Plans for Sears location revealed

JONESBORO, Ark. – After Sears leaves Jonesboro, the building will be developed into two separate business locations.

This comes after the announcement that Sears in Jonesboro would be closing in 2017.

In the plans, revealed exclusively to NEA Report by MBC Holdings, Inc. Principal Bruce Burrow, area “A” will be a 30,000 square foot business while area “B”, the portion closest to Caraway Road, will become a business with 50,000 square feet. Burrow said these two storefronts will be majorly upgraded, in the process, revitalizing the property.

The exit of Sears was necessary for this redevelopment to occur.

“We’re delighted they’ve been at the center this long,” Burrow said, adding that the closure of the Jonesboro Sears allows MBC to upgrade the center. 

The plans don’t stop at what will be the old Sears location, either.

As shown in the plans above, the real estate between Kroger Marketplace and Sears will become a 36,000 square foot shopping location.

“Kroger has better traffic than probably any store in the city,” Burrow said.

The high volume of shoppers at Kroger made the real estate at Caraway and Highland perfect for the new storefronts, with three additional openings for smaller stores near Caraway Road also available. It will transform the intersection, the developer said.

Burrow expects this to ultimately lead to the creation of 250 to 300 jobs.

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The principal of MBC said he was notified six months ago that Sears would not be renewing their lease, which expires on Oct. 17, 2017. It was good news for MBC, who owned the property, but leased it to Sears.

The lease arrangement allowed Sears to pay the same price they had to MBC since moving to the spot in 1966 while also paying a percentage of sales. But with the Sears brand floundering nationwide and the Mall at Turtle Creek taking most of the foot traffic from what was the former Indian Mall, the location suffered.

It is expected the Sears store itself will close around April, while the automotive center will close closer to the end of the lease, in October.