The Softer Side of Sears

摘要

Built in 1928 as a shining Art Deco beacon for the upper Midwest, the Sears building in Minneapolis—with its 16-story central tower, department store, catalog center, and warehouse—served customers throughout the Twin Cities area for more than 65 years. But as nearby neighborhoods deteriorated and the catalog operation was shut down, by 1994 the once-grand structure was reduced to an empty shell, its windows broken and patched with plywood, its facade obscured behind chain-link fencing, its parking lot a haven for drug dealers.