Sears-Kmart Death Watch

[mukade]

Walmart and Meijer simply have better stores than what Kmart and Sears ever had.

Meijer and Target, yes. Walmart - certainly not all of them. Sears stores were not bad at all over the years.

There is still K-Mart Australia which has 234 stores in Australia and New Zealand. AFAIK, this is a thriving company. This chain started as a joint venture between Kresge (where the "K" in K-Mart came from) and Australian retailer Coles. So in a sense, K-Mart still lives on.

[hbelkins]

I've noticed that Rural King is taking over a lot of the old empty Kmart locations.

[vdeane]

Walmart and Meijer simply have better stores than what Kmart and Sears ever had. Neglecting to remodel any of their stores or coming up with a new image is part of what killed them.

If Eddie hadn't been in the picture things could have probably been a lot better.

One of the biggest issues was Sears not having enough off-mall locations that are more convenient to customers. They needed to aggressively add more freestanding/strip mall stores as well as gradually spin off the low traffic Class B and C mall stores into freestanding locations.

Around here, I find the malls to be more convenient than many of the strip malls and freestanding stores, which are often out of the way relative to the interstates or have weird access restrictions (one, for example, is a simple right to get in but a right and two lefts to eventually go back the way you came; another is two miles down a congested arterial road; meanwhile, one mall is right off the freeway and the other is adjacent to an interchange).

Seems to me that the real advantage to off-mall locations is the lower rent, not convenient access for customers.  Which makes sense - older development got their first and therefore gets the most convenient access, while newer development is stuck with what's left.

[I-39]

Walmart and Meijer simply have better stores than what Kmart and Sears ever had. Neglecting to remodel any of their stores or coming up with a new image is part of what killed them.

If Eddie hadn't been in the picture things could have probably been a lot better.

One of the biggest issues was Sears not having enough off-mall locations that are more convenient to customers. They needed to aggressively add more freestanding/strip mall stores as well as gradually spin off the low traffic Class B and C mall stores into freestanding locations.

Around here, I find the malls to be more convenient than many of the strip malls and freestanding stores, which are often out of the way relative to the interstates or have weird access restrictions (one, for example, is a simple right to get in but a right and two lefts to eventually go back the way you came; another is two miles down a congested arterial road; meanwhile, one mall is right off the freeway and the other is adjacent to an interchange).

Seems to me that the real advantage to off-mall locations is the lower rent, not convenient access for customers.  Which makes sense - older development got their first and therefore gets the most convenient access, while newer development is stuck with what's left.

I guess it really depends on where you are, and if you live near a mall. When I lived in the western Chicago suburbs, there was a huge big box development boom along Randall Road during the 1990s and 2000s. Not one full line Sears store opened in those developments in that time. The nearest ones were in Charlestowne Mall, Spring Hill Mall or Fox Valley Mall. Not the most convenient if you live west of Randall, especially since you pass a bunch of their competitors to get there.

At any rate, Sears knew they needed more off mall full line stores, they just never got serious enough to pursue it.

[thenetwork]

I actually think the media is done with the reporting of Sears/Kmart stores.   The brunt of the storm has passed and there is very little left to report on.

Sears/Kmart is now like Howard Johnsons -- the restaurant chain:  they were pretty much dead before the last location finally closed for good a few years ago.  People were surprised that there was still one left.

[GCrites]

Walmart and Meijer simply have better stores than what Kmart and Sears ever had. Neglecting to remodel any of their stores or coming up with a new image is part of what killed them.

If Eddie hadn't been in the picture things could have probably been a lot better.

One of the biggest issues was Sears not having enough off-mall locations that are more convenient to customers. They needed to aggressively add more freestanding/strip mall stores as well as gradually spin off the low traffic Class B and C mall stores into freestanding locations.

Around here, I find the malls to be more convenient than many of the strip malls and freestanding stores, which are often out of the way relative to the interstates or have weird access restrictions (one, for example, is a simple right to get in but a right and two lefts to eventually go back the way you came; another is two miles down a congested arterial road; meanwhile, one mall is right off the freeway and the other is adjacent to an interchange).

Seems to me that the real advantage to off-mall locations is the lower rent, not convenient access for customers.  Which makes sense - older development got their first and therefore gets the most convenient access, while newer development is stuck with what's left.

It's not even lower rent -- if the mall owns the space, rent for anchors is almost nothing. In contrast to standalone where the landlord is going to charge a lot. If the anchor owns the space the costs are about the same -- mall or no mall.

[catch22]

Well, for what it's worth, the Marshall Kmart closing made it to the Detroit Free Press today.  Not much to the story that we don't already know.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2021/09/27/last-kmart-michigan-close/5882648001/

[tchafe1978]

When I was a kid, my friends and brothers and I would jokingly call Kmart "Kame-a-part" because their merchandise was so cheap it would fall apart. Now I guess you could call the whole company Kame-a-part.

[kkt]

When I was a kid, my friends and brothers and I would jokingly call Kmart "Kame-a-part" because their merchandise was so cheap it would fall apart. Now I guess you could call the whole company Kame-a-part.

[Flint1979]

Kmart doesn't own the building in Marshall which is one reason why it has took so long to close. They couldn't just close the store down and then sell the property since they don't own it. Another reason is that it's the only big box retailer in Marshall, the closest Meijer and Target are in Battle Creek, about a 20 minute drive from Marshall.

[hotdogPi]

I tried to find whether Marshall had a Marshall's. Google Maps really isn't being helpful.

[Flint1979]

I tried to find whether Marshall had a Marshall's. Google Maps really isn't being helpful.

They don't. Kalamazoo has one and Okemos has one those are the two closest locations.

[DTComposer]

California's last K-Mart, in Grass Valley, is closing:

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/very-last-Kmart-in-California-is-closing-16545686.php

According to the article, Target is already slated to go in the space.

[US71]

[Flint1979]

The last Kmart in Michigan closed forever today. RIP Marshall Kmart.

[kkt]

Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker!

[Max Rockatansky]

It might not be forever if the theory about the Universe collapsing via the Big Crunch is true.  Hypothetically that might just lead to another singularity which loops time via an endless cycle of death and rebirth for Marshall Kmart. 

[thenetwork]

The last Kmart in Michigan closed forever today. RIP Marshall Kmart.

And last week, the last Sears store in its home state of Illinois bit the dust.

Party's over.

[Flint1979]

I was in the Marshall Kmart as recently as this past summer and just bought a pop so I could say I bought something from Kmart.

[Avalanchez71]

I miss rolling the Shop Your Way points over and over.  I would buy a bonus point item that had enough points to another bonus points item and kept rolling.

[Flint1979]

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.

Actually I posted the receipt from my very last trip to the Marshall Kmart.

[steviep24]

I just read that Kmart plans on closing all but 6 remaining stores by the end of the year. Last time I checked there were around 16 Kmarts left so 10 stores. At this point why do they even bother keeping the remaining ones open?

[Flint1979]

I just read that Kmart plans on closing all but 6 remaining stores by the end of the year. Last time I checked there were around 16 Kmarts left so 10 stores. At this point why do they even bother keeping the remaining ones open?

Yeah if there are that few why keep them open? I have no idea where the closest Kmart is to me anymore and don't think I'll ever be in one again.

[Flint1979]

Just saw too that the former Kmart in Grand Blanc will be home to several new businesses in a complex called Grand Blanc Marketplace. It also features a former Farmer Jack which was originally an A&P. This was the last A&P I ever stepped foot in.

[Flint1979]

According to Kmart's website which includes the Marshall, MI location that just closed this past Sunday still they have the following
3 stores still open in California.
4 stores still open in Florida.
1 store still open in Michigan (now closed).
1 store still open in Montana.
2 stores still open in New Jersey.
5 stores still open in New York (I think some of these stores are now closed).

So that would be 16 stores still open but some of them have closed so that number is higher than the real number of stores still open. So let's just say we're under 15 Kmart's now total.