K-Mart

[Retail_247]

I feel like the "big k" concept was a waste of time and money. I think kmart might be doing a little better if they never did the "big k" concept.

[BillyGr]

And now, just under 2 years later and Kmart is... still here!

About 10 stores left, with 5 or 6 in places like Guam, Puerto Rico and only 4 (I believe) left in the USA.

Of those 4, 2 are in the state of NJ - one is Westwood (near NYC) and the other is Avenel, which is near pretty much nothing!  No clue how that store (Out of all the ones they once had in NJ) managed to be one of the last handful remaining, but somehow...

[EddieJ1984]

There's no Kmart's near me, but I'm glad I got 2 baskets from my the Kmart I grew up when they closed in 2019.

[Retail Regents]

And now, just under 2 years later and Kmart is... still here!

About 10 stores left, with 5 or 6 in places like Guam, Puerto Rico and only 4 (I believe) left in the USA.

Of those 4, 2 are in the state of NJ - one is Westwood (near NYC) and the other is Avenel, which is near pretty much nothing!  No clue how that store (Out of all the ones they once had in NJ) managed to be one of the last handful remaining, but somehow...

Avenel's time is up. It is closing April 17th.

[Everything Community]

Ocean State Job Lot - Vernon, Connecticut
This store opened August 27, 2020. It is situated inside the former Kmart building in Vernon, Connecticut. It is across the street from the Super Stop & Shop.
This OSJL just took over 1/3 of its space leftover by what was once America's favorite store back in the 1970s-80s. The other 2/3 remains vacant and no tenants have taken over yet.
The nostalgic artifacts of Kmart remain in place at the new OSJL, apparently the other 2/3 of that space have been walled off.
Many of the local shoppers in town were excited with their delight to check out the brand new store. They were very pleased what they had to offer like all other OSJLs all over.
For those of you who don't know well (outside the Northeast), Ocean State Job Lot (abbreviated OSJL) is the closeout / discount store that is found all across the Northeast (expanding as further as Pennsylvania).
On the other hand, when Kmart was located in that very building, it was open for over 44 years. Kmart closed down more than a year and a half ago (closed March 3, 2019). Kmart originally opened on February 27, 1975.
That building was vacant for over a year when OSJL announced that they would be taking over that very building. The news were confirmed in late March of 2020. Starting in April, they started work on the building. Over time, they dismantled most, if not all of the building + other exterior signs (BIG Kmart logo, complete Kmart awning & road signs). The doors leftover by Kmart remain intact. These Kmart artifacts all remained post-closing.
It took almost no time to complete the partial transformation of the building itself. The interior at the new OSJL doesn't have much to be described about the former Kmart self however, it still looks a little Kmart-ish. The Kmart air vents remain in place, so as well the ceiling. They also kept many of the carts leftover by Kmart.

[Retail Regents]

Ocean State Job Lot - Vernon, Connecticut
This store opened August 27, 2020. It is situated inside the former Kmart building in Vernon, Connecticut. It is across the street from the Super Stop & Shop.
This OSJL just took over 1/3 of its space leftover by what was once America's favorite store back in the 1970s-80s. The other 2/3 remains vacant and no tenants have taken over yet.
The nostalgic artifacts of Kmart remain in place at the new OSJL, apparently the other 2/3 of that space have been walled off.
Many of the local shoppers in town were excited with their delight to check out the brand new store. They were very pleased what they had to offer like all other OSJLs all over.
For those of you who don't know well (outside the Northeast), Ocean State Job Lot (abbreviated OSJL) is the closeout / discount store that is found all across the Northeast (expanding as further as Pennsylvania).
On the other hand, when Kmart was located in that very building, it was open for over 44 years. Kmart closed down more than a year and a half ago (closed March 3, 2019). Kmart originally opened on February 27, 1975.
That building was vacant for over a year when OSJL announced that they would be taking over that very building. The news were confirmed in late March of 2020. Starting in April, they started work on the building. Over time, they dismantled most, if not all of the building + other exterior signs (BIG Kmart logo, complete Kmart awning & road signs). The doors leftover by Kmart remain intact. These Kmart artifacts all remained post-closing.
It took almost no time to complete the partial transformation of the building itself. The interior at the new OSJL doesn't have much to be described about the former Kmart self however, it still looks a little Kmart-ish. The Kmart air vents remain in place, so as well the ceiling. They also kept many of the carts leftover by Kmart.

As far as the shopping carts are concerned, it is not likely they were from this location as second-hand stores like this order their fixtures at auction, so they could have been from just about any Kmart location, even if it were from the other side of the country.

I can only assume OSJL paints the walls yellow is to give the store a warmer feeling, especially a store like that with that cold, sterile concrete flooring.

[Everything Community]

Ocean State Job Lot - Vernon, Connecticut
This store opened August 27, 2020. It is situated inside the former Kmart building in Vernon, Connecticut. It is across the street from the Super Stop & Shop.
This OSJL just took over 1/3 of its space leftover by what was once America's favorite store back in the 1970s-80s. The other 2/3 remains vacant and no tenants have taken over yet.
The nostalgic artifacts of Kmart remain in place at the new OSJL, apparently the other 2/3 of that space have been walled off.
Many of the local shoppers in town were excited with their delight to check out the brand new store. They were very pleased what they had to offer like all other OSJLs all over.
For those of you who don't know well (outside the Northeast), Ocean State Job Lot (abbreviated OSJL) is the closeout / discount store that is found all across the Northeast (expanding as further as Pennsylvania).
On the other hand, when Kmart was located in that very building, it was open for over 44 years. Kmart closed down more than a year and a half ago (closed March 3, 2019). Kmart originally opened on February 27, 1975.
That building was vacant for over a year when OSJL announced that they would be taking over that very building. The news were confirmed in late March of 2020. Starting in April, they started work on the building. Over time, they dismantled most, if not all of the building + other exterior signs (BIG Kmart logo, complete Kmart awning & road signs). The doors leftover by Kmart remain intact. These Kmart artifacts all remained post-closing.
It took almost no time to complete the partial transformation of the building itself. The interior at the new OSJL doesn't have much to be described about the former Kmart self however, it still looks a little Kmart-ish. The Kmart air vents remain in place, so as well the ceiling. They also kept many of the carts leftover by Kmart.

As far as the shopping carts are concerned, it is not likely they were from this location as second-hand stores like this order their fixtures at auction, so they could have been from just about any Kmart location, even if it were from the other side of the country.

I can only assume OSJL paints the walls yellow is to give the store a warmer feeling, especially a store like that with that cold, sterile concrete flooring.

Some of the recycled stores do change up the areas like these to reflect the up-and-going impression of today's stores that take up older spaces in buildings that were once either Kmart or other stores.

[Everything Community]

New England region's last Kmart in Hyannis, MA closed down permanently last April (2021)

[Everything Community]

Love listening to music while you're shopping? Listen to the songs that were played at Kmart stores throughout the decades of the 70s-90s (and some earlier) in between. If you love the 80s music, click on any one of these links! They're worth listening!
https://archive.org/details/attentionkmartshoppers
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Tower+Sound+and+Communications%22

[Everything Community]

Pictured here from about the late 70s is an old house right in front of the now former Kmart in Lansing, MI. The house is long gone now but the Kmart remained in operation until within the last couple of years.

I heard a lady who lived in that house back in the 70s / 80s didn't want to sell that property so when she died somewhere in the 80s, the house got demolished so that site remains empty.

On historical note, that house was built in about 1910, some sixty years or so before Kmart opened there.

[Everything Community]

That article is from 2015 but Martha Stewart wishes she would have bought Kmart before Kmart actually bought Sears in '05.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/kmartha-martha-stewart-says-she-regrets-not-buying-kmart-n444286

[SiggyOasis]

The new Vernon Job Lots is great, but you can't shake the old ghosts of Kmart out of those bones.

On cold fall evenings you can still smell   Nathan's hotdogs from the KCafe

[BillyGr]

Ocean State Job Lot - Vernon, Connecticut
This store opened August 27, 2020. It is situated inside the former Kmart building in Vernon, Connecticut. It is across the street from the Super Stop & Shop.
This OSJL just took over 1/3 of its space leftover by what was once America's favorite store back in the 1970s-80s. The other 2/3 remains vacant and no tenants have taken over yet.
The nostalgic artifacts of Kmart remain in place at the new OSJL, apparently the other 2/3 of that space have been walled off.
Many of the local shoppers in town were excited with their delight to check out the brand new store. They were very pleased what they had to offer like all other OSJLs all over.
For those of you who don't know well (outside the Northeast), Ocean State Job Lot (abbreviated OSJL) is the closeout / discount store that is found all across the Northeast (expanding as further as Pennsylvania).
On the other hand, when Kmart was located in that very building, it was open for over 44 years. Kmart closed down more than a year and a half ago (closed March 3, 2019). Kmart originally opened on February 27, 1975.
That building was vacant for over a year when OSJL announced that they would be taking over that very building. The news were confirmed in late March of 2020. Starting in April, they started work on the building. Over time, they dismantled most, if not all of the building + other exterior signs (BIG Kmart logo, complete Kmart awning & road signs). The doors leftover by Kmart remain intact. These Kmart artifacts all remained post-closing.
It took almost no time to complete the partial transformation of the building itself. The interior at the new OSJL doesn't have much to be described about the former Kmart self however, it still looks a little Kmart-ish. The Kmart air vents remain in place, so as well the ceiling. They also kept many of the carts leftover by Kmart.

As far as the shopping carts are concerned, it is not likely they were from this location as second-hand stores like this order their fixtures at auction, so they could have been from just about any Kmart location, even if it were from the other side of the country.

I can only assume OSJL paints the walls yellow is to give the store a warmer feeling, especially a store like that with that cold, sterile concrete flooring.

Actually in this case, it IS likely that the carts are from that Kmart - we had the same situation here, where our Ocean State is in a former Grand Union and from opening until a year or so ago they had the same carts (large flat green GU carts, which weren't common as that color scheme was only used in a limited number of stores opened, like this one, in their last few years as a company). 

They replaced those with a more uniform batch (at one point this store had 4 or 5 different types/sizes of carts) and I just saw that their store in Albany (NY) now has a few of the GU ones (this store always seems to be the "bottom of the barrel" of their stores locally, so apparently that includes the carts) that I never saw there previously (but I don't stop at that one often).

[Retail Regents]

Ocean State Job Lot - Vernon, Connecticut
This store opened August 27, 2020. It is situated inside the former Kmart building in Vernon, Connecticut. It is across the street from the Super Stop & Shop.
This OSJL just took over 1/3 of its space leftover by what was once America's favorite store back in the 1970s-80s. The other 2/3 remains vacant and no tenants have taken over yet.
The nostalgic artifacts of Kmart remain in place at the new OSJL, apparently the other 2/3 of that space have been walled off.
Many of the local shoppers in town were excited with their delight to check out the brand new store. They were very pleased what they had to offer like all other OSJLs all over.
For those of you who don't know well (outside the Northeast), Ocean State Job Lot (abbreviated OSJL) is the closeout / discount store that is found all across the Northeast (expanding as further as Pennsylvania).
On the other hand, when Kmart was located in that very building, it was open for over 44 years. Kmart closed down more than a year and a half ago (closed March 3, 2019). Kmart originally opened on February 27, 1975.
That building was vacant for over a year when OSJL announced that they would be taking over that very building. The news were confirmed in late March of 2020. Starting in April, they started work on the building. Over time, they dismantled most, if not all of the building + other exterior signs (BIG Kmart logo, complete Kmart awning & road signs). The doors leftover by Kmart remain intact. These Kmart artifacts all remained post-closing.
It took almost no time to complete the partial transformation of the building itself. The interior at the new OSJL doesn't have much to be described about the former Kmart self however, it still looks a little Kmart-ish. The Kmart air vents remain in place, so as well the ceiling. They also kept many of the carts leftover by Kmart.

As far as the shopping carts are concerned, it is not likely they were from this location as second-hand stores like this order their fixtures at auction, so they could have been from just about any Kmart location, even if it were from the other side of the country.

I can only assume OSJL paints the walls yellow is to give the store a warmer feeling, especially a store like that with that cold, sterile concrete flooring.

Actually in this case, it IS likely that the carts are from that Kmart - we had the same situation here, where our Ocean State is in a former Grand Union and from opening until a year or so ago they had the same carts (large flat green GU carts, which weren't common as that color scheme was only used in a limited number of stores opened, like this one, in their last few years as a company). 

They replaced those with a more uniform batch (at one point this store had 4 or 5 different types/sizes of carts) and I just saw that their store in Albany (NY) now has a few of the GU ones (this store always seems to be the "bottom of the barrel" of their stores locally, so apparently that includes the carts) that I never saw there previously (but I don't stop at that one often).

Ocean State Job Lot - Vernon, Connecticut
This store opened August 27, 2020. It is situated inside the former Kmart building in Vernon, Connecticut. It is across the street from the Super Stop & Shop.
This OSJL just took over 1/3 of its space leftover by what was once America's favorite store back in the 1970s-80s. The other 2/3 remains vacant and no tenants have taken over yet.
The nostalgic artifacts of Kmart remain in place at the new OSJL, apparently the other 2/3 of that space have been walled off.
Many of the local shoppers in town were excited with their delight to check out the brand new store. They were very pleased what they had to offer like all other OSJLs all over.
For those of you who don't know well (outside the Northeast), Ocean State Job Lot (abbreviated OSJL) is the closeout / discount store that is found all across the Northeast (expanding as further as Pennsylvania).
On the other hand, when Kmart was located in that very building, it was open for over 44 years. Kmart closed down more than a year and a half ago (closed March 3, 2019). Kmart originally opened on February 27, 1975.
That building was vacant for over a year when OSJL announced that they would be taking over that very building. The news were confirmed in late March of 2020. Starting in April, they started work on the building. Over time, they dismantled most, if not all of the building + other exterior signs (BIG Kmart logo, complete Kmart awning & road signs). The doors leftover by Kmart remain intact. These Kmart artifacts all remained post-closing.
It took almost no time to complete the partial transformation of the building itself. The interior at the new OSJL doesn't have much to be described about the former Kmart self however, it still looks a little Kmart-ish. The Kmart air vents remain in place, so as well the ceiling. They also kept many of the carts leftover by Kmart.

As far as the shopping carts are concerned, it is not likely they were from this location as second-hand stores like this order their fixtures at auction, so they could have been from just about any Kmart location, even if it were from the other side of the country.

I can only assume OSJL paints the walls yellow is to give the store a warmer feeling, especially a store like that with that cold, sterile concrete flooring.

Actually in this case, it IS likely that the carts are from that Kmart - we had the same situation here, where our Ocean State is in a former Grand Union and from opening until a year or so ago they had the same carts (large flat green GU carts, which weren't common as that color scheme was only used in a limited number of stores opened, like this one, in their last few years as a company). 

They replaced those with a more uniform batch (at one point this store had 4 or 5 different types/sizes of carts) and I just saw that their store in Albany (NY) now has a few of the GU ones (this store always seems to be the "bottom of the barrel" of their stores locally, so apparently that includes the carts) that I never saw there previously (but I don't stop at that one often).

Perhaps we can speak about the whole Job Lot thing in the Ocean State Job Lot thread? I have a lot to say about that.

[Everything Community]

Once a retail giant, Kmart nears extinction after closure
https://apnews.com/article/business-new-york-city-new-york-new-jersey-lifestyle-9e06f958526665df9f7c9422f67516ef

[EddieJ1984]

I feel like the "big k" concept was a waste of time and money. I think kmart might be doing a little better if they never did the "big k" concept.

I agree on that the Big K concept was a flop, but I think they would've went under then either way with Walmart rapidly expanding in the 90s and Target as well, so they had pressure. They would've needed something that made them seem a bit more modern since in the 90s, the retail scene and just about everything felt a lot different in 1997 than it did in 1990, and Kmart had to do something to keep up. They could've just kept the Kmart name alone and just focused on updating the interior like they did.

[Everything Community]

The last portion of the former Kmart in Cromwell, CT is slated to be filled up soon as Burlington seeks a new store at Cromwell Square. Marshall's had already taken up the first portion of that building a couple of years ago.

https://patch.com/connecticut/middletown-ct/amp/30607987/burlington-store-to-open-in-cromwell-report

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

I could see the Guam Kmart location being converted to another American retailer (since Guam is an American territory), like Target or Fred Meyer, giving either of those two brands more offshore locations outside Hawaii...

[Everything Community]

See inside one of the last Kmart stores in the US days before it closed down forever

On that note, the Avenel, NJ Kmart (where these pictures were taken) has closed down permanently.

https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-inside-last-kmart-stores-us-before-it-closed-2022-4

[Everything Community]

That is the S.S. Kresge product from the 70s (before being officially renamed Kmart Corporation) with the price sticker from Kmart that was sold exclusively at Kmart stores.

That product was spotted on Wednesday at Goodwill thrift store in Manchester, CT.

Kudos to my oldest brother for finding it the other day. I give him credit! You cannot see attachments on this board.

[BillyGr]

That is the S.S. Kresge product from the 70s (before being officially renamed Kmart Corporation) with the price sticker from Kmart that was sold exclusively at Kmart stores.

That product was spotted on Wednesday at Goodwill thrift store in Manchester, CT.

Kudos to my oldest brother for finding it the other day. I give him credit!

OK, just how does one FOLD a candle?  Being that IS what it says (folding candle) ;)

[TheFugitive]

Update on a couple of former Kmarts here in the Pittsburgh area:

The store on PA Route 50 in Bridgeville has reopened as a Burlington store. 

The store on PA Route 51 in Pleasant Hills as reopened as an At Home store
(rumors that it would become a Dicks Sporting Goods were apparently untrue).

BTW that photo of the house in front of a Kmart in Lansing up there is wild!
Those people were pretty much living in a Kmart parking lot.  Who would want to do that?

[Retail_247]

A little off topic but whats kinda sad is that if you go to any posts on this form that are from the early days of the website (like 2005) to somewhere around 2010-2011 a lot of the posts on the threads have images which have since been lost. There's a ballpark estimated 95% chance that those photos were only on the forum and have since been lost forever and are nowhere else to be seen on the internet. It's like this on pretty much all of the topics but its mainly most prolific on the Kmart and Caldor topic.

Also not to mention that half of these photos are hosted on photobucket, which unfortunately is unreliable. Remember when they made all images on photobucket private unless you paid a subscription?

Its kinda sad how many photos on this website are lost.

At least the photobucket hosted images are still accessible as of now.

A lot of the later images upload to the forum (from 2011-2012) can still be accessed through the wayback machine

[Everything Community]

A little off topic but whats kinda sad is that if you go to any posts on this form that are from the early days of the website (like 2005) to somewhere around 2010-2011 a lot of the posts on the threads have images which have since been lost. There's a ballpark estimated 95% chance that those photos were only on the forum and have since been lost forever and are nowhere else to be seen on the internet. It's like this on pretty much all of the topics but its mainly most prolific on the Kmart and Caldor topic.

Also not to mention that half of these photos are hosted on photobucket, which unfortunately is unreliable. Remember when they made all images on photobucket private unless you paid a subscription?

Its kinda sad how many photos on this website are lost.

At least the photobucket hosted images are still assessable as of now.

A lot of the later images upload to the forum (from 2011-2012) can still be accessed through the wayback machine

I fortunately have a couple of dozens of pics of Kmart on this forum that have been uploaded to my Google Photos / Google Drive account (which of course is private!). I believe one of the Ames Fan Club members Dan Fife has a Facebook account that contains many thousands of pictures of retail like Kmarts and buildings of defunct businesses from the past 15+ years which I think is accessible. There are probably Facebook groups relating to retail's past in which you may be able to find pics of Caldor which was posted by one of the other members of Ames Fan Club in one of those groups (like Off The Rack: Retail Past And Present).

Unfortunately, unless Chris (admin.) can fix the whole entirety of the amesfanclub.com site plus image attachments on these posts, it's mostly likely that they have all but disappeared for good.

[DefunctStoreKing]

Who remembers the K-Mart Family Dining?

[Rpameskmartfan26]

You cannot see attachments on this board.
This is when I went by one of three Rockford Kmarts back in February 2022. This is the one on State St which was the oldest of the three (The other two were a former Arlans {Closed in April 2018} & a former Giant {The Illinois one} {Closed in 2002}). This one opened on October 7, 1971 & closed in September 2018.

Most of the store was Vacant at the time. A small portion of it is being used by U-HAUL at the moment.

I had to bump this one

[Rpameskmartfan26]

This is the former Kmart location in Florence KY that I went by a couple times meanwhile in Florence KY in February 2022. The location is now subdivided into smaller stores.
You cannot see attachments on this board.
You cannot see attachments on this board.
 
Here's a photo I found of the location when it was open (Found on Yelp):
You cannot see attachments on this board.

This was a former Hills location.

[ian]

Hello everyone, I am having a hard time locating my old Kmart due to address changes- if anyone can help please let me know.

[Rpameskmartfan26]

Hello everyone, I am having a hard time locating my old Kmart due to address changes- if anyone can help please let me know.

There's a spreadsheet on it: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bQbJ704l5I8hkf4hUNa7IyYzGW5I3CIBYmqigrRLD7g/edit#gid=332535324

[ian]

I understand, the address changed and the address on the spreadsheet links to a forest