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We'll find out. The people here are dying for the place. Closest one is in the next county but they'll make the drive. Same as how people drive an hour to come to Home Depot.
One of my first jobs was Kmart and my best friend also worked there. Everyone had an employee number like "5" or "20". Those little phones around the store all had extension numbers like "211".
One fond memory was picking up the phone and saying (in my Kmart voice) "5 dial 211 please, 5 dial 2-1-1 please" over the loud speaker just for my friend to call the phone I was standing at so I could say "Hey, you wanna go on break and smoke?"
It is all cool… 83 here and my little guy is completely born in the wrong era
He loves 90’s music, the dress style, the retro gaming… he went into a Sears before they closed down and pulls out an old camcorder some guy gave him at a garage sale. I looked at him crazy like and he replies that he is recording history. No tape in it by the way. The manager who worked with Sears for 50 years was so tickled, he gave my son a tour of the entire store plus old automotive side building.
We had a super k open up in our town in the mid 90's, they had a big grand opening and the Undertaker was there for some reason. My friends and I would ride our bikes and meet up there. It closed a few years ago but I'll always remember those memories.
I'll never forget my first exposures to the Undertaker. I had to have been about 8 years old, and loved wrestling, especially Hulk Hogan. And no one could tell me it was fake. Seeing the Undertaker at first, and his gimmicks, scared the crap out of little me.
There used to be a Kmart not far from where I live that had a Little Caesar’s inside the store. It was one of the last bastions of good quality Little Caesar’s pizza up until the whole store closed. Hasn’t been the same since then.
It’s so wild to me. I grew up with K-mart, then watched them all close. Now I live in New Zealand, and K-marts are all over the place. It’s really a mind warp.
Reminds me of when Zeller’s went out of business here in Canada. It was purchased by Target who ironically enough withdrew from Canada less than 2 years after the deal.
They thought all the cross border shoppers wanted to shop at Target, not realizing that it needs to be the same stuff in the stores. The Target stores in Canada didn't have anything close to the same stock that the US stores had. Canadians weren't shopping at the Canadian stores because they didn't have the products that Canadians wanted.
I could find nice clothes that fit for cheap at Target in USA, I couldn't find clothes that fit, or were nice at Target in Canada.
Just wait, after Kmart and Sears are officially dead they'll go after Target next. They're already going down the same path as Kmart did of stocking throwaway trendy housewares over every day necessities.
When I was in B school, the big news was "wal-mart vs k-mart."
K-mart was unionized, and based in like Chicago.
Wal-mart was based in the South, and wasn't unionized. Their business model was cheaper and easier.
Wrote lots of reports about them in B school.
Now its Amazon trying to put wal-mart out of business.
Walmart is the biggest welfare scam in America. They pay so little that all their employees qualify for welfare, thus using our tax dollars to subsidize their employee pay.
Back then it was clear that an advantage to Walmart was its workforce. And it was clear that a disadvantage to Kmart was its workforce.
Walmart could do just about everything faster and cheaper. Driving the trucks, warehouses, stocking shelves… everything was better and cheaper at Walmart.
When Walmart rolled-out computer tracking and stocking it was an easy rollout. Made everything faster and cheaper for Walmart.
Kmarts unions flipped out and resisted. A person at Kmart had to physically count the items on the shelf and physically make orders for more. That meant that shelves would sometimes be empty at Kmart.
Walmart had the shelves full.
By the time Kmart realized they were going to lose, it was too late. Kmart eventually rolled out computer tracking, but by then it was too late…
I grew up going to Kmart because it was much closer to the house. But every one I’ve been to in the last 20 years looked like it was already mostly closed.
The last one I went to had half the lights off and the cashier was outside smoking when she saw us ready to check out. She put her lit cigarette in one of the holders, came in, checked us out, and followed us out the door to finish her smoke. Had that breakfast club vibe that any company tends to get when shit is and has been sliding to shit for a while.
I was there a few times last year and that place is BUSY. Always. And you're right - full of products to help the community keep clothed, fed, and furnitured.
The most profitable one is existence is in Guam. You’d think it would be big and amazing because that’s *THE* store there, but it still looks like Kmart in a Walmart world.
Mine was converted into the emergency COVID testing /then/ vaccination location for the county.
Very errie, the check in station was the jewelry section, with the leftover glass & mirror cabinet things. Very apocalyptic chic.
What’s the point? The writing is on the wall. I mean, once you get down to below 10, why not pack it in? Seems like having physical locations wouldn’t be an asset at that point.
I always liked K-Mart as they sold the unedited versions of music CD's back in the day, whereas Wal-Marts only carried the edited versions. I don't know how long this went on for, but it was pretty much all through the 90s.
Worked at the one in Athens GA when it closed. The store was profitable but Sears holdings was already in a death spiral. Some of the older ladies who had been there for decades cried when it was announced.
Locally, one K-Mart here subdivided into a Ross Dress for Less, Longs's Drugs (CVS) and Petsmart. The other three are conspicuously vacant for several years.
Kmart is huuuge here in n
NZ . Like we cannot get enough of Kmart. We have atleast 2 in every major city but our population is like 5 million for the country so... not a big deal really 😅 but we love kmart.
Haha one of my first jobs. I started in layaway and gave access to the bathrooms and made all the signs on an old sign making thing lol. And answered the phone. That was fun talking on the intercom hahaha. Then I worked in the garden department and drive a forklift at 18 and then the pet dept and then a cashier. Good old Kmart. They even had nurses dresses for my next job at the nursing home.
Yeah I've been to that one in Miami. Whenever I've been there, the empty section had it's lights off. Definitely felt like an SCP location where you couldn't see the ends.
I remember ours in central PA was being used to give out the vaccine. It was actually way than I remember but really cool that they reorganized it for that use!
Kmart was always garbage. Malwart has replaced them and is simply a better run company. Sears and Montgomery Ward were really big losses when they folded up.
Kmart also had a funky plastic chemical smell combined with air filters that hadn’t been changed since the store opened and the most banal Muzak pumped over crap speakers.
**Please note these rules:** * If this post declares something as a fact/proof is required. * The title must be descriptive * No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos * Common/recent reposts are not allowed *See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Pretty soon it will be another Spirit Halloween store
The Big Kmart I grew up with is a Uhaul center now
Omg same here…
Versailles, KY?
Same here in Memphis, TN
Ours is becoming a Rural King. Think Tractor Supply but more baby chicks, popcorn, and guns for sale.
I bet the popcorn is good. Places like that always have the best snacks.
We'll find out. The people here are dying for the place. Closest one is in the next county but they'll make the drive. Same as how people drive an hour to come to Home Depot.
Ours is turning into a target
[удалено]
What did I miss? How did you get January from any of this?
Tbh I miss Kmart. I grew up with it, and remember it in days before Walmart. As a kid, I called it "The Big Red K". The icees were superb.
One of my first jobs was Kmart and my best friend also worked there. Everyone had an employee number like "5" or "20". Those little phones around the store all had extension numbers like "211". One fond memory was picking up the phone and saying (in my Kmart voice) "5 dial 211 please, 5 dial 2-1-1 please" over the loud speaker just for my friend to call the phone I was standing at so I could say "Hey, you wanna go on break and smoke?"
I was 60!
Did your manager’s numbers all start with 4? An employee number in the 400s was rarefied air.
Haha the only ones I remember were 5 and 20. This was a BigK in bfe Minnesota tho lol
Blue light special on aisle 5!
My son called them a relic and would like to visit the one in Miami as a vacation trip for historical reasons.
Ouch I think I just broke a hip. (Born in '81 here)
It is all cool… 83 here and my little guy is completely born in the wrong era He loves 90’s music, the dress style, the retro gaming… he went into a Sears before they closed down and pulls out an old camcorder some guy gave him at a garage sale. I looked at him crazy like and he replies that he is recording history. No tape in it by the way. The manager who worked with Sears for 50 years was so tickled, he gave my son a tour of the entire store plus old automotive side building.
He sounds well cultured
We had a super k open up in our town in the mid 90's, they had a big grand opening and the Undertaker was there for some reason. My friends and I would ride our bikes and meet up there. It closed a few years ago but I'll always remember those memories.
I'll never forget my first exposures to the Undertaker. I had to have been about 8 years old, and loved wrestling, especially Hulk Hogan. And no one could tell me it was fake. Seeing the Undertaker at first, and his gimmicks, scared the crap out of little me.
There used to be a Kmart not far from where I live that had a Little Caesar’s inside the store. It was one of the last bastions of good quality Little Caesar’s pizza up until the whole store closed. Hasn’t been the same since then.
I lived just up the street from a K-Mart/Little Caesars too! Got busted shoplifting there and banned for life lmao Great pizza
It’s so wild to me. I grew up with K-mart, then watched them all close. Now I live in New Zealand, and K-marts are all over the place. It’s really a mind warp.
Reminds me of when Zeller’s went out of business here in Canada. It was purchased by Target who ironically enough withdrew from Canada less than 2 years after the deal.
They thought all the cross border shoppers wanted to shop at Target, not realizing that it needs to be the same stuff in the stores. The Target stores in Canada didn't have anything close to the same stock that the US stores had. Canadians weren't shopping at the Canadian stores because they didn't have the products that Canadians wanted. I could find nice clothes that fit for cheap at Target in USA, I couldn't find clothes that fit, or were nice at Target in Canada.
Like Tim Hortons in America.
Just wait, after Kmart and Sears are officially dead they'll go after Target next. They're already going down the same path as Kmart did of stocking throwaway trendy housewares over every day necessities.
Dream on.
When I was in B school, the big news was "wal-mart vs k-mart." K-mart was unionized, and based in like Chicago. Wal-mart was based in the South, and wasn't unionized. Their business model was cheaper and easier. Wrote lots of reports about them in B school. Now its Amazon trying to put wal-mart out of business.
[удалено]
Walmart is the biggest welfare scam in America. They pay so little that all their employees qualify for welfare, thus using our tax dollars to subsidize their employee pay.
Exactly. Also limit the employee hours so they don’t qualify for health insurance so they use the government for free insurance to their employees
Back then it was clear that an advantage to Walmart was its workforce. And it was clear that a disadvantage to Kmart was its workforce. Walmart could do just about everything faster and cheaper. Driving the trucks, warehouses, stocking shelves… everything was better and cheaper at Walmart. When Walmart rolled-out computer tracking and stocking it was an easy rollout. Made everything faster and cheaper for Walmart. Kmarts unions flipped out and resisted. A person at Kmart had to physically count the items on the shelf and physically make orders for more. That meant that shelves would sometimes be empty at Kmart. Walmart had the shelves full. By the time Kmart realized they were going to lose, it was too late. Kmart eventually rolled out computer tracking, but by then it was too late…
TIL, KMart is still in business.
Kmart is still healthy in Australia and New Zealand, but it's run by a separate company there
Extraordinarily healthy in Australia. Clear market leader and the others are playing catch up.
I grew up going to Kmart because it was much closer to the house. But every one I’ve been to in the last 20 years looked like it was already mostly closed.
The last one I went to had half the lights off and the cashier was outside smoking when she saw us ready to check out. She put her lit cigarette in one of the holders, came in, checked us out, and followed us out the door to finish her smoke. Had that breakfast club vibe that any company tends to get when shit is and has been sliding to shit for a while.
I miss KMart. They should have never bought Sears; it was all downhill from there.😕
Predatory cellar boxing by investment firms
Kmart buying Sears was one of the most brilliant moves by any predatory venture capitalist. Ruined both stores (but that was the point)
Got one in New Jersey. Parts of it stays looking they bout to close
Where’s a blue light special when ya need it?
Makes me sad, brings back lots of nostalgia for me.
Yep, I specifically remember getting these Joe boxer shorts there that I still have cause they’re so comfy. Almost twenty years later…
What was the blue light special?....only real Kmart shoppers know what I'm talking about
Soon to be 2.
So 1 in Miami and 1 in Key West. Where’s the 3rd?
There's also one in Guam, very much a part of the US.
And it is very full of products!
I was there a few times last year and that place is BUSY. Always. And you're right - full of products to help the community keep clothed, fed, and furnitured.
South Lake Tahoe, CA
Watsonville CA
There’s one near me in South Lake Tahoe, CA. They’re closing their doors soon though.
Do you know when they’ll be closing? Might have to make a trip there soon
The most profitable one is existence is in Guam. You’d think it would be big and amazing because that’s *THE* store there, but it still looks like Kmart in a Walmart world.
That's so strange. Kmart in Australia is booming. They changed the line up a few years back and everyone loved it.
But...what about my Blue Light deals? :(
Mine was converted into the emergency COVID testing /then/ vaccination location for the county. Very errie, the check in station was the jewelry section, with the leftover glass & mirror cabinet things. Very apocalyptic chic.
Wonder if they hired BCG
If you look closely, I mean don’t blink, you’ll see the last blue light special
My wife worked here not 4 years ago.
Idk why but whenever I see something like this it makes me uneasy
Shop smart. Shop X-mart. Oh. Wait, wrong reality. Sorry
Give me some sugar, baby!
Hail to the king
FEMA concentration camp!!!!! /S
Found the backrooms
Don’t worry that back is for a DLC Quest that you haven’t bought & activated for the Quest to render in the extra people,dialogue & detail.
Oh hey that's Kmart didn't know there were only 3 left I was just there hoping to find some cheap shirts there were none that I liked
They just got rid of the one in my home town too. I didn’t know it was a dying breed. That’s sad
BCG at it again
So much room for exercise
Activities galore. Rollerblading comes to mind
Interesting idea; a Kmart revival. All the space not utilized for sales could become a fitness center
What’s the point? The writing is on the wall. I mean, once you get down to below 10, why not pack it in? Seems like having physical locations wouldn’t be an asset at that point.
Getting rid of the inventory. The last step will be a bulk-sell of all remaining stock as mystery pallet loads.
Man K-Mart was the shiat! Even had a few here in Canada. Zellers was better in my opinion
You know its bad when a store makes Walmart look good.
They should turn them all into giant indoor hydroponic farms.
Also, the worlds largest is still open in the US Territory of Guam. It’s actually a Japanese tourist destination.
We have one here in Michigan I think.
I’m gonna miss running to the video game section with my brother playing game cube . Thanks KMart really pulled through with the layaway .
There are 27 in U.S. as of April
It kind of makes me sad. I was a cashier at Kmart when I was in college and they were a really good company to work for in my opinion.
This looks like some r/liminalspaces or back rooms type shit
*Just a Burning Memory begins playing*
*Just a Burning Memory begins playing*
I remember buying my PS2 on launch day at a Kmart. They had 13 of them and I had to race other people to the electronics section.
I always liked K-Mart as they sold the unedited versions of music CD's back in the day, whereas Wal-Marts only carried the edited versions. I don't know how long this went on for, but it was pretty much all through the 90s.
You mean some kind of a tax haven for someone.
mine became an ollies discount outlet store.
Worked at the one in Athens GA when it closed. The store was profitable but Sears holdings was already in a death spiral. Some of the older ladies who had been there for decades cried when it was announced.
Locally, one K-Mart here subdivided into a Ross Dress for Less, Longs's Drugs (CVS) and Petsmart. The other three are conspicuously vacant for several years.
I love Kmart
I miss Kmart.
Gonna be an overstock furniture store pretty soon
How come KMart is dying but Walmart is thriving?
These are everywhere down under. Although if another Aussie redditor is here they probably already said the same.
Guam has one, it probably grosses the most money of all as Japanese tourist love it and are bussed in…well maybe not since covid but prior.
So if they turn around, will everything populate? Matrix logic
Kmart is huuuge here in n NZ . Like we cannot get enough of Kmart. We have atleast 2 in every major city but our population is like 5 million for the country so... not a big deal really 😅 but we love kmart.
But does it have periodic Blue Light Specials throughout the day?
They just closed ours in grass valley
Haha one of my first jobs. I started in layaway and gave access to the bathrooms and made all the signs on an old sign making thing lol. And answered the phone. That was fun talking on the intercom hahaha. Then I worked in the garden department and drive a forklift at 18 and then the pet dept and then a cashier. Good old Kmart. They even had nurses dresses for my next job at the nursing home.
Yeah I've been to that one in Miami. Whenever I've been there, the empty section had it's lights off. Definitely felt like an SCP location where you couldn't see the ends.
I remember ours in central PA was being used to give out the vaccine. It was actually way than I remember but really cool that they reorganized it for that use!
Kmart was always garbage. Malwart has replaced them and is simply a better run company. Sears and Montgomery Ward were really big losses when they folded up.
Kmart also had a funky plastic chemical smell combined with air filters that hadn’t been changed since the store opened and the most banal Muzak pumped over crap speakers.