[cicero2k]

Kohl’s seems to have taken over this retail segment.

Probably correct.

Big Malls with JCP and Sears anchors are on their way out.

Big box strip malls (Kohls, Depot, Sams) replaced them.

Here in Lakewood (Denver) they scraped one enclosed mall and built a new "town" in its place.

[Chickensoup]

Good grief Kohls is the cheapest of the cheap. Where style and no quality meet. The Target’s upscale cheepie.

[fwdude]

Big Malls with JCP and Sears anchors are on their way out.

It's been my observation that malls have become breeding grounds and turfs for gang members. No longer family friendly, most malls experience a sort of "white flight" and are further relinquished to the the gangster culture. I won't go to one unless there is something specific I need that is not readily available somewhere else (usually a service.)

The oldest mall in Fort Worth, once a thriving, pleasant outdoor mall, is now a Mexican flea market. No white person with a lick of safety sense goes there.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

In the case of Sears, it seems the new owner made a bet on selling off the real estate and some of the brand names vs. running the stores as they had been in past years.
He didn't figure on the value of big malls collapsing and the entry of Korean appliances sold at Home Depot and Lowes. I personally liked the hand tools sold at Sears and always wondered why they weren't sold through auto parts stores. I guess someone else figured they could displace Diehard and other Sears house brands.