Sears Lincoln Park
2100 Southfield Rd, Lincoln Park, MI 48146
Sears Store#1250
Abandoned since: January 6th, 2019
Interior Photos marked with a "*" were taken during the Demolition
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Date Recorded: 3/24/24
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History of Sears Lincoln Park
Sears Lincoln Park, located inside the once booming Lincoln Park Shopping Center, was built in 1955 and was one of the highest grossing stores in the Sears chain of stores. It was also one of the biggest Sears stores in the whole US. The store helped grow the shopping center to new highs, and by 1988, a new expansion to the site would include the opening of many smaller stores and entertainment venues, such as the Star Theater 8, which opened in 1988 alongside the expansion.
Problems for the shopping center would come in the form of the general decline of Detroit, MI, and as many of its suburbs fell victim to decline themselves, including Lincoln Park, MI, the home of the Sears. The opening of the nearby Fairlane Green, also known by locals as "On the Hill," which opened in 2005, took much business from the Lincoln Park Shopping Center.
With the "Retail Apocalypse" of the 2010s and the rise of online shopping, many brands like Borders Books, Toys R Us, and Sears suffered. On October 15th, 2018, Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Sears Lincoln Park, although still one of the highest grossing stores at the announcement, was the first set of stores to be closed on the day of bankruptcy. On January 6th, 2019, the store operated its final day open.
The rest of the expanded stores had all gone out of business or moved by the time Sears closed and were all torn down by March of 2018. Planned in 2022 and 2023, and work started in 2024, the former Sears is currently condemned and is actively being demolished as of May 1st, 2024, with plans to have it completely demolished by mid-summer 2024, according to Lincoln Park Mayor Michael Higgins.
Additional Reading
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During the 1960’s the Lincoln Park Sears was the highest grossing store in the entire US
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Up until the end of Lincoln Park Sears in 2019, it was among the largest Sears Store in the Chain, other businesses also called the Lincoln Park Sear home, including a Sanders Ice Cream Shop, a Drivers Ed Classroom taught via Sears, also a thing to note is the amount of offices inside the Sears which included the Store Mangers Office, a Call Center, and other Office Space
Recollection from the author
Sears Lincoln Park wasn’t just another abandoned building it was a story of many generations of the Downriver community, the building was so huge that out of the dozens of times I ventured inside I always would find something new to admire about the building, the pillars that lined the salesfloor gave a cool backrooms vibe to the building, and the offices told the biggest story of the building, when the history books tell you this was one of the biggest Sears stores in the US there not kidding, the store was so easy to get lost in, but not in a bad way, before the demolition of the iconic store began in April of 2024, the light fixtures still stood from the day the store closed and the lights would appear to be on with the shine of a bright flashlight, before entering the building you could sense the feeling this building gave many generations of people, when the demolition began I took it upon myself to document the progress of the demolition both inside and out, and as the building became more and more smaller and more mysterious as the demolition crew made their mark working everyday to take down the iconic Sears Store #1250
1st floor away from Escalator view
1st floor salesfloor looking towards the many pillars that sears was held up by and the escalator
Another section of the 1st floor
The Watertower
The tower was built with the Sears in 1956.
Harold Stuhlberg was one of the store’s owners in the 1970’s. “When the store was built, they didn’t have enough water pressure… for fire suppression for sprinkler systems,” Stuhlberg says.
At the time, Lincoln Park’s water pressure wasn’t powerful enough to support the water needs of a store of this size – so Sears built its own tower!
Today, the city’s system is more powerful, but the department store used the tower. It created pressure, not just for its sprinklers, but for the toilets and sinks – all of the store’s water needs.
The 1st Floor
things of note on the first floor included the Main Entrances, the entrance to the auto center, and such areas as the Lawnmower section, the jewelry section, and many more
1st floor looking towards one of the many entrances*
The Escalator as seen from the 1st floor *
Looking straight towards the escalator *
Toppled over trash cans from vandals *
Rows and rows of pillars add a backrooms like vibe to the dark Sears
looking down one of the floorpaths of the Sears
Emergency Exit on the 1st floor
Just over 3 weeks before the Collapse of Lincoln Park Sears, Light Fixtures hang creepily in one of the hallways*
Boarded up entrance
Entrance to the Auto Center long after the Auto Center was Razed
Section towards the back of the store that housed the lawnmowers
THE ESCALATOR, STAIRS, AND ELEVATOR
Mobility is key and sears had many options, the most notable being the escalator
Looking at the Escalator from the 1st floor *
1st floor Elevator *
Escalator Track inside *
Looking up the Escalator *
Looking up the main stairs *
looking wide at the full flight of stairs *
2nd Floor Elevator *
Looking down the Main stairs *
The 2nd Floor
The 2nd Floor hosted many key operating rooms inside the sears including the Offices, More Backroom Rooms, and even a giant warehouse
2nd floor salesfloor *
It's not Easter but here's a bunny *
2nd floor salesfloor at one of the corners of the store *
looking out a missing wall to the 2nd floor salesfloor *
The Backrooms inside of the the Backrooms Atmosphere that was the Abandoned Sears *
The walls speak of how the room got the nickname *
what was likely once the apparel section *
Severely damaged ceiling panels exposing overhead components
Rows and rows of pillars on the 2nd floor
The Bathrooms on the 2nd floor
2nd floor salesfloor
Heavy Damage to overhead ceiling panels *
fitting rooms
the best graffiti inside the building hosting a King Pepe Frog as the star of the art piece on the 2nd floor
2nd floor looking out past the escalators glass litters the floor
The 2nd Floor Offices
home of the Store Managers office, the Employee Breakroom and more
Sears Lincoln Park was home to many offices for the various managers
offices on the 2nd floor
Driver ed room
Hallway in the 2nd floor office section *
Drivers ed room during demolition*
Trash littered throughout the office space
looking towards the office space *
Once a nice office doorway now ruined*
broken fan in one of the 2nd floor office rooms
The Auto Center
a once popular way to fix your car in downriver
looking into the auto center office from the Auto Bay
Auto Center employee cabinets
Auto Center office looking out towards the Auto Bay
The Backrooms
for all your stock needs and more
a part of the backrooms that looked like it was meant for stock
Retail Shelfs thrown to the side never to hold another piece of stock again
the Freight Elevator
Room with a motion sensor in it that once controlled the lights *
The Warehouse from the ground level, this massive warehouse stood right above the auto center
the warehouse looking from on top of the Fire Exit
another side room nearby the warehouse
Looking to a adjacent room to the Banner room *
Hoilday Blowout Sale Banners from 2017 line the floor *
Hallway leading to a Utility room *
Stairs leading down to the boiler room and stairs leading to the 2nd floor and the roof *
Stock Shelfs *
An Alarm System that has long been disconnected *
Utility room
Part of the backroom
Another shot of the Backroom
The Boiler Room
how do you think they heated a 70 year old building
Sears Lincoln Park was a older building and hosted two massive boilers to heat the building
Close up shot of the Stock Conveyor Belt *
looking towards the other side of the boiler room *
Sears Lincoln Park Hosted two massive boilers the room was located nearby to the watertower *
The Boiler room looking towards the Stock Conveyor Belt that cut through the room *
The Boiler room looking towards the Stock Conveyor Belt that cut through the room *
Side shot of the Boilers *
Up Close Shot of the Boiler the rings can be seen inside the coal feeders *
up close shot of the boiler later in the life of the boiler it was converted to gas power instead of coal fired
Behind the Boilers *
The Roof
authorized personnel only!
The Roof
the roof looking out the gordie howe bridge can be seen far in the background
The Roof gave in my opinion the best view of this watertower from anywhere in the city
THE DEMOLITION of LINCOLN PARK SEARS
LINCOLN PARK, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The former Sears building in Lincoln Park will be demolished, and commercial buildings and a hotel will be constructed in its place.
AF Jonna Development purchased the property, and the construction plan for the site includes about 110,000 square feet of retail and a four-story hotel.
March 30th, 2023
The Beginning of the end for Lincoln Park Sears
On April 9th, 2024 a massive fence was put up around the former Lincoln Park Sears Complex as it was prepped for Demolition the following month
Progress starts
in late April/Early May the Guardrails in the parking lot were token apart and laid on the lot
The First Cut
Starting on May 11th, 2024 the first part of the Sears was demolished this was where the entrance to the auto center along with a section of the backroom would have been
The Auto Center is the First to go
Starting on May 13th, 2024 the auto center was cut into along with the warehouse on top of the auto center pictured is that same warehouse just a month earlier
Auto Center is Cleared
On May 14th, 2024 the warehouse and auto center are the first official pieces of the building to be completely brought down
The Backrooms get cut up
On May 20th, 2024 the Demolition crew starts working in the back of the building on the Northern Side of the building, this area would include some of the backrooms and very minor parts of the sales floor entrances
Parking lot is ripped up
On May 25th, 2024 the parking lot was ripped up and replaced with mound and mounds of dirt, more examples of unfixed/ damaged fence that allowed easy access to the building, during the demolition also pictured in the background of one of the pictures is another part of the Lincoln Park Shopping Center is the Big Boy Lincoln Park Restaurant which sat across the parking lot from the sears and closed just over a year after the sears during COVID
More work on the front
On May 31st, 2024 one of the Front Freight Rooms and the back pillars to the store were demolished pictured in the slides is that same room just a week eariler
Artificial windows
June 5th through the 7th marked the removal of some boards and walls inside the building as the Interior Demolition progressed
Cutting into the Salesfloor
June 21st, 2024 marked the days that the salesfloor would begin to be tore up and demolished this part of the Demolition would ultimately lead to the collapse of the building a just 4 days later as a major support beam of the building was removed
The Collapse
June 25th, 2024 could unofficially be called the last day of the Lincoln Park Sears as over half of the building collapsed in under 10 seconds when one of the major support beams was struck the Collapse questioned the remaining structural integrity of the building and left the building wide open from all sides
The Final Shell after the Collapse stood for over a month but would eventually be torn down until the last section the boiler room was left around August 22nd was when the demolition was coming to a close, standing a farcry from the original store it once was
By Thursday August 29th, 2024 the last of the building was taking down, just under a month after the final video of abandonedcommercialdetroit.com documented the shell of the store in it’s final days, pictured is the cleanup of the store after all the rubble was finally on the ground with little left standing of the once Sears Lincoln Park
The Last standing piece as of September 3rd is the Watertower one of the biggest icons of Downriver along with the once Trenton Channel Power plant Smokestacks
On September 4th, 2024 the Sears Watertower was taken down and Demolished it was the final piece of the remaining SEARS Complex and marked the offical end to a era of Downriver
SEARS STORE #1250 LINCOLN PARK, MI 1956-2024
Matt Stands on the Escalator of the Lincoln Park Sears on June 3rd, 2024
Reflection on Lincoln Park Sears from ACER Eclipse: Sears Lincoln Park was truly one of a kind when it came to abandoned locations, it might have only been 2 stores tall technically with basement and roof access, but the building was so much more then that, from the vast salesfloors with endless pillars it was easy to get lost in a good way inside the closest thing to backrooms you can experience, and the endless exploration with the offices to the side of the salesfloor along with the massive backroom stock space that even included boiler rooms, a massive warehouse, and multiple floors of Stock Space, and that's not even scratching the surface, the building was truly a maze and what person doesn't like a interactive maze, along with the maze and backroom like atmosphere, the building also had hundreds of signs of what once was the Lincoln Park Sears, many clues that built one of the best stories hidden inside a abandoned Retail Store, Lincoln Park Sears was one of the biggest Sears stores ever made, and the upon entering the building you could see that, and it will be sad to see this gem of a building be demolished slowly but surely, but myself I'm grateful I was able to experience the trill and adventure that was the Lincoln Park Sears
-Matt Scruggs Author of AbandonedCommercialDetroit.com