Downtown Sears store

The downtown Sears store was a retail store operated by Sears Roebuck and Co. at 1531 2nd Avenue North in downtown Birmingham from 1941 to ____

The vacant store property became a late-night gathering place during the early 1990s, earning notoriety as a drug market. Its proximity to the Jaguar Club was blamed for contributing to criminal activity at the nightclub.

The vacant store was acquired by George Barber's Birmingham Realty Company and delays in its possible redevelopment became a sore subject between Barber and Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid. The disagreement was cited when Kincaid declined to support Barber's bid to host MotoGP races at the Barber Motorsports Park.

In 2007 the former retail store was completely renovated as the new home for the Innovation Depot, a business incubator jointly operated by the city and UAB. The facility is an anchor for an "Entrepreneurial District" west of downtown, as envisioned in the 2004 City Center Master Plan.

References

• "Sears' Modern New Store Here Will Have Its Formal Opening" (October 12, 1941) Birmingham News - via Birmingham Rewound
• Reynolds, Ed (July 15, 2004) "Mayor Kincaid Playing Hardball with George Barber." Black & White
• Slay, Marti Webb (June 2006) "Innovation Depot Breaks New Ground for Birmingham Biotech." Birmingham Medical News