Past employees of the former Sears store at Windsor's Devonshire Mall will gather for a remembrance on Saturday.
Those who had worked at the store between 1970 and its 2018 closure are invited to a celebration of life in the former store's rear parking lot, to reminisce and exchange stories about working at the store, which is currently being demolished.
"It's not a memoriam, though, it's happy memories," said former Sears Associate Manager Carol Hergott in a media release. "So, the happy memories far outweigh the sadness. So it's a bit of a unique event, in that extent. So many people loved working there, and they created so many special bonds of friendship, so it was a great thing."
Hergott worked at the store from 1998 and retired a few years before it closed. She said some of the former employees have asked for physical mementos of the store.
"Many had indicated that they'd like a brick for their garden, whether it's to put their employee number on it, or to paint something, just to commemorate the store," said Hergott. "So those proceeds are going to go to Windsor Regional Hospital."
Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex is also getting proceeds from the brick sale.
Hergott added that some employees may appear at the celebration of life in their former work outfits.
"We used to have certain whimsical attire that was added to our uniforms at Christmas time, and there are people that are even wearing whimsical attire, t-shirts that we had for Warehouse Days, or Tractorama, just to lighten the mood and to make it fun because those were events that we loved," said Hergott.
The former Sears was one of Devonshire Mall's original anchors, opening in 1970 as a Simpsons-Sears store. It closed when Sears Canada ceased operations.
Demolition is taking place to make room for a new northern entrance to the mall, and the relocation of two current mall tenants, SportChek and Mark's Work Wearhouse.