Exploring an Abandoned Sears. Toledo, Ohio.

This is a detailed tour of the now Abandoned Sears store located in the Westgate Village Shopping Center in West Toledo, Ohio. Built in 1960 as a stand alone box store this Sears served the Community till it's final days of September 2017.

Final walk through of sears (Toledo Ohio) 9/16/17

Otis Escalators @ Sears Toledo Ohio

Music: Siamese Youth - Dream on

[andyvonyeast]

Who ever would have thought that Sears would go out of business and be gone forever. Sears was my first credit card. I got it just to buy Craftsman tools. A great Saturday night was going out to dinner with Mom and Dad, and then shopping at Sears. My wife and Mom would go to clothes and Dad and I would shop for tools. So sad to see Sears go away.

[USNVA]

My Sears Kenmore washer and dryer are still going strong. Purchased in 1993 !

[LetsssGooooooooo]

It's also crazy to think that Sears was well-positioned to be Amazon long before Amazon existed. Sears was a big leader in mail catalog shopping. Too bad they didn't see the internet for all its potential as their already well-established warehouse infrastructure would have come in very handy.

[TrustNone]

Sad day when this store closed. I shopped there for decades. I loved going there to look through all the Craftsman tools.

[kennethtanguay]

I'm heartbroken with my memories of working at Sears. I worked for Sears from January 2006 to February 2020. I loved working at Sears, with the customers and my coworkers. Sears was once one of the best places to spend your hard earned money 💰 with. My favorite thing at Sears was the craftsman tools. LTW on tools, if they ever failed all you had to do was exchange it out, didn't even need the receipt as long as they could read the word craftsman on the failed tool. We even had rebuilt kits for the ratchets if you wanted to keep your old one . No problem! Sears was the best. Great memories. Miss Sears so much. 😢 Sears was the heart of American retail stores.

[tomshiba]

I can still smell the caramel corn as mom led us kids through the doors. I remember distinctly the Christmas toy display they set up in 1965. Probably the last time I entered this building was around 1970. After that, I spent most of my time at the Southwyck Mall.

[roundclipazine]

I was an appliance repair tech out of that store from 2008-2014. I recognize the pickup trucks of the two of my old coworkers parked next to our A&E trucks. We changed to the a&e name after the bankruptcy in 2005 A&E was originally Montgomery Wards appliance repair name and we purchased it when they went under. The appliance repair portion was seperated as a different holdings company that still operates independent of Sears and could be sold separately. Also something neat about the auto center is that there is a full basement under that building that houses a locker room and showers, a break room and tire storage wearhouse.

[mdschererco]

Thank you for this. You are very accurate on it. I worked at this Sears from 1977-1981, and during those years I sold swimming pools, plumbing, worked at customer service and the teletype department. The outdoor garden shop area you mentioned in the ENE corner is where we had the swimming pools set up. Also a shed where we kept chemicals and fertilizer. The roofed strip from the key shop had lights underneath and looked quite cool at night. Was a great store, great products, and a great job at the time, my first "real job."

[expgretaillegacy]

My last sears (westland, mi) closed for good today. I will miss Sears so much

[charleneklein]

Thank you for doing this video! I used to go there with my parents as a kid. My mom wound be picking up orders in the catalog department and my dad would be in the Craftsman tool section. Then when I started driving I would shop there as a teen! So many good memories. I remember the candy counter, popcorn and roasted peanuts too!

[randallfawc]

Great story. I remember as a child Sears was the place to shop at Christmas time. They had absolutely everything. Including model train sets running. How things have changed. And not always for the better. Excellent video. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[mysticmuppet]

I’m from Toledo myself and I’m really enjoying the random facts I’m learning about my city on your channel! Cool stuff Nate!

[Barbarra]

I remember peaceful Sunday drives, brother, me, mom and dad and window shopping in the car, we always went to Sears, it's where my brother and I first got to drive the car when he turned 11 then when I turned 11, great memories.

[madtruckamax]

They just thore it down 😭😭😭 I used to love sears back in the day I used to go with my grandma shopping we lived 5m from there RIP Sears and Grandma 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[murda]

Sears, and the Westgate development in general, helped lead to the demise of downtown Toledo. I guess the evolution of other shopping areas in Toledo lead to the demise of Sears and Elder-Beerman. Life evolves.
(The Kenmore washer and dryer that we bought in that store in 2004 is still going strong!)

[susanseeman]

I worked there in the coffee shop in 1963 till 1969 loved it.

[jcinlaca]

I worked my first summer job in this store in the 70s. It was my luck to be assigned to the candy counter. I worked next to the major appliance department where the salesmen wore coats and ties and made a good living selling washers and dryers on commission. My fringe benefits were the occasional bag (or two) of chocolate covered peanuts, bridge mix, etc. which I’d grab from the stock room on my way out the door. I was very popular with my friends when I’d show up with the snacks. :)

[davek]

My Dad managed the catalog department from the opening of this store up until the mid 70's. A lot of memories....

[checkmateforever]

I worked there back in 1995. Still shopped there after I left. I remember clearly how Sears was set up and designed in its last days of being open.

[jobalonie]

First of all, Nate, Thank you !!! This was such a nostalgic look back. I grew up in Lincolnshire which was a new housing development just through the woods, west of Sears. I used to make the trip, walking, of course, to Sears at least 3 times a week and knew that store like the back of my hand. I was about 10-11 years old at the time. The front entrance door handles.. Yes ! those were original and I loved the fact that they kept them even after renovating the building with the new 'white paint' ..but those door handles didn't need to be replaced. They were made to last ! And those stone aggregate tiles in the front walkways..again, such a neat touch.
I had to laugh to myself when you showed the back entrance. Because when I got a bit older, we used to buy cigarettes out of vending machines which were in the vestibule between the two double doors as you went in. We were under age of course but back then, you could buy those smokes out of vending machines ! Loved that fact about the air conditioning unit, continuing to run after these years.. How can that be ? that seems a bit like a haunting.. LOL.
Oh..and the water tower..which I had forgotten totally about.. I remember that too..and some of the boys in our neighborhood used to boast that they had climbed the tower !
I can imagine that the building is filled with asbestos and therefore, very expensive to tear down. I still live in Toledo and pass that building almost everyday. Sears was a great store, no doubt about it. Your video did it justice.. thank you !