Poll of the Day > The LAST Kmart CLOSES!! Will you miss it?

(+) Yeah! (+)

This is/was the last Kmart in the US states

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZmMSwiE5Dg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6dbc5738.jpg

End of an era.

They should have rebranded by added more K's in front of the K-Mart.

Always preferred Fred Meyers

It was better than Wal Mart

My nostalgia brain misses the K-Mart I went to in the 80s, when it was still mostly clean and had better quality merchandise, and I could get hot Super-Pretzels and sit in the photo booth eating them while waiting for my mom to check out.

But K-Mart went to complete shit long before they started closing their stores, and I stopped going to them because they were usually dirty and looked half-abandoned or understocked.

The problem is, that's the exact same thing that's been happening to most of my local Wal-Mart stores ever since the pandemic. Everything looks dirty, with everything kind of being a mess because no one working there gives even the remotest of shits.

Target's about the only department store left that doesn't look like a complete shithole.

The merger with Sears was so disastrous that it killed both companies.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

My nostalgia brain misses the K-Mart I went to in the 80s, when it was still mostly clean and had better quality merchandise, and I could get hot Super-Pretzels and sit in the photo booth eating them while waiting for my mom to check out.

But K-Mart went to complete shit long before they started closing their stores, and I stopped going to them because they were usually dirty and looked half-abandoned or understocked.

The problem is, that's the exact same thing that's been happening to most of my local Wal-Mart stores ever since the pandemic. Everything looks dirty, with everything kind of being a mess because no one working there gives even the remotest of shits.

Target's about the only department store left that doesn't look like a complete shithole.

Same thing happened with Hills in the 80s.
It was the store for Xmas shopping for many years- good selection , low prices , clean, and organized.

Then, they didn't keep it organized, lack of cleaning became noticeable, and before long they couldn't beg people to return.

Frye's too.
I dreamed about winning the lottery ,so I could go on a spending spree in there.
Then in short order; selection , price , organization, and cleanliness all went by the wayside.

My mother always said I was a Kmart blue light special, so there is certain bit of nostalgia to miss with its demise.

Someone I used to work with filmed the inside of our local Kmart years ago when it closed down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU4pOBjB4yc

So much nostalgia from that store, but honestly a lot of pretty depressing memories too of how dirty and unfun the place was. It always felt like a grody version of Walmart. Never much of a selection of anything worthwhile.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

But K-Mart went to complete shit long before they started closing their stores, and I stopped going to them because they were usually dirty and looked half-abandoned or understocked.

The problem is, that's the exact same thing that's been happening to most of my local Wal-Mart stores ever since the pandemic. Everything looks dirty, with everything kind of being a mess because no one working there gives even the remotest of shits.

Target's about the only department store left that doesn't look like a complete shithole.

Ironically, I recently had to move back to my home town. Hadn't been to a Walmart in years and was actively avoiding going there. I had equally depressing memories of that place. We got a Meijer that opened across the street and I'd been going there because of how nice the grocery section is, but their electronics section absolutely sucks. I needed something and thought I'd try Walmart just for the hell of it and was amazed by how much nicer it is there. Like, nearly Target quality. Great electronics section, everything is clean. I was kind of peeved that the store isn't opened past midnight anymore, but that might be in its favor, giving the store more resources and time for the employees to not get burnt out and give a shit about their job. I don't know, maybe it's a regional thing?

The little Caesars in my Kmart made the best crazy bread

I think we still have them here in New Zealand, and maybe Australia as well

Yes actually there was a K-mart in my town and I miss it quite a bit.

Salrite posted...

I was kind of peeved that the store isn't opened past midnight anymore, but that might be in its favor, giving the store more resources and time for the employees to not get burnt out and give a shit about their job.

There's a good sized crew in there whether the store is open or not. Most cleaning and stocking happens overnight and in most cases the customer traffic overnight doesn't affect the employees all that much because there simply aren't that many of them. Mostly it's just a matter of not having a cashier or two overnight, and those usually spent most of their time cleaning/restocking the check lanes anyway.

I remember a family friend who worked at kmart many years ago bought us (my brother and me) Super Mario 64. It was a good memory

I remember back in 2006 trying to find a copy of the Gamecube version of Twilight Princess and, of all places, Kmart was the only place I could find one.

And... That's pretty much my only real significant memory of Kmart. My family never shopped there much. As far as defunct department stores go, I have much more nostalgia for Shopko.

Salrite posted...

I don't know, maybe it's a regional thing?

Could be. I could see scenarios where the number of Wal-Mart stores within the general area/driving distance plays a role in how well any given store is maintain, as well as the overall socioeconomic factors of the neighborhood it's in (poor areas are probably more likely to be more run down).

Could also be a factor of how busy the store is. A store in a relatively underpopulated area that doesn't have a ton of through-traffic might be more inclined to clean up because they're not dealing with a constant flow of customers getting in the way. On the other hand, it might be the reverse - because they're a more isolated store with a smaller number of customers, they don't feel the need to clean up as much because they assume the customers don't have anywhere else to go.

I think it's definitely tied to the increasing focus on online sales though. There might be a mentality that they'd rather people just order stuff from their website rather than come to the store, so they put less effort into one over the other. Or it could just be worsening economy has them cutting corners to keep making record profit, and in the process they're skimping on basic things they would have dealt with in the past.

It's hard to say WHY it's happening, but it's very easy to say it's starting to look exactly the same way local K-Marts (and Sears) started to look shortly before they began their own slow slide into bankruptcy and non-existence, so it's not really a great indicator regardless.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Could be. I could see scenarios where the number of Wal-Mart stores within the general area/driving distance plays a role in how well any given store is maintain, as well as the overall socioeconomic factors of the neighborhood it's in (poor areas are probably more likely to be more run down).

Could also be a factor of how busy the store is. A store in a relatively underpopulated area that doesn't have a ton of through-traffic might be more inclined to clean up because they're not dealing with a constant flow of customers getting in the way. On the other hand, it might be the reverse - because they're a more isolated store with a smaller number of customers, they don't feel the need to clean up as much because they assume the customers don't have anywhere else to go.

I think it's definitely tied to the increasing focus on online sales though. There might be a mentality that they'd rather people just order stuff from their website rather than come to the store, so they put less effort into one over the other. Or it could just be worsening economy has them cutting corners to keep making record profit, and in the process they're skimping on basic things they would have dealt with in the past.

It's hard to say WHY it's happening, but it's very easy to say it's starting to look exactly the same way local K-Marts (and Sears) started to look shortly before they began their own slow slide into bankruptcy and non-existence, so it's not really a great indicator regardless.

It's lack of manpower. Lower in-store sales means the store is allowed fewer labor hours, and spending fewer labor hours on the store usually results in lower sales. It's a death spiral stores can only spend their way out of and most aren't willing to do so.

And profits like that aren't at the corporate level, each store is evaluated individually. So a minority of locations making record sales can prop up corporate earnings in aggregate but lower performing stores will still look like crap due to labor caps.

Dutch. On my visits to the USA, I don't think I have ever been in one.

MistyKnight posted...

The little Caesars in my Kmart made the best crazy bread

They all did

DeathMagnetic80 posted...

The merger with Sears was so disastrous that it killed both companies.

Same leader, same result?

Anyways I don't think I've ever been to one. Maybe as a kid but I don't remember?

The last KMart is in capitvity
The Galaxy is at peace

Salrite posted...

Someone I used to work with filmed the inside of our local Kmart years ago when it closed down

I was called in to break down the IT systems at the Sears in Grand Island, NE, when that store was shut down in 2019.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7bed9dab.jpg

Their network was still using token ring!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/56b4b8bd.jpg

(I'm so glad ethernet beat out token ring. Just look at the size of those Boy George connectors!)

captpackrat posted...

I was called in to break down the IT systems at the Sears in Grand Island, NE, when that store was shut down in 2019.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7bed9dab.jpg

Their network was still using token ring!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/56b4b8bd.jpg

(I'm so glad ethernet beat out token ring. Just look at the size of those Boy George connectors!)

Did it go straight into the garbage?

I haven't been in one in ages so I already don't miss it. When I was a kid my mom worked in the deli at a K-Mart and I remember spending a lot of time there waiting in a booth seat for her shift to end. When I was a little older we went to K-Mart every single Friday when my parents got paid. Parents would shop, sometimes get Little Caesar's, and we'd go to a place next door to rent VHS movies. Good times.

SinisterSlay posted...

Did it go straight into the garbage?

I think it went to an electronics recycler.

The one I grew up closed over 20 years ago. I'm surprised it took so long for them all to close.

We have em in Australia

As long as the last Blockbuster is still out there in Bend, Oregon Im good as far as nostalgic retailers

Man I remember walking to k mart to get majoras mask with the money I got from my grandmother for Christmas. K marts gone, my grandma's gone as well. Shit we don't even have a little Caesars within a hundred miles.

Interestingly enough, the one that was near where I lived growing up became a Sears Essentials after the merger. I worked in the home appliance department for a couple of years, but the store tanked so hard it became a K-Mart AGAIN several years later before its inevitable death. They turned the space into a Target, Ross and DD's discounts which seem to be doing well.

I thought all the Kmarts closed years ago. I don't miss it very much.

OneEyedShinobi posted...

We have em in Australia

Cheeky trip to the 24 hour ones after the late night Maccas run.

I haven't been in a Kmart since 2001.

They still have Kmart's in Australia. I bought a hat from one last time I was there.

Kmart has some nostalgia for me, but the last 20 years of their existence didn't do them any favors. They have long since outgrew their usefulness.

Aren't they known for selling the bullets that lead to columbine? An event that used to shock America but is now a weekly right of passage? Or do I have like 15 different stories crossed in my mind?

https://youtu.be/I03UmJbK0lA