Sears at Fayetteville's Cross Creek Mall closing Sunday

Ken Tatum, 71, has worked for Sears for 43 years. He supported a wife and four children on that paycheck from Sears, Roebuck and Company.

“I thought Sears would be here when I was gone,” he said.

The closing will cause 50 Sears employees to lose their jobs.

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Denise Baker, who is in her 40s, serves as a consultant to sales. She’s been on the payroll at the Fayetteville Sears for 22 years.

Some customers, Baker said, have cried with her.

They told her they had grown up with Sears.

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“One customer said, ‘Sears is like the heart of America,’ and she was crying as she said it. I cried, too,” said Baker. “I never thought this store would be gone completely. I thought it would downsize first.”

Liquidation sales started soon after the Sears Holdings Corp. announced Oct. 15 that it planned to close 142 locations as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, including the Fayetteville store. The company is now down to about 500 stores.

Sears opened in the then-new Cross Creek Mall in 1975 after moving from the 400 block of Hay Street in downtown.