The Sears store at the Sunvalley Shopping Center in Concord is about to be the last one standing in the state of California — an ignoble distinction for the iconic American retailer, considering many local shoppers thought it already was closed.
Just look at the parking lot.
Positioned at the prime corner of Contra Costa Boulevard and Willow Pass Road right off Interstate 680, the vast lot is mostly empty. The store itself had so few customers on a summer day this past week it practically echoed. The clerk behind the watch repair counter on the basement floor looked like a Maytag repairman from the old commercials — the loneliest guy in town.
“It’s long past sad. It’s like, let’s move on. Just close the place down,” said Bob Goldner, a volunteer at the Friends Book Store across the