Brian Thomas, president and CEO of Verita LLC, a Salt Lake City-based, multi-industry company, said he will open a satellite Sears outlet in a building to be constructed on Main Street between Walgreens and Tooele City Hall adjacent to the soon-to-be-built Big 5 store. Thomas opened a Sears store in Clinton last month and plans to open several more Sears stores across the state over the next 12 to 18 months.
Unlike traditional, full-size Sears department stores that may exceed 100,000 square feet, the Tooele Sears would be a Sears Authorized Dealer store. Thomas said it would be between 6,000 to 7,000 square feet, be independently operated, employ around 12 workers, and carry the same appliances, electronics and tools that a larger Sears would carry.
Thomas said he's been eyeing Tooele for a Sears for some time.
"I actually have family out in Lake Point, and I also love Tooele and think it's a great city to open up a Sears location," he said. "The Sears corporation considered Tooele to be one of the top places in Utah to put a location because of explosive growth."
Thomas said construction on the new building is scheduled to begin in August or September.
"The entire building should be completed in October or November," he said. "We were glad that the downtown spot we're going into was available, and we hope that we'll be here for many years to come. This is a good spot because most of the residential part of Tooele is in the south end of town, and we feel like that will help attract more customers."
With its south Main Street location, Thomas also hopes the smaller-scale Sears will help revitalize Tooele's downtown.
"There will be Walgreen's, Big 5 and Sears in that one area, and with all three of them being powerful, respectable nationwide chains that bring in many customers, I can't imagine how other businesses would not be influenced to come downtown as well," he said. "I feel like we're on the fringe of big activity happening in downtown soon. We can rejuvenate the downtown area and get more people to shop there, because as they come to our store they'll take an interest in the other businesses downtown as well. One store bringing in a strong draw can easily affect the others around it."
Thomas said he sold his safety products distribution company in Florida last year and moved back to Utah to begin opening Sears stores.
Thomas said he signed a lease for the Tooele Sears location a month ago, as well as leases for future small Sears locations in Sandy and Layton. He said he is finalizing plans for stores in Orem and West Jordan, and has expressed interest in opening locations in Heber City and Park City.
"The grand opening in Clinton was a huge affair with many people, and we expect Tooele's grand opening to be the same way," he said. "In Clinton people previously had to travel to Ogden to get to the nearest large Sears location, and Tooele has similar circumstances, where right now people have to travel to Salt Lake to get to the nearest Sears. A lot of people here are going to be happy to find Sears right in their backyard, and I think it will be nicer for them to have a smaller, privately and locally owned Sears in this type of community."
dougrad@tooeletranscript.com
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