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Sears-Kmart Death Watch

Started by Brandon, January 12, 2018, 03:55:18 PM

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How much longer do you think Sears and Kmart Have?

6 Months
20 (19%)
9 Months
11 (10.5%)
One Year
28 (26.7%)
Two Years
23 (21.9%)
Five Years
13 (12.4%)
Ten Years
1 (1%)
They'll be around forever!
9 (8.6%)

Total Members Voted: 105

Max Rockatansky

Anyone have insight into how Sears Mexico and Kmart Australia are doing these days?


Rothman

Quote from: vdeane on June 19, 2021, 09:45:29 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 19, 2021, 12:51:47 AM
Quote from: Rothman on June 18, 2021, 09:40:38 PM
Quote from: vdeane on June 18, 2021, 01:03:32 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 18, 2021, 09:47:46 AM
Quote from: 1 on June 18, 2021, 08:45:28 AM
I've boycotted Walmart because of the way they treat their employees.

I don't "boycot"  per se, but I don't like the prison-like atmosphere most Walmart's have now.  I don't like having to go through a security turnstile, have a spider wrap on my hand basket and "receipt checks"  for everything.
That's soured me on WalMart too.  What are you supposed to do if you don't find what you're looking for, buy something you don't need/might not use just so you can use a checkout and leave the store?  Ridiculous.  I was pretty much only going there for things that were out at other stores, anyways, and that's less of a problem now, so I think I just won't (especially as, if things are sold out elsewhere, there are decent odds they'll be sold out at WalMart too).

Oddly enough, even though I use JCPenney for most of my clothing needs, there is one thing I buy from WalMart - shoes.  Specifically, flats (though this may apply to boots as well, though not as strictly).  For some reason, nowhere else still around sells any that are comfortable and don't rub the back of my ankle to oblivion.  Payless was good for that too, but sadly they're online-only now.

I'll also likely be buying purses from Target from now on, as the last purse I got is from JCPenney and it isn't wearing out any slower than the two before it from Target.  If I'm going to get Target quality anyways and the selection is equivalent, may as well pay Target prices.
I have never been prevented from leaving Walmart without buying anything.  The idea they would is a little extreme.

I've walked thru closed checkout aisles or other exit points countless times if I didn't find what I was looking for. Why would someone need to buy something to leave a store? I've never felt trapped inside a Walmart.
When I've not found what I'm looking for, I always just left the way I came - a path which is now blocked by the turnstiles.  I'm pretty sure I've seen them block off closed checkouts at least once, though whether they do that all the time or blocked all of them, I can't say; I always use the self checkout, and the only time I've been inside a WalMart since the turnstiles were installed once, and that time I found at least one thing I was looking for, so the point never came up.

As for actually getting trapped in one, apparently it can happen... check out ~58 minutes in this roadtrip video (although he did enter 20 minutes after closing):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR41-IS9HTU
You're not ever going to be trapped in a Walmart for not buying something.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Flint1979

Quote from: ftballfan on June 19, 2021, 07:28:46 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 19, 2021, 06:56:28 PM
I just went into the last remaining Kmart store in the state of Michigan which is located in Marshall. Serious lack of energy, and nothing has changed from the last time I was in a Kmart store. There are a few customers, empty shelf space, dead areas of the store. Talk about a company that is lost in the 90s. They were still using IBM monitors at their checkout lanes too.

I bought a pop on the way out just so I can say I bought something. By the way John was a very strange individual, he talked very loud and wanted me to help out St Jude's which I didn't.
The only reason why they're still open is that the nearest Meijer and Walmart are 10+ miles away, on the south side of Battle Creek. Before the first bankruptcy, there used to be a Kmart in Albion as well. Fun unrelated fact: Marshall and Albion schools consolidated a few years back, but Albion is nowhere to be mentioned in the district's name (likely due to Albion being a town in decline whose schools were about to be shut down by Rick Snyder prior to its consolidation with Marshall)
Yeah I knew that was the reason it's still open. Still a long ways from another Kmart store though so it's in a rather isolated location for Kmart now. Seriously it felt no different than the Kmart in Clio before that one closed.

Scott5114

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 19, 2021, 06:56:28 PM
I just went into the last remaining Kmart store in the state of Michigan which is located in Marshall. Serious lack of energy, and nothing has changed from the last time I was in a Kmart store. There are a few customers, empty shelf space, dead areas of the store. Talk about a company that is lost in the 90s. They were still using IBM monitors at their checkout lanes too.

I bought a pop on the way out just so I can say I bought something. By the way John was a very strange individual, he talked very loud and wanted me to help out St Jude's which I didn't.

I like how they can't even be bothered to get receipt tape that says Kmart on it, or even some blank receipt tape from Staples or something. Nah, just get an extra roll of Sears receipt tape, probably shipped from a closed store, and slap that bad boy in there.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

Flint1979

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 20, 2021, 01:13:15 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 19, 2021, 06:56:28 PM
I just went into the last remaining Kmart store in the state of Michigan which is located in Marshall. Serious lack of energy, and nothing has changed from the last time I was in a Kmart store. There are a few customers, empty shelf space, dead areas of the store. Talk about a company that is lost in the 90s. They were still using IBM monitors at their checkout lanes too.

I bought a pop on the way out just so I can say I bought something. By the way John was a very strange individual, he talked very loud and wanted me to help out St Jude's which I didn't.

I like how they can't even be bothered to get receipt tape that says Kmart on it, or even some blank receipt tape from Staples or something. Nah, just get an extra roll of Sears receipt tape, probably shipped from a closed store, and slap that bad boy in there.
Lmao that was the first thing I noticed about the receipt.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 20, 2021, 08:07:32 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on June 20, 2021, 01:13:15 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 19, 2021, 06:56:28 PM
I just went into the last remaining Kmart store in the state of Michigan which is located in Marshall. Serious lack of energy, and nothing has changed from the last time I was in a Kmart store. There are a few customers, empty shelf space, dead areas of the store. Talk about a company that is lost in the 90s. They were still using IBM monitors at their checkout lanes too.

I bought a pop on the way out just so I can say I bought something. By the way John was a very strange individual, he talked very loud and wanted me to help out St Jude's which I didn't.

I like how they can't even be bothered to get receipt tape that says Kmart on it, or even some blank receipt tape from Staples or something. Nah, just get an extra roll of Sears receipt tape, probably shipped from a closed store, and slap that bad boy in there.
Lmao that was the first thing I noticed about the receipt.

That's a vestige of when Kmart was supposed to become Sears Grand.  The Kmart name was going to be eventually dropped in favor of Sears.  Part of the conversion was consolidating things like receipt tape and other like items to Sears. 

The Sears Grand thing didn't come to fruition and all the stores that survived reverted back to Kmart after awhile.  I did market investigations for bunch of SoCal Sears Grand stores before they reverted back to Kmart.  The one in El Monte was particularly wild and even had a guy drive through the front of the store one time.

thenetwork

I don't think I told this before, but I used to work a courier route which occasionally delivered office supplies to various businesses.  One of which was a Kmart regional distribution center just outside of Warren (Youngstown) Ohio about 15 years ago.

You'd have to drive past 2 checkpoints that would attach a zip-tie on the doors of your truck, then you pulled into a giant indoor loading dock with spaces for at least 150 trucks.  Then you would have to wait (and wait....and wait...) for someone to unload their delivery from your truck before they put new zip-ties on your truck doors to check out with.

The inside looked like what I would assume would today be a modest Amazon fulfillment center with conveyors all over the place. 

I assume that if that distribution center is still running, it's gotta be a shell of it's former self.  If it closed, I wonder if anybody took the place over.as it had to be at least 4-6 football fields of warehouse space.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: thenetwork on June 20, 2021, 11:10:01 AM
I don't think I told this before, but I used to work a courier route which occasionally delivered office supplies to various businesses.  One of which was a Kmart regional distribution center just outside of Warren (Youngstown) Ohio about 15 years ago.

You'd have to drive past 2 checkpoints that would attach a zip-tie on the doors of your truck, then you pulled into a giant indoor loading dock with spaces for at least 150 trucks.  Then you would have to wait (and wait....and wait...) for someone to unload their delivery from your truck before they put new zip-ties on your truck doors to check out with.

The inside looked like what I would assume would today be a modest Amazon fulfillment center with conveyors all over the place. 

I assume that if that distribution center is still running, it's gotta be a shell of it's former self.  If it closed, I wonder if anybody took the place over.as it had to be at least 4-6 football fields of warehouse space.

That's how our distribution center still does things regarding security seals.  We do the same thing for store-to-store transfers.  It is only going to take one major theft from a truck in transit for that to suddenly become a problem.  Really we don't have a high tech solution and it will cost a bunch of money (which is tight post COVID) to develop one.

Revive 755

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 20, 2021, 09:20:25 AM
That's a vestige of when Kmart was supposed to become Sears Grand.  The Kmart name was going to be eventually dropped in favor of Sears.  Part of the conversion was consolidating things like receipt tape and other like items to Sears. 

The Sears Grand thing didn't come to fruition and all the stores that survived reverted back to Kmart after awhile.  I did market investigations for bunch of SoCal Sears Grand stores before they reverted back to Kmart.  The one in El Monte was particularly wild and even had a guy drive through the front of the store one time.

I don't know if it was ever a Kmart or was always a Sears Grand, but the Sears Grand at Gurnee Mills in Illinois remained as a Sears Grand until its closure.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: Revive 755 on June 20, 2021, 12:43:29 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 20, 2021, 09:20:25 AM
That's a vestige of when Kmart was supposed to become Sears Grand.  The Kmart name was going to be eventually dropped in favor of Sears.  Part of the conversion was consolidating things like receipt tape and other like items to Sears. 

The Sears Grand thing didn't come to fruition and all the stores that survived reverted back to Kmart after awhile.  I did market investigations for bunch of SoCal Sears Grand stores before they reverted back to Kmart.  The one in El Monte was particularly wild and even had a guy drive through the front of the store one time.

I don't know if it was ever a Kmart or was always a Sears Grand, but the Sears Grand at Gurnee Mills in Illinois remained as a Sears Grand until its closure.

Good question, it looks like it was converted from a Sears Full Line Store.  The Full Line Stores were the typical fare you would see attached to large malls.  Sears Grand was meant to be a big-box format like Kmart but with some Sears branded appliances added in.

Flint1979

Kmart would have still been around if they would have kept up with the times. I never did like the layout of a Walmart store either. Meijer and Target have a better layout and would be the stores to copy off of.

The same can be said for Sears. That was the dumbest thing Kmart ever did was bought Sears. Sears was actually a damn good store even as late as the 90s I think after that they started falling off though.

catch22

More stores on the closure list:

Kmart - Freedom, CA
Kmart - South Lake Tahoe, CA
Sears - Westland, MI
Sears - Media, PA

The Westland Sears store is about 2 miles from my house, and has been gradually emptying out over the last few months.  This is the last Sears store in Michigan, and will leave Westland Mall with two dead anchor slots (this and the former Macy's).

https://www.sb360.com/select-projects/events/sears-list/


Max Rockatansky

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 20, 2021, 02:42:45 PM
Kmart would have still been around if they would have kept up with the times. I never did like the layout of a Walmart store either. Meijer and Target have a better layout and would be the stores to copy off of.

The same can be said for Sears. That was the dumbest thing Kmart ever did was bought Sears. Sears was actually a damn good store even as late as the 90s I think after that they started falling off though.

I'd argue Sears was the more viable of the two companies following the first Kmart Bankruptcy.  The problem was the people who forced the merger were arrogant and thought that they could make a competitor to Walmart/Target on the cheap.  Sears Holdings never spent much more on reinvesting into stores and thought they could use get away with consolidating brand equity.  The customer brace saw the farce for what is was and went to the stores that continued to modernize.  It doesn't help that a human-vulture hybrid like Eddie Lampert was at the helm of all of this. 

kevinb1994

Quote from: catch22 on June 20, 2021, 03:12:34 PM
More stores on the closure list:

Kmart - Freedom, CA
Kmart - South Lake Tahoe, CA
Sears - Westland, MI
Sears - Media, PA

The Westland Sears store is about 2 miles from my house, and has been gradually emptying out over the  last few months.  This is the last Sears store in Michigan, and will leave Westland Mall with two dead anchor slots (this and the former Macy's).

https://www.sb360.com/select-projects/events/sears-list/
I had forgotten about Granite Run...I'm surprised that the mixed-use revamp didn't immediately kill off the Sears. Or that the Sears there managed to hold on this long at this particular dead/dying mall.

Flint1979

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 20, 2021, 03:39:46 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 20, 2021, 02:42:45 PM
Kmart would have still been around if they would have kept up with the times. I never did like the layout of a Walmart store either. Meijer and Target have a better layout and would be the stores to copy off of.

The same can be said for Sears. That was the dumbest thing Kmart ever did was bought Sears. Sears was actually a damn good store even as late as the 90s I think after that they started falling off though.

I'd argue Sears was the more viable of the two companies following the first Kmart Bankruptcy.  The problem was the people who forced the merger were arrogant and thought that they could make a competitor to Walmart/Target on the cheap.  Sears Holdings never spent much more on reinvesting into stores and thought they could use get away with consolidating brand equity.  The customer brace saw the farce for what is was and went to the stores that continued to modernize.  It doesn't help that a human-vulture hybrid like Eddie Lampert was at the helm of all of this.
That's what I meant. Sears was fine until Kmart came along and bought them now Kmart has taken Sears right down with them. It's crazy that there will be no Sears locations in Michigan but I don't think I spent a dime in one in the last 15 years.

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 19, 2021, 09:51:52 PM
Anyone have insight into how Sears Mexico and Kmart Australia are doing these days?

My understanding is Kmart Australia has long been spun off by its American parent, and is much more successful as it's on par with a Target or Walmart in the US that American Kmart never kept up with.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

SP Cook

In Australia, K-Mart started as a 51-49 deal between K-Mart and a local grocery chain.  Over the years this was bought out and the company has no relationship with its USA version, and it is now a part of a major Australian company.  The trademark to K-Mart in Australia and New Zealand was sold to it a few years ago.  The same company owns Target in Australia, but never had any relationship to Target USA, just an example of two businesses with the same name.

Sears Mexico used to be a part of the US company, but the ultra-protectionist policies of the PRI party forced it to sell locally manufactured products, not be an outlet for Sears branded items imported from the USA, and later Asia, which was the original business model.  This was not what Sears wanted to do and it sold the chain to Carlos Slim, one of the richest people in the world. 

Both are doing quite well.

Brandon

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 20, 2021, 12:46:36 PM
Quote from: Revive 755 on June 20, 2021, 12:43:29 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 20, 2021, 09:20:25 AM
That's a vestige of when Kmart was supposed to become Sears Grand.  The Kmart name was going to be eventually dropped in favor of Sears.  Part of the conversion was consolidating things like receipt tape and other like items to Sears. 

The Sears Grand thing didn't come to fruition and all the stores that survived reverted back to Kmart after awhile.  I did market investigations for bunch of SoCal Sears Grand stores before they reverted back to Kmart.  The one in El Monte was particularly wild and even had a guy drive through the front of the store one time.

I don't know if it was ever a Kmart or was always a Sears Grand, but the Sears Grand at Gurnee Mills in Illinois remained as a Sears Grand until its closure.

Good question, it looks like it was converted from a Sears Full Line Store.  The Full Line Stores were the typical fare you would see attached to large malls.  Sears Grand was meant to be a big-box format like Kmart but with some Sears branded appliances added in.

The Gurnee Mills Sears Grand was built specifically to be a Sears Grand, before the Sears-Kmart merger.  It was never any type of full-line store nor a Kmart.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

I-39

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 20, 2021, 04:10:13 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 20, 2021, 03:39:46 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 20, 2021, 02:42:45 PM
Kmart would have still been around if they would have kept up with the times. I never did like the layout of a Walmart store either. Meijer and Target have a better layout and would be the stores to copy off of.

The same can be said for Sears. That was the dumbest thing Kmart ever did was bought Sears. Sears was actually a damn good store even as late as the 90s I think after that they started falling off though.

I'd argue Sears was the more viable of the two companies following the first Kmart Bankruptcy.  The problem was the people who forced the merger were arrogant and thought that they could make a competitor to Walmart/Target on the cheap.  Sears Holdings never spent much more on reinvesting into stores and thought they could use get away with consolidating brand equity.  The customer brace saw the farce for what is was and went to the stores that continued to modernize.  It doesn't help that a human-vulture hybrid like Eddie Lampert was at the helm of all of this.
That's what I meant. Sears was fine until Kmart came along and bought them now Kmart has taken Sears right down with them. It's crazy that there will be no Sears locations in Michigan but I don't think I spent a dime in one in the last 15 years.

Sears wasn't fine before the Kmart merger, it had been limping along since Walmart overtook them in the early 90s. However, it's fundamentals were a bit better and it could've been resurrected with the right leadership. Kmart went bankrupt and should have just been left to die out since it's fundamentals were bad. I blame Alan Lacy for enticing Eddie Lampert to engineer the merger.

Milwaukee, WY

Quote from: Brandon on June 20, 2021, 05:11:29 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 20, 2021, 12:46:36 PM
Quote from: Revive 755 on June 20, 2021, 12:43:29 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 20, 2021, 09:20:25 AM
That's a vestige of when Kmart was supposed to become Sears Grand.  The Kmart name was going to be eventually dropped in favor of Sears.  Part of the conversion was consolidating things like receipt tape and other like items to Sears. 

The Sears Grand thing didn't come to fruition and all the stores that survived reverted back to Kmart after awhile.  I did market investigations for bunch of SoCal Sears Grand stores before they reverted back to Kmart.  The one in El Monte was particularly wild and even had a guy drive through the front of the store one time.

I don't know if it was ever a Kmart or was always a Sears Grand, but the Sears Grand at Gurnee Mills in Illinois remained as a Sears Grand until its closure.

Good question, it looks like it was converted from a Sears Full Line Store.  The Full Line Stores were the typical fare you would see attached to large malls.  Sears Grand was meant to be a big-box format like Kmart but with some Sears branded appliances added in.

The Gurnee Mills Sears Grand was built specifically to be a Sears Grand, before the Sears-Kmart merger.  It was never any type of full-line store nor a Kmart.
Same with the Westminster, CO location. That store opened in around 2003 and was the nicest Sears I'd ever set foot in.


iPhone

RobbieL2415

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 20, 2021, 01:13:15 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 19, 2021, 06:56:28 PM
I just went into the last remaining Kmart store in the state of Michigan which is located in Marshall. Serious lack of energy, and nothing has changed from the last time I was in a Kmart store. There are a few customers, empty shelf space, dead areas of the store. Talk about a company that is lost in the 90s. They were still using IBM monitors at their checkout lanes too.

I bought a pop on the way out just so I can say I bought something. By the way John was a very strange individual, he talked very loud and wanted me to help out St Jude's which I didn't.

I like how they can't even be bothered to get receipt tape that says Kmart on it, or even some blank receipt tape from Staples or something. Nah, just get an extra roll of Sears receipt tape, probably shipped from a closed store, and slap that bad boy in there.
Sometimes when the store I worked at ran out of tape, we'd buy generic rolls of it from a nearby Staples.

And the fact that Kmart still uses the IBM 4690 OS to handle its POS backbone is just amazing. For those that don't know, all Kmarts have used SurePOS 750 registers since the year 2000 and run off a JavaPOS app hosted by the system controller.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: RobbieL2415 on June 21, 2021, 01:40:49 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on June 20, 2021, 01:13:15 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 19, 2021, 06:56:28 PM
I just went into the last remaining Kmart store in the state of Michigan which is located in Marshall. Serious lack of energy, and nothing has changed from the last time I was in a Kmart store. There are a few customers, empty shelf space, dead areas of the store. Talk about a company that is lost in the 90s. They were still using IBM monitors at their checkout lanes too.

I bought a pop on the way out just so I can say I bought something. By the way John was a very strange individual, he talked very loud and wanted me to help out St Jude's which I didn't.

I like how they can't even be bothered to get receipt tape that says Kmart on it, or even some blank receipt tape from Staples or something. Nah, just get an extra roll of Sears receipt tape, probably shipped from a closed store, and slap that bad boy in there.
Sometimes when the store I worked at ran out of tape, we'd buy generic rolls of it from a nearby Staples.

And the fact that Kmart still uses the IBM 4690 OS to handle its POS backbone is just amazing. For those that don't know, all Kmarts have used SurePOS 750 registers since the year 2000 and run off a JavaPOS app hosted by the system controller.

Sure made changing/correcting things in the POS software easier.  We used to have several boot disks in the control room of every store.  I don't know how much of a hinderance holding onto an older Operating System is now.

Avalanchez71

Belk used a similar system all the way to 2019.  They had IBM monitors and had the floppy disk drives as well.

I-39

Quote from: Avalanchez71 on June 21, 2021, 02:02:51 PM
Belk used a similar system all the way to 2019.  They had IBM monitors and had the floppy disk drives as well.

And that is incredibly backwards for a modern retail operation. No wonder department stores are failing.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: I-39 on June 21, 2021, 03:52:47 PM
Quote from: Avalanchez71 on June 21, 2021, 02:02:51 PM
Belk used a similar system all the way to 2019.  They had IBM monitors and had the floppy disk drives as well.

And that is incredibly backwards for a modern retail operation. No wonder department stores are failing.

If anything I think retailers invest too much into new POS systems when it always seems like the cheaper ones are by far the most functional/problem free.  The rise of chip readers definitely had a huge affect recently with a lot of retailers being forced to finally update to something more modern.  There was a brief exemption by the credit card companies for chargebacks to become chip reader capable.



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