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Monday, August 10, 2026

The old Sears building at Shoreline Place: Chipping away at the past


Story & Photos by David Carlos

The building dates back to 1967, when Sears opened there, and remained until 2018.


The City of Shoreline says pre-demolition work and abatement are now underway. Once the demolition permit is issued, tearing the building down is expected to take about six months.

The footprint will eventually become a large mixed-use residential development, with apartments and retail/commercial space at street level, along with public open spaces.

 
We said goodbye to this Sears a long time ago. But the memories remain: popcorn and butter toffee peanuts, Craftsman tools, Free Spirit bicycles, and Toughskins jeans.

What are your irreplaceable Sears memories?


14 comments:

  1. Sears was to visit and shop for everyday items unlike the present. Miss it.

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  2. Lots of portraits taken at the photography studio. …sparkles in the cement walkways in front of the store. Good memories ❤️

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  3. Growing up we had Kenmore frig,stove,freezer,lawnmower ,washer and dryer..these appliances lasted many,many years

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  4. And DieHard batteries:)

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  5. I remember when that entire area was nothing but sand and scotch broom with the Y tavern as the only building sitting on the south end. It was nothingness. It belonged to Bill Boeing. Eventually the God's of Shopping in Shoreline permitted Sears to build. Nice. Our wonderful Aurora Village Mall closed in 92 and we weren't left with much. I'm sorry all the big retail stores are gone and I'm sorrier that they are replaced by apartments.

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  6. I met my best friends in the early 1970’s at Sears Aurora. We raised our kids together, vacationed together (some of us are still around and still do). We all have so many great memories and met so many wonderful people. There were 53 marriages of employees that met at this store between 1967 and 1993. RIP Sears Aurora.

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  7. Back-to-School often meant back to Sears. My first Craftsman mechanics tool set for my 67 Mustang came from that very location. We had our first born's first formal portrait done in the photo-studio and my first 45, CCR Have You Ever Seen The Rain was picked up for 49 cents there.

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  8. My first doll house! I got it there on my 12th birthday. It was vinyl with a handle. And a little plastic family and furniture. I adored it. I grew up in Edmonds and the Shoreline Sears was closer than the Everett one. Dad used to get his car fixed there. You could get everything at Sears! Thanks for the memories.

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  9. Instead of more apartment buildings why don’t we bring in a town feel with restaurants and small stores like a town center I think we are all tired of apartment buildings

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  10. Kenmore appliances (we still have our washer and dryer that we bought there)

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  11. If we all keep doing nothing but online shopping, we're going to lose all our stores, one by one.

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  12. Shoreline High student body president Rick Stevenson did an early-1970s presentation trying to sell a Shoreline Sears exec on some project, no luck, but the Sears guy hired him as a salesman, because Rick was great. Later he cast his Oxford classmate Hugh Grant in his first movie. But I, the Shoreline Student Body VP, was hired at the Sears Credit Central as a door to door bill collector (forced to wear a badge reading HAPPINESS AT SEARS IS TIM APPELO SERVING YOU--I told the boss, "But nobody is happy to see me," to no avail).

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  13. Sad to see Sears go away. Only 5 stores left none in WA.

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  14. Met the man of my dreams there in 1980…..

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