The struggles of mall stalwarts such as Macy’s, Sears and J.C. Penney could spell opportunity for supermarket chains. Just last month, beloved Connecticut chain Stew Leonard’s began renovating an 80,000-square-foot location at New Jersey’s Paramus Park Mall formerly occupied by Sears.
That Sears store, which shuttered last year just months before the chain filed for bankruptcy, was one of hundreds the chain has closed over the past few years. Sears has since reemerged under former CEO Eddie Lampert’s Transform Holdco, but with a much smaller footprint.
