Sears Shuts Down Six Corners Shop

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois shoppers have seen Sears dwindle into oblivion over the past decade.

The latest casualty?

The last iconic Sears store in Chicago.

On Irving Park, Cicero and Milwaukee in Portage Park.

CBS 2' Dana Kozlov tells us why many Chicagoans are sad to see it go.

Looking up at the Six Corner Sears, Chicagoan Linda Stoll remembers how magical its display windows were when she was a child.

"These windows were filled with decorations. It was all lit up. It was unbelievable," says Stoll. "It was more than Macy's downtown. It was awesome."

One of the first windowless department stores, this Sears has been at the apex of Milwaukee, Cicero and Irving Park Roads for 80 years.

"On opening day in 1938, supposedly 99,000 people showed up."

And Northwest side newspaper publisher Brian Nadig says its draw continued for decades.

Becoming the neighborhood's anchor.

'The Six Corners was always known as the biggest shopping district outside of the Loop in the city of Chicago," says Nadig.

One of its biggest draws, remembers those of a certain age, was its popular candy counter.

"As soon as you walked in the door, the smell of those roasted nuts would hit you," says sixth generation Chicagoan Frank Suerth, who also rode his first escalator at the Six Corners Sears.

But after decades of dwindling business and a decade of big box struggles, the city's last Sears is closing this summer.

"Sears started in Chicago.  Hate to see it leave," says Suerth.

"I'll always miss it. And you'll never have another department store like this," sighs Stoll.

Sears started in Chicago more than 100 years ago.

It's not clear what will happen to that space.