Fun, not fashion, could be the future of the big box.
Two former Sears stores in Texas are being redeveloped with entertainment retail concepts, the latest examples of malls leaning on experience-driven concepts to backfill shuttered big-box retail.
In North Texas, the Mesquite City Council approved plans for a 58,000-square-foot Main Event entertainment center at Town East Mall, the Dallas Business Journal reported.
The location, which closed in 2021, was the last Sears operating in the region. Main Event will include bowling, escape rooms, arcade games and a restaurant; it is expected to create about 200 jobs. It will join anchors Macy’s, Dillard’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods and JCPenney at the 1.2 million-square-foot mall.
Council member Jeff Casper said the redevelopment was a “passion project,” calling the space the “most important piece of real estate in Mesquite.”
Main Event is owned by Dallas-based Dave & Buster’s and operates more than 20 locations across Texas, with multiple venues in the DFW area.
In Southeast Texas, a concept called Score Entertainment is preparing to open in a 150,000-square-foot former Sears space at Deerbrook Mall in Humble, the Houston Business Journal reported.
Renovations are expected to begin June 1 and wrap within a year, according to a state project filing. The venue will offer go-karts, laser tag, bowling, mini golf, VR attractions, axe throwing and multiple bars. Design work is being led by Houston-based Albany Studio.
The group has not confirmed ownership details or responded to inquiries.
The projects follow similar redevelopments in Houston, including the Ion tech hub in Midtown, which transformed a historic Sears site, and a forthcoming Round1 arcade at Willowbrook Mall.
Sears’ parent company emerged from bankruptcy with only 22 stores in 2022. As of March, the nation’s once-largest retailer had only eight stores left open, CBS News reported.
Big Lots filed for bankruptcy protection in September; Party City followed in December with plans to wind down operations and liquidate all stores. Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy in March.
Landlords have increasingly turned to entertainment, healthcare and logistics uses to reactivate large vacant retail footprints left behind by Sears and other department store exits.
— Judah Duke
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