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Shoppers at Sears Canada’s Brentwood Town Centre location early Wednesday greeted news of the iconic retailer’s imminent liquidation with a mix of disappointment and resignation.

There was sadness over the impending loss of the historic chain — one of Canada’s last mid-market full-service department store chains that has been a cornerstone merchant in suburban and small town markets — at the cost of about 1,200 jobs in B.C.

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Customers, however, also understood that Sears hadn’t kept up with market trends toward online retail and the sharp divide between the high-end and bargain segments that have developed in retail.

“I thought it was pretty sad because (Sears) was an institution in Canada for a long time,” said Burnaby retiree Dave Gall. “But it reflects the fact that they didn’t adapt to the new way of marketing.”

Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG

The already insolvent Sears, on Tuesday, announced that it would go to an Ontario court Friday seeking approval to liquidate its remaining stores after a long struggle under court protection from creditors and failure to find a buyer to take over the chain.