I'm not sure I understand this. Retail real estate is all about increasing footfall, not just the size of it. Hence why you see the airport bombarded with shopping nowadays. Unless there are particular Sears locations that don't see benefit from adjacent footfalling (just made that word up) retail outlets, then it makes sense. But then it wouldn't make sense for Sears to be there in the first place if the footfall opportunity wasn't there or couldn't be created there.
Times change, I've seen this locally. In the US Midwest, various metro areas have lost population over the last couple decades. As a result, they don't need as much retail space to support the current population. Something has to give. The Sears closest to me is attached to a condemned mall. Sears stays open because they own the building though. The reason they're there is because originally, the mall was the place to be for retail.
