K-Mart

[BillyGr]

Will the last person leaving a Kmart store please turn off the blue light?

why you say that
why are there 3 kmarts left within 20 miles of ORlando?

Probably because they are famous for their Blue Light Specials, combining that with the saying the last person out turn off the lights.

As to why there are still 3 within 20 miles of Orlando - they apparently just haven't reached the end of their leases yet.  That seems to be what they are doing now, closing when the leases are up.  So, if you can find out the opening dates it might help figure out how long a particular store will stay around.
Since 1976 was their biggest opening year, it makes sense that the years around that (like, say 1974 - 40 years ago) would have had lots of openings also, which explains the number now closing (ending a 40 year lease, or at least a lease that was renewed in even year increments to total 40).  And thus probably just as many closings will occur in the next couple years, unless something changes drastically.

[d_fife]

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140715/BIZ/140719381/Evergreen-Way-Kmart-to-close-in-September-

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

There are no more Kmart stores in the Green Bay area as of July 15th.

[d_fife]

There are no more Kmart stores in the Green Bay area as of July 15th.

why that area? did the store do well

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

There are no more Kmart stores in the Green Bay area as of July 15th.

why that area? did the store do well

They decided to terminate the store's lease, so that Sears Holdings could sell the building to the Green Bay Packers organization to redevelop into something similar to Patriot Place (yes, this Kmart is the Lombardi Avenue Kmart, near Lambeau Field, home of the Packers NFL team). The store did not do well, but it did have a great going out of business sale. I believe what Kmart and Sears are doing is closing more stores to stop the "economic bleeding" that is happening at Sears Holdings. That's what happens when Kmart is involved in an Enron-type scandal, where company executives were embezzling money, causing Kmart to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002, close 100 Kmart stores, emerge in 2003, merge with Sears in 2005, and close more stores. If it weren't for all those problems, Kmart would be opening more stores today. I'm afraid that Kmart will become the next Zayre, Ames, or Prange Way.

Green Bay still has a Sears that still does good business.

[Ames#1171]

The Super Kmart that I work at in Brooklyn, OH is closing in October. Liquidation starts July 27th.  The Kmart Express gas station on the property closed today. I worked in the gas station, we start working in the store starting tomorrow.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/07/kmart_store_in_brooklyn_closing_on_oct_12_cutting_200_jobs.html

[jason83080]

Really? One of the last-man-standing Super Kmarts is closing? I remember when that one opened and they stuffed the old one down the street FULL of random merchandise. I bought some kind of Game Genie (without a manual; I thought it was the NES one, but I think it was the Genesis one instead) for a couple of bucks.

What does that leave for Kmart in NE Ohio?
- Lorain: Super Kmart (only Kmart remaining in the COUNTY!)
- Parma: Kmart, Broadview Rd
- Middleburg Hts.: Kmart, Bagley/Engle Rds intersection

Those are the only ones that immediately jump to mind. I know that Westlake's old building is up for lease ("We're going to redevelop the plaza," my left foot, guy who represents the land owners), Sandusky's old OLD one is where the new Target plaza is standing, Norwalk's went out of business a while back, and I can't think of where any others used to be. North Olmsted, Southland Plaza, and Parmatown Mall all had Hills stores. Elyria's old Kmart is now Bed Bath & Beyond/Marc's, and that one in Sheffield Village is still the junk store and Litehouse Pools & Spas.

It's sad to see Kmart going so slowly. Why doesn't Walmart buy them out and rebrand it as the 'classic' small-form Walmart? I'd almost rather have Walmarts at every turn than see a bunch of empty retail sitting around.

[d_fife]

one in Cleveland on lorain st, MEntor OH thats a Super center, Brunswick OH, Garfield Heights.

[d_fife]

The Super Kmart that I work at in Brooklyn, OH is closing in October. Liquidation starts July 27th.  The Kmart Express gas station on the property closed today. I worked in the gas station, we start working in the store starting tomorrow.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/07/kmart_store_in_brooklyn_closing_on_oct_12_cutting_200_jobs.html

that store shouldve done well, why is it going

[TRU7536]

The Super Kmart that I work at in Brooklyn, OH is closing in October. Liquidation starts July 27th.  The Kmart Express gas station on the property closed today. I worked in the gas station, we start working in the store starting tomorrow.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/07/kmart_store_in_brooklyn_closing_on_oct_12_cutting_200_jobs.html

that store shouldve done well, why is it going

Does anyone else get the feeling kmart/sears is doing something shady here. I just get the feeling sears instead of doing a huge GOB sale, they are just slowly closing one store at a time. It's like every day we are hearing of new stores stores closing. Something is up, I just cat poor the finger to it.

[store215]

Stores are closing when leases are up, regardless of business...I'm guessing a lot of the stores closing were opened around 1974, 1984, or 1994. It seems like the only stores that will survive (for now) are ones on land owned by Sears/Kmart. Notice there hasn't been many Sears closures as they own most of their buildings, while most Kmart stores are leased.

[d_fife]

I know one in mall that opened in 1979 and its STILL THERE. the one in Rotterdam Square renewed its lease last year and its the only one left around Albany. one in Minneapolis, they want to redevelop it to connect the road through other roads and Kmart is willing to rebuild the store, not close it, as its one of their profitable ones, its away from competitors.

[Hudsons81]

http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2014/07/08/news/doc53bc87e2a67e8189355105.txt

Unfortunately-that happens to be the closest one to my house. This is only one of two remaining Kmart stores in the Downriver area of suburban Detroit-the other one is in far northern Taylor on Van Born Road. It appears to have opened late in 1998-but concerning the length of that lease, the actual date leans more towards 1999.

[Hudsons81]

• There was once a plan to open a Super Kmart in West Branch, MI on Cook Road near I-75. That store never opened, but it would've been near where a Walmart Supercenter currently is.
• Since 1962, there has been a total of four Kmart stores within Detroit, where Kresge was based for decades. One was a Super Kmart at 7 Mile and Meyers Roads that opened in 1999, closed in 2003 and is now a Home Depot, another was at Plymouth Road and the Southfield Freeway (M-39) and is now a megachurch, yet another was at Outer Drive and Sherwood Street, later became Dollar Deals and has since been torn down and there is currently one on Telegraph Road near 8 Mile Road that is slated to close in October and was originally a Super Kmart before converting to a regular Kmart store last year.
• Kmart once operated a "Mini-Super Kmart" prototype store on Joslyn Road in Auburn Hills, MI, that closed in 2003.
• IKEA's lone Michigan store, located on Ford Road in Canton Township, replaced a former Super Kmart that closed in 2003.
• The first Kmart is located on Ford Road in Garden City, MI.
• Most of the remaining Super Kmarts are concentrated in Michigan and Ohio.
• Five Kmart stores-four in central Illinois and one in White Lake Township, MI-used a prototype design using a green-and-gray version of the 1990-2004 logo Only three such stores remain, the White Lake store and one of the Illinois stores closed earlier this year.

[jason83080]

one in Cleveland on lorain st, MEntor OH thats a Super center, Brunswick OH, Garfield Heights.

Medina's Kmart is completely closed down now. After they lost the "Super" half, they completely shut down.

Also, I heard that Costco bought the property that Brooklyn's Super Kmart is on. That explains why it's closing. Maybe they'll just rehab the gas station and not have to build a completely new one? (Although, I don't think their gas stations actually have mini-marts, but maybe they could pilot-test one, since everything's already in place?)

Also, where does this map - on Kmart's own website, no less - get its information on existing locations?
http://www.kmart.com/stores/ohio/cleveland/3589.html

The one in Elyria was sold off in 2001 when the new one in 'Elyria' (Detroit Rd) opened (and, subsequently, closed in 2003), and is now Bed Bath & Beyond. Sandusky's was closed a LONG time ago, and is now underneath the Target plaza. North Olmsted, as far as I can tell, never had a Kmart store, but the map shows three (the Brookpark Extension was Hills/Ames, then was leveled for a Tops, which is now a Sears Outlet and Ollie's). Westlake's closed in April.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

• Five Kmart stores-four in central Illinois and one in White Lake Township, MI, that closed earlier this year; use a prototype design using a green-and-gray version of the 1990-2004 logo.

The White Lake Township, Michigan and Washington, Illinois locations closed, leaving three green/gray stores left in the Peoria area:

Peoria, Illinois (former Venture store)
Pekin, Illinois
Morton, Illinois

[d_fife]

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/07/23/last-kmart-brevard-close-september/13041571/

[Hudsons81]

Some notes about the Southgate, MI Kmart as of today:

• The liquidation sale will now start on Monday instead.
• One-fifth of the shelves are already completely empty.

EDIT: I also noticed that the lights were turned off in what used to be the seating area for the now-defunct cafeteria and was being used for storage space-strangely enough, the pop dispenser in there was still activated (and I think I may have seen someone even use it)!

[Ames#1171]

The story we get in regards to why the store is closing is this:

"While the store is performing and sales are up, Kmart has decided to sell the land that this store sits on to Costco. Liquidation will begin July 27th and run through October 12th."

From what I hear Costco has been after that land for a while, and Kmart finally gave in. I know we were in the top 3 stores in the region. It's a shame.

I looked up the property online, and Cuyahoga County has the property valued at $15 million dollars, so I'm sure Costco paid out more than that.

[ynkeesfn82]

The racist KMART Commercials ARE NOT funny. Eddie L needs a butt whooping from Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

[Hudsons81]

Eleven shots I just took this morning of Super Kmart #4995 in Southgate, Michigan, as it begins it's liquidation. The reason this store is closing is due to poor performance-especially considering that there's already a Meijer supercenter across Fort Street (M-85). The store opened in 1999 and will close on October 12th.













Yes, that's the Australian logo in the final pic.

[BillyGr]

They must have bought a warehouse full of that toilet tissue.  Both the stores here that just closed had it in at least 3 or 4 spots around the store (even when it was just days from closing) and it looks like this one has a bunch too.

At least I'm assuming they aren't just shipping the same batch around ;)

[d_fife]

http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140729/NEWS/140726803/1994/NEWS and ITS CLOSING, first time in MASS IN YEARS.

[Hudsons81]

I'd believe that it's the same toilet paper. Our Kmart had a TON of the stuff, and it just all seemed to disappear in a few days between trips up there. Maybe, if they close enough stores, they'll sell through it all. I find it really hard to believe that EVERYBODY is buying Prefer toilet paper, especially if you look at how much this one Kmart store had as they closed:

http://www.deadanddyingretail.com/2014/04/kmart-ellisville-mo-closing-of-store.html

That is a bit surprising to me-but what's more surprising is that by late October, there will be two fewer Super Kmart stores after this and the Brooklyn store mentioned above close.

Anyways, after browsing that site, I noticed that a Super Kmart-turned-regular Kmart in Virginia Beach, VA, had an interior that looked very similar to this-right down to the mottoes on the upper wall.

[Hudsons81]

A very early Kmart store (#4021) that was located on Eureka Road in Southgate, Michigan (unrelated to the Super Kmart):


During construction in 1961.


A newspaper photo of the store at opening.


The photo counter in the 1960's.


A newspaper photo from the late 1980's showing the winner of a Father's Day furniture contest the store held.

All above photos are from the Downriver Things Flickr account

This Kmart first opened at 10 AM on Monday, November 26, 1962. It later closed in 1994, was later an Office Depot and is now a Dunham's Sports. It was unique in that it was the only store to feature a dedicated furniture department, which occupied the entire second floor. It also featured a Kmart Foods store which was later a Farmer Jack and is now a Kroger.

[TheFugitive]

I remember Kmarts with those huge camera counters from the early 1970's.
Big bulk packages of Focal brand film.  Lots of Instamatic-type camera sets.
And even a section of 8mm films that you could buy for your home projector
featuring silent versions of favorite cartoons and movies (Heckle and Jeckle,
Felix the Cat, Abbott and Costello, etc.)

[Kmart4life]

To update a story from a a couple months back, the Kmart in Winter Haven FL. #3624 who shares the same parking lot with the sink hole is closing due to the owner of the property being a douche bag, last day is October 5th. Store officials and shoppers are fighting this as well as Legoland Theme Park across the street :'(

[Kmart4life]

Here are the articles on it. :'(
http://www.newschief.com/article/20140713/NEWSCHIEF/140719662/0/search
http://www.theledger.com/article/20140714/NEWSCHIEF/140719601/0/search

[d_fife]

http://www.newspressnow.com/news/local_news/article_6c9417f5-9fa7-5e05-9408-f4a105378c1d.html and http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-kmart-store-oakland-park-closing-20140807,0,4403604.story?track=rss

[d_fife]

the one in Greensboro is closing too.