Scenes From Sears: 2 Locations Tell a Story of Struggle in a Tight Retail Market<br />A Sears spokesman said stores that are in the process of being closed, like the one in<br />Phillipsburg, are not a “fair representation of a current Sears shopping experience.”<br />Even as Sears is closing stores, the company is opening some new ones and renovating others to make them smaller and more attractive.<br />“The business is not there.”<br />Black Friday is the most celebrated shopping day of the year, when parking lots fill up early with bargain hunters<br />and online frenzy crashes the websites of even the most established retailers.<br />— Every year on Black Friday, Angela Buzatto has come to Sears to buy two new vacuum cleaners, at steep discounts, for her house cleaning business.<br />“I took my grandson to this mall recently and he asked me ‘Nana, why are the stores closing?’” Ms. Hartman said.<br />“It’s Black Friday, people are shopping elsewhere, but we are choosing to be here,’’ Ms. Freeman said.
