Fashion Place demolishing longtime Sears building

Sears, a 41-year staple of the Fashion Place mall is finally being demolished after the store closed its doors at the Murray shopping center last spring.

The building on the south side of Fashion Place, which is on the corner of Winchester Street and State Street is being demolished to make way for a new Dillard's department store in that space, which currently has a location at the north end of the mall. The new Dillard's, which will be 200,000 square feet, will open in the spring of 2015. The existing Dillard's, which opened at Fashion Place 20 years ago, will remain open until then.

"This is a great opportunity for them to enhance their offerings at Fashion Place," said John Bergstrom, senior vice president of anchor leasing for General Growth Properties, Inc., which owns and operates the mall. "Dillard's relocation is part of our ongoing effort to create an ultimate shopping experience at Fashion Place."

Sears opened along with Fashion Place in 1971. It closed in the spring of last year after Sears Holdings Corp. sold 11 of its national stores, including the Fashion Place outlet and another in Provo, to General Growth Properties. Sears continues to have other locations in Utah including in downtown Salt Lake City and West Jordan.

Demolition will finish in the next two weeks, said a mall spokeswoman. A replacement store for the spot Dillard's is vacating on the north end of Fashion Place has not been found yet, she said.

vince@sltrib.com

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