Sears Shutting Its Doors on Cleveland Ave.

When the store opened, a war raged in Korea, Americans were proudly displaying a new “atomic cannon,” and a senator named Nixon was questioning the loyalty of Americans. The store’s dominating, neon sign--S E A R S--was a veritable beacon of post-World War II progress, its seemingly endless acres of free parking an unrivaled attraction for the consumer-hungry, motorized population of booming San Diego.

The official opening, on Oct. 15, 1952, was a newsworthy event brimming with civic pride. In those days, San Diego made no pretense about being other than a military town: At the ribbon-cutting, representatives of the various branches of the armed services stood side by side with smiling city leaders.

“An inspiration to all San Diego for further progress,” is how the president of the Chamber of Commerce characterized the new store.

Mayor John Butler added: “A symbol of business faith in the economic future of San Diego.”

Nowadays, however, the future is elsewhere.

On March 15, the huge Sears store that has dominated the corner of Cleveland and University avenues for more than 33 years will be no more. In the face of declining sales, officials of Sears, Roebuck and Co. announced Friday that they were closing the store for good.

“It was not an easy decision,” said Philo Holland, a Sears spokesman in Los Angeles.

For shoppers and Sears’ 251 employees, the shutdown represents an era’s end. The building was more than a store; it was a landmark, a neighborhood anchor, and, for some, a place of cherished memories of childhood shopping trips, a new job or an outing with a new spouse. It was a chunk of Americana that will be no more.

“It’s hard for some people,” one young clerk said when asked about employee reaction. “This was like their family.”

For much of a generation, Sears has represented the place where hard-working people went to purchase everything from clothing to new tires, a place where you knew you could buy a set of tools, a refrigerator, a collection of pots and pans and a new suit. You could even get your car fixed while you waited. Reliability meant something. Just follow the neon signs.

“Everything you needed was right here,” said Michael Chapman, a student at San Diego State University who was at the store Monday and recalled many childhood trips with his parents. “You knew you could get the girls’ clothes there, you could get the boys’ clothes, you could get dad a lawn mower and get mom a washer and dryer. You knew you could find it all right there rather than going to six different stores.”

There are many ironies to the closing of this Sears, for years the company flagship in San Diego, and, at one point, the busiest Sears nationwide. Although this most visible and oldest store is closing, Sears is simultaneously bolstering its presence in San Diego County. A new Sears is scheduled to open in Escondido next month; there are already newer branches in El Cajon, Chula Vista and University City.

“We’re not giving up the San Diego market at all,” said the Sears spokesman. “In fact, we feel we’re very well-positioned in the market.”

The reasons given for the shutdown were familiar: competition from two outlying malls--Mission Valley and Fashion Valley--as well as more recent competition from the Horton Plaza shopping complex downtown. Sales had been dropping for some time, said the spokesman, who, citing company policy, released no specific figures.

The store was itself a forerunner of the modern-day malls that have apparently been at the heart of its decline. In fact, it moved to the “midtown” neighborhood and out of downtown in 1952 largely because of the need for additional parking in car-crazed, postwar Southern California. Sears had an outlet in downtown San Diego from 1928 until this store opened in 1952.

“You Betcha,” boasted a confident Sears newspaper advertisement shortly after the Cleveland Avenue store opened. “Parking Space Daily for 8,000 Happy Cars.”

Nor is Sears leaving a crumbling inner-city neighborhood devoid of shoppers and street life. Hillcrest, booming with life at all hours, is only a few blocks away. Real estate prices are on the rise.

“We really feel that our building, and the 12.2 acres of land there, are going to be highly marketable,” noted the Sears spokesman.

But the neighborhood’s increasingly upscale residents apparently were more inclined to spend their money at the area’s fashionable boutiques than at the cavernous Sears store--even with all that free parking.

Finally, the shutdown comes at a time when the parent company is enjoying record returns: The merchandising branch, which includes sales from catalogues and about 800 retail stores nationwide, chalked up $26.8 billion in sales in 1985, an all-time high. Extensive plans are under way to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary this year.

But all that prosperity failed to filter down to Cleveland Avenue. The store was a relic, a visitor from the 1950s that couldn’t make it in the ‘80s. The many neon signs that once guided customers may now wind up in someone’s private collection. When the building and land are finally sold, the structure’s future may be in doubt.

From the outside, this store is something different. Its utilitarian facade is imposing, displaying few aesthetic touches. An American flag flies above the store, and metal plaques to the armed services provide some of the few adornments. The bright S E A R S sign tells the shoppers all they need to know.

Company officials told workers not to talk to the press, but a few anonymous comments make it clear that the shutdown will hurt.

“It’s a little traumatic for those of us who have been here a long time,” noted one woman. “Some are taking it better than others.”

Sears plans to place as many workers as possible in other stores, said the company spokesman. Others will be offered early retirement and various other benefits, he said.

From the customers, too, there were warm feelings voiced Monday about this great big inhospitable-looking building on Cleveland Avenue. Many senior citizens spoke about making weekly trips for years, dating back to the time the store was situated downtown. Shoppers recalled buying a bed or a refrigerator, a television set or a set of dishes. Sears, they said, has always been reliable. And it was right in the neighborhood.

“I’ll be sorry to see it go,” said Bernard Castillo, a 79-year-old retiree who still goes to Sears once a week. “Whatever you got here was good. It was just a nice place to shop.”