I can't remember the last time I walked into a Sears. I'd say that's true for a lot of Americans.

Sears, as most know, has seen better times. Its stores and reputation bedraggled by years of neglect, it is now part of a bygone era, a retailing relic whose glory days are long behind it.

Like its parent company, the future of the Sears in Fort Collins has been in question for some time and is now even less certain following the acquisition of the 37-year-old Foothills Mall by developers planning a major makeover.

Greenwood Village-based Alberta Development Partners would like to see Sears move out. Sears, one of the original anchors at the mall, isn't going quietly.

The parties, it appears, cannot seem to find accord on a price. That, at least, is the going supposition, because neither is revealing much about their respective positions.

If they fail to strike a deal, the Fort Collins City Council may go the eminent domain route, a move that, as you might imagine, has its critics.

The critics are right — to a point.

Eminent domain is typically reserved for situations in which the public good is at stake. Think roads, hospitals and schools.

A mall