By Jack Criss
GJB Publisher

“Keep Sears at Metrocenter Mall in Jackson, Mississippi Open!” the email trumpeted in my inbox recently. The correspondence, from the City of Jackson/Office of the Mayor, continued thusly:

“Sears at Metrocenter Mall is a vitally important to the Metrocenter Mall, the City of Jackson and the entire Metro Jackson Area. As the only full service Sears within a 90 mile area, people depend on the store for quality goods.

Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr. led the development of the Highway 80 Economic Development Strategy that is now being implemented to encourage development and redevelopment of the entire corridor, including the Metrocenter Mall, and Sears would greatly benefit from this. Additionally, the City of Jackson will locate six city divisions at the Mall within 60 days that will bring more than 300 City employees to the facility and countless citizens to the Mall who would undoubtedly shop at Sears.

Private developers have also proposed mixed use, retail and housing developments at and around Metrocenter that would bring substantial value to the facility that Sears would benefit from as well.

Please sign this petition and let Sears know that we want them to stay open at Metrocenter!!”

While I agree that it’s a shame Sears is closing I think that the above call to action is a great example of too little, too late.

The executives at Sears have been in business long enough to know when a given store is sustainable and whether the potential for increased profitability exists. I have no doubt that a lot of time and thought was given to the decision to close the Jackson store as well as to the other Sears outlets that are being shut down. I submit that we must respect this corporate decision and look forward. Sears is not in business as altruists; they must make profits to justify staying in a given location. They’ve been in Jackson a long time; now, however, they see the need to move on and we must respect that decision whether we like it or not.

Executives really don’t want to hear about what “may” be taking place in the future as the above email emphasizes as a reason for Sears to reconsider its’ decision. While I’m sure the Sears’ hierarchy wishes the City of Jackson well in its’ endeavors in the surrounding area the fact of the matter is the numbers didn’t cut it and the executives obviously saw little evidence of improvement. To go on, as the email does, to say that private developers “have also proposed” future projects doesn’t mean squat in the here and now. You can propose all you want but, until the ideas are made tangible, such proposals are mere pipe dreams on the drawing board when the economic numbers don’t back them up.

I appreciate the City for trying to keep Sears in town but find the effort to launch a petition a bit naïve economically. Let us wish Sears well and move on. Let’s keep encouraging the local and private entrepreneurs to enter the gap that Sears leaves behind. Mayor Johnson and his staff are pro-Jackson and pro-local business so I hope they turn their attention to the Metro entrepreneurs who can come in and help revitalize the Highway 80/Metrocenter area and carry on in spite of the loss of Sears. Parting is such sweet sorrow, indeed; but this could also be seen as a great new beginning even as we mourn Sears’ departure.