Former Sears store at Devonshire Mall to be demolished

The Sears store at Devonshire Mall in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2017. (Melanie Borrelli / CTV Windsor)

The former Sears store location at Devonshire Mall is getting demolished.

Chris Savard, general manager at Devonshire Mall, confirmed Thursday it will be torn down in the spring as a few changes come to the shopping centre.

“It’s an exciting time for Devonshire,” Savard said. “We’ve been sitting on that space for a little bit but it’s the beginning of the long awaited redevelopment of the Sears box.”

After 48 years in business, the Sears store in Windsor officially closed on Jan. 14, 2018.The Sears store in Windsor closes its doors for good.

The location served as a COVID-19 vaccination site from June 21, 2021 until April 2, 2022.

It was also a temporary location for the Spirit Halloween store.

Savard wasn’t ready to say what might end up in the space but expects there to be plenty of interest.

“When the building comes down, we'll be left with 18-and-a-half acres of blank canvas -- what we think is probably arguably the best piece of commercial real estate in Windsor-Essex,” he said.

The GM said the mall remains focused on retail, but that he wasn’t ruling out housing or a hotel as a replacement for the former department store.

“We're very open,” said Savard.

“When you think about the location, there's a lot of pretty cool amenities that can be used on that particular site.”

New businesses

Along with the demolition, Devonshire announced a few other additions.

Canadian Brew House will replace the former Buffalo Wild Wing, Chinese retailer Miniso will set up near the food court and local eatery Today Café will move in as well.

Those shops, Savard said, are expected to be in place late summer/early fall.