"There's a lot of new home construction past there now," said David Baker, a Baker Storey McDonald Properties principal, citing west along Interstate 40 toward the McCrory Lane exit. "They won't have to turn left. They can turn right. The area is ripe for redevelopment of the mall."

Reach Getahn Ward at 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.