Sears Closing Store At Northshore Mall In Peabody

PEABODY, MA -- The Sears store at the Northshore Mall in Peabody is one of 72 the company said it would close during its first quarter earnings release Thursday. The closing isn't a complete surprise, as a developer has already filed plans with the city to build a three-story health club on the site now occupied by the department store.

The closures follow a round of closures last year, where Sears Holdings Co. closed 400 underperforming Sears and K-Mart stores. The Sears store at the Burlington Mall, which was part of the closings announced earlier this year, is scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a new structure, as well as outdoor pedestrian space connecting the new building to the existing mall.

The 72 stores announced Thursday were from a list of 100 nonprofitable stores the company had identified. The only other Massachusetts stores Sears said it would close Thursday is in Springfield.

Earlier this month health club chain Life Time Inc. submitted plans to replace the Sears store at the Northshore mall with an upscale, three-story health club. The company, which has locations in Burlington and Chestnut Hill, want to build a gym that would have three indoor and one outdoor swimming pool.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).