Sears not closing in Bethesda - and here's one reason why (Photos)

Sears-is-closing lists seem to pop up every six months or so, but our local Sears Roebuck here in Bethesda has eluded the guillotine every time, so far. The store is well run and organized, Kenmore appliances are still in demand, and whoever plans the displays for the holiday shopping season should get a promotion.

Along high-traffic aisles where mall patrons not necessarily shopping at Sears use the venerable department store as an entrance pass, genuinely great gift ideas that appeal to the impulsive (a.k.a. desperately running out of time) shopper are stacked and displayed. I happened to notice some gift baskets on display recently that weren't the same old candy-and-nuts-in-a-plain-basket model.

Iconic retailer Sears called on fellow American icons Budweiser and Coca-Cola for some branding heft, as well as newcomer Chef's Cut for upscale beef jerky. This past Christmas may have sadly been the first in my life that didn't find a Sears Wish Book coming in the mail, but Christmas shopping was alive and well in the bricks-and-mortar Sears here at Westfield Montgomery Mall.