Head office confirms closing of West Kelowna Sears

WEST KELOWNA – Sears Canada has confirmed the closing of its West Kelowna store and says its not sure if it will continue to operate a store on that side of the lake.

Sears director of communications Alicia Richler says in an email statement all customer purchases will be honoured.

“While we have not yet determined our future intentions for this market, we are in contact with the owner of the store and his landlord to consider our options and work cooperatively through an orderly wind-down process."

Customers arriving at the store yesterday, Aug. 13, were surprised to find the doors locked at the location on Old Okanagan Highway in Estates Square.

Landlord Noll Derriksan said he locked out the tenants for non-payment of rent.

Michela Russo was one of the customers who could not pick up her order because of the sudden closure. However, Russo has since been in contact with Sears and had her problem solved.

“I contacted Sears and after lots of waiting, they were able to tell me my order was rerouted to the Kelowna store. After I explained that I live in Peachland and did not want to drive into Kelowna, they told me that my order would be delivered to my house free of charge.”

Richler confirmed that all packages destined for the West Kelowna store have now been redirected to the Kelowna Sears location in Orchard Park Mall.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.