K-Mart

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Honestly, I really really hope KMART and SEARS go down. They deserve it!

It's the employees' fault for letting this happen. What you've witnessed is a local issue, only limited to that store.

...And if you feel like bashing the Kmart and Sears stores, go to the "Kmart Bashing" and "Sears Bashing" pages of the "Department Store Bashing" page of this forum.

[d_fife]

I went to the Kmart in closing sale in Portsmouth today and it was 10 to 30 percent off!! Why was the parkling lot bare even in the closing sale, I Went there at 3:30 pm today (Tuesday) and the rest of the plaza esp Market basket was busy????

I went to the one in Rochester NH in the Lilac Mall 1.5 hrs before and it had ppl in it (2:30 pm), does that one get much more business than Portsmouth? its a nicer store than Portsmouth.

the one they had in Gilford was Worse than Portsmouth, it was also smaller than Portsmouth's store.

[d_fife]

how well are the 6 Kmarts in Maine doing?

[Zayre88]

how well are the 6 Kmarts in Maine doing?

I don't know for sure but my observations are:

Auburn: Nicest and largest of them all I think... but don't know if it's doing good
Augusta: Small store but close to downtown so probably doing ok, could have been closed years ago because of its size.
Bangor: Large store too, is probably doing well because of the many shoppers from Canada in Bangor
Waterville: Parking lot often quite full
Presque Isle: Don't know but it probably also benefits from shoppers from Canada.
Madawaska: Small store in small town away from any Walmart and close to Canadian shoppers.

[JoshAustin610]

The Kmart in Bethlehem, PA will be closing in September, despite converting back from a Sears Essentials two years ago.  It appears this was a case of the landlord buying out the remainder of their lease, which makes me think they already have another tenant in mind (they've put a lot into remodeling most of the shopping center over the last few years, although the former Food Lane next door has been vacant for 16 years and the Eckerd next to that vacant for 13).  Across the street is an extremely small Walmart in a former Bradlees; despite being only 80,000 sq. ft. it's so high volume it's one of the few non-Supercenter stores in the area open 24 hours.  Walmart has expressed interest in relocating out of that spot in the past; if Walmart took over the Kmart, Food Lane, and Eckerd spots it wouldn't be quite Supercenter size, but would still be much larger than what they have.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2013/07/kmart_to_close_in_bethlehem_to.html

[d_fife]

how well are the 6 Kmarts in Maine doing?

I don't know for sure but my observations are:

Auburn: Nicest and largest of them all I think... but don't know if it's doing good
Augusta: Small store but close to downtown so probably doing ok, could have been closed years ago because of its size.
Bangor: Large store too, is probably doing well because of the many shoppers from Canada in Bangor
Waterville: Parking lot often quite full
Presque Isle: Don't know but it probably also benefits from shoppers from Canada.
Madawaska: Small store in small town away from any Walmart and close to Canadian shoppers.

how does the one in Rochester do? well its nicer than the soon to be closing Portsmouth one. I Wasn't surprised they said itd be closing, im surprised it didn't happen sooner?

[AmesNewington]

The Cromwell, CT Kmart has celebrated their 40th anniversary this year. The store opened in 1973. Hard to believe it's been that long. As it looks, the store doesn't seem to be going anywhere. They have a good manager who cares about the store (despite what corporate provides them with). I say this store could use a little update, based on the business it gets and the location. It is one of the longest operating stores in the area. Stop and Shop, JCPenney and Sears are in the same category too. Not many department stores make it to 40.

[d_fife]

how well does the Kmart in the Lilac Mall in Rochester do?

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

My Aunt & I just had lunch so that the both of us could catch up today. I was catching up with her on the stores and businesses of the present and of the past. She told me that she liked our local Kmart Store and that she liked how clean that it always is in the inside. I don't why there are so many people that judge Kmart Stores just because the buildings of a lot of Kmart Stores are old. Gold Circle, Hills, Ames and many other discount department store buildings were old back in the 1980's/1990's and they still did financially well and always got a lot of business. My local Hills Department Store back in the 1980's/1990's was in an old building just like a lot of Kmart Stores are today. Even though this Hills Department Store was in an old building they were always packed. In fact, when my mother put new school clothes in layaway for me every summer at Hills, you had to wait in a layaway every two weeks for more than an hour just to make your layaway payment. Can you picture having to do this as a child with your mother like I had to every two weeks every summer? My main point is that they were in an old building like Kmart Stores are today and the layaway department is a perfect example of how busy my local Hills Department Store got, despite the fact that they were in an old building. Why are Kmart Stores put down just because of the fact that they are in old buildings? Discount Department Stores of the 1980's/1990's were never viewed like this despite the fact that they were in old buildings and Discount Department Stores of the 1980's/1990's were prime shopping retail stores at the same time. I know that some Kmart Stores are falling apart, but at the same time not all of Kmart's old stores are falling apart. My three local Kmart Stores are in old buildings but they are all in great standing condition.

[Zayre88]

Kmart using the Kmart-Australia logo on the store closing sign in Portsmouth NH.... 

They can't even use the right logo on a simple sign, imagine the rest of the decisions in this company...

[d_fife]

Kmart using the Kmart-Australia logo on the store closing sign in Portsmouth NH.... 

They can't even use the right logo on a simple sign, imagine the rest of the decisions in this company...

wow the parking lot was bare even with the sale? it was that way when I Went last month

how much better does ROchester do than this store. but Rochster did tell me how much they make in a day is how much Portsmouth makes in a week.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Kmart using the Kmart-Australia logo on the store closing sign in Portsmouth NH.... 

They can't even use the right logo on a simple sign, imagine the rest of the decisions in this company...

It's probably a local issue, limited to this store and (possibly) the store's owner, as well as a local sign company's mistake. Using the wrong Kmart logo has happened too many times before in parts of the United States.

[Zayre88]

It's probably a local issue, limited to this store and (possibly) the store's owner, as well as a local sign company's mistake. Using the wrong Kmart logo has happened too many times before in parts of the United States.

Maybe, but when corporate decides to close a store, they probably provide the needed material like banners and certainly have guidelines on what to use and how to proceed.  But it could be a local sign company's mistake, looking for a kmart logo online...

But you look at the Burlington Vermont store and it has a Kmart Australia logo on their permanent pylon sign!  Kmart does not care it seems.

[ynkeesfn82]

And the only ones that probably know (or care) are us retail junkies.  ;D

[retailisking]

My bet is that it's the sign company that contracted with the liquidation company (I assume Hilco is still handling liquidation for Sears Holdings) that's at fault.

[d_fife]

yes the Kmart in Rochester told me how much they make in a day is how much Portsmouth made in a week, should I rely on that


I went to one in Winonia Minnesotta 3 weeks ago, half its lights where off and it wasn't busy and it was near Shopko, TArget and Walmart, what will happen to that one in WInonia?

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Kmart does not care it seems.

A testament to Sears Holdings' laziness.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

yes the Kmart in Rochester told me how much they make in a day is how much Portsmouth made in a week, should I rely on that


I went to one in Winonia Minnesotta 3 weeks ago, half its lights where off and it wasn't busy and it was near Shopko, TArget and Walmart, what will happen to that one in WInonia?

Sorry. I can't help you with that one. By the way, you misspelled "Winona, Minnesota".
I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin near a Kmart store (built in 1967) located adjacent to Lambeau Field near where I live that does well, even during Packers football games, when the tailgaters use their parking lot before the game begins.

Unfortunately, the Kmart on the other side of Green Bay closed in 2009.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Kmart using the Kmart-Australia logo on the store closing sign in Portsmouth NH.... 

They can't even use the right logo on a simple sign, imagine the rest of the decisions in this company...

Other usages of the Kmart Australia logo in the United States:

The Kmart sign in Virginia Beach, Virginia:

...Because there are no Quiznos Sub shops or Taco Bells in Australia. (Lazy sign company!!!)

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

Other usages of the Kmart Australia logo in the United States:

The Kmart sign in Virginia Beach, Virginia:

...Because there are no Quiznos Sub shops or Taco Bells in Australia. (Lazy sign company!!!)

How were you able to find this sign that is in the state of Virginia?

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Other usages of the Kmart Australia logo in the United States:

The Kmart sign in Virginia Beach, Virginia:

...Because there are no Quiznos Sub shops or Taco Bells in Australia. (Lazy sign company!!!)

How were you able to find this sign that is in the state of Virginia?

It was from this website:
http://www.billburmaster.com/lecentre/kmart.html
(I hope that answers your question.)

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The Big Kmart store in Alsip, Illinois. This Big Kmart store was previously home to The Treasury, a now-defunct discount store division of JCPenney.

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

The Big Kmart store in Alsip, Illinois. This Big Kmart store was previously home to The Treasury, a now-defunct discount store division of JCPenney.

My three local Big Kmart Stores look ten times way better than this one. This Big Kmart Store in Illinois is more outdated than any Big Kmart that I have ever seen!

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

 >:( I do not want to live in a world where the only Kmart stores left are in Australia and New Zealand!

What Sears Holdings needs to do, is hire a new CEO, and a few other executives who know what they're doing. I think Kmart needs to reinvent themselves in this decade, just like how Apple Computers reinvented themselves upon Steve Jobs' return to Apple upon the merger with NeXT Computers in the late 1990s. Kmart needs to differentiate themselves from Walmart, just like Apple differentiates themselves from Microsoft, and how Burger King differentiates themselves from McDonald's. Kmart needs to find its niche, and stop trying to be a poor man's Walmart-type retailer. In the future, when our economic problems are behind us, Kmart should hire new executives (including a new CEO) who know what they're doing, and remodel outdated-looking stores, relocate existing Kmart stores to better locations, expand the smaller Kmart stores, and possibly open some new Kmart Supercenter locations, and Kmart/Sears co-branded stores, as well as open more of their new Kdollar dollar stores and Kwash Laundromats inside most Kmart stores.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The Big Kmart store in Alsip, Illinois. This Big Kmart store was previously home to The Treasury, a now-defunct discount store division of JCPenney.

My three local Big Kmart Stores look ten times way better than this one. This Big Kmart Store in Illinois is more outdated than any Big Kmart that I have ever seen!

It must be the 1960s-modern façade left over from The Treasury that makes this store outdated.

[d_fife]

Kmart in Waterbury is CLOSING!!!!!! The one on Wolcott st! http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/741072.txt

[d_fife]

  Coos Bay OR and PAlyum WA are closing.

does a kmart closing at 6 pm on a Sunday mean it will close

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

>:( I do not want to live in a world where the only Kmart stores left are in Australia and New Zealand!

What Sears Holdings needs to do, is hire a new CEO, and a few other executives who know what they're doing. I think Kmart needs to reinvent themselves in this decade, just like how Apple Computers reinvented themselves upon Steve Jobs' return to Apple upon the merger with NeXT Computers in the late 1990s. Kmart needs to differentiate themselves from Walmart, just like Apple differentiates themselves from Microsoft, and how Burger King differentiates themselves from McDonald's. Kmart needs to find its niche, and stop trying to be a poor man's Walmart-type retailer. In the future, when our economic problems are behind us, Kmart should hire new executives (including a new CEO) who know what they're doing, and remodel outdated-looking stores, relocate existing Kmart stores to better locations, expand the smaller Kmart stores, and possibly open some new Kmart Supercenter locations, and Kmart/Sears co-branded stores, as well as open more of their new Kdollar dollar stores and Kwash Laundromats inside most Kmart stores.

I quite personally agree with you. At the same time, Lampert refuses to give up ownership of the company. How do we accomplish what you have stated ShopKoFan if Lampert refuses to give up ownership? My main point is that we are pretty much at a dead end now, because the only thing that will save Kmart is if someone takes over as CEO that really knows what they are doing and at the same time, Lampert won't do that.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

I predict that if Kmart and Sears goes under, that some locations be sold to Shopko, and others will be sold to Meijer, but both stores would likely demolish the old Kmart and Sears stores and build new stores on the same site.

Shopko would likely take the locations at shopping malls filling the void left by a Sears or Kmart that once anchored the shopping mall (Shopko stores anchor numerous shopping malls and strip malls as well as big box power centers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan's upper peninsula, as well as stores as faraway as Washington state, Nebraska, and Idaho.)

As for Meijer, they would likely take most of the larger free-standing former Kmart, Super Kmart, and large single-story Sears locations and convert those to Meijer hypermarkets, unless they are structurally unsound, they would tear down and build new.

Shopko, Target, Kohl's, or Big Lots would take over the single-story Sears locations that currently anchor single-story shopping malls.

Most Sears, two stories or more, could become Boscov's, Target (the stores would have to be modified to include special sets of escalators that can accommodate both people and shopping carts called "Vermaports"), or if the mall can handle upscale anchors, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Nordstrom, or Lord & Taylor.

[Pikapower]

I predict that if Kmart and Sears goes under, that some locations be sold to Shopko, and others will be sold to Meijer, but both stores would likely demolish the old Kmart and Sears stores and build new stores on the same site.

Shopko would likely take the locations at shopping malls filling the void left by a Sears or Kmart that once anchored the shopping mall (Shopko stores anchor numerous shopping malls and strip malls as well as big box power centers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan's upper peninsula, as well as stores as faraway as Washington state, Nebraska, and Idaho.)

As for Meijer, they would likely take most of the larger free-standing former Kmart, Super Kmart, and large single-story Sears locations and convert those to Meijer hypermarkets, unless they are structurally unsound, they would tear down and build new.

Shopko, Target, Kohl's, or Big Lots would take over the single-story Sears locations that currently anchor single-story shopping malls.

Most Sears, two stories or more, could become Boscov's, Target (the stores would have to be modified to include special sets of escalators that can accommodate both people and shopping carts called "Vermaports"), or if the mall can handle upscale anchors, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Nordstrom, or Lord & Taylor.

What about TJMaxx taking up some of the single-story Sears stores if Sears goes under?