I went to K-Mart

[seta-san]

I hadn't really been to one since 2002 when the one near my parent's house shut down after the bankruptcy. I was utterly and totally shocked by the level of decay.

1. The first thing I noticed is that floor tiles were dingy, cracked and over all in the poorest repair I've ever seen. In all honestly they needed to be replaced... at the very least stripped and rewaxed. The tile changed color from place to place for what I supposed used to show a change in departments or areas that no longer coincided with anything... which leads me to..

 

2. The sales floor is horribly disorganized. Everything is everywhere. It's almost impossible to tell where one department begins and one department ends. The merchandise is at least half missing. In what was electronics department there's a disorganized shelf of DVDs, refrigerators, freezers and other large appliances that have no place in a discount store. They seemed like outdated models that were simply taken from a Sears and dumped on the K-Mart sales floor.

 

3. The store was dirty. In the back next to the appliances were mattresses that were completely filthy of people lying  and stepping on them. They had nasty yellow stains and I'm not entirely convinced that members of the night-stock hadn't been having coitus on them. Every large appliance as well as the cheap furnisher had a visible layers of dust on them. Dirt was in every corner. Every 90s-era shelf was worn, yellowed, and completely dirty. On one far side was what was left of the in-store Little Caesar's Pizza which was now filled with clothes and the old kitchen completely exposed. It was, honestly, the dirtiest part of the store I'd seen. 

 

4. There were almost no employees. In each K-Mart used to be a hardware/paint desk where an employee would mix paint, make keys, or sell fishing licenses. That's gone. The key making machine has been shuffled to the front customer service desk where one of the few employees I say saw standing. 

 

5. The prices were much worse than Walmart and I'm not willing to find out if the quality is any better to justify them.

 

I honestly feel bad. really bad. I used to go there every Sunday with my mom as a kid long before Walmart ever showed up in town and I loved it. I worked there in the Christmas season of 2000, and 2001. I was working the night of 9/11. I remember the only things we  really sold that day was bottled water and gas cans with the gas station across the street being wrapped with cars. I'll upload pictures or videos to illustrate these points soon.

Edited July 4, 2017 by seta-san

[jnelsoninjax]

Just now, seta-san said:

I hadn't really been to one since 2002 when the one near my parents shut down after the bankruptcy. I was utterly and totally shocked by the level of decay.

1. the first thing I noticed is that floor tiles were dingy, cracked and over all in the poorest repair I've ever seen. it all honestly needed to be replaced... at the very least stripped and rewaxed. The tile changed color from place to place for what I supposed used to show a change in departments or areas that no longer coincided with anything. which leads me to..

 

2. the sales floor is horribly disorganized. everything is everywhere. it's almost impossible to tell where on department begins and one department ends. The merchandise is at least half missing. in what was electronics where's a disorganized shelf of dvds and refrigerators, freezers and other large appliances that have no place in a discount store. they  seem like outdated models that were simply taken from a sears and dumped on the k-mart sales floor.

 

3. the store was dirty. in the back next to the appliances were mattresses that were completely filthy of people lying in them or stepping on them. they had stains. every large appliance as well as the cheap furnisher had a visible layer of dust on it. dirt was in every corner. every 90s era shelf was worn, yellowed, and completely dirty. On one far side was what was left of the in-store Little Caesar's Pizza which was no filled with clothes with the old kitchen completely exposed. It was honestly the dirtiest part of the store i'd seen. 

 

4. There were almost no employees. In each k-mart used to be a hardware/paint desk where an employee would mix paint, make keys, or sell fishing licenses. That's gone. The key making machine has been shuffled to the front customer service desk where one of the few employees I say saw standing. 

 

5. the prices were much worse than Walmart and I'm not willing to find out if the quality is any better to justify them.

 

I honestly feel bad. really bad. I used to go there every Sunday with my mom as a kid long before the Walmart ever showed up in town and I loved it. I worked there in the Christmas season of 2000, and 2001. I was working the night of 9/11. I remember the only things we  really sold that day was bottled water and gas cans with the gas station across the street being wrapped with cars. I'll upload pictures or videos to illustrate these points soon.

As a child who grew up in the 80's, I am all too familiar with K-Mart! I do remember the white underpants briefs (fruit of the loom, but with the double blue line in the waistband!)  and how they fell apart after a few months! In fact in school everyone used to call it K-Mart, fall apart!

[Bazooka Joe]

I too recently went in a K-mart to look around. Hadn't been inside one in many years. It was amazing how it felt like I stepped into a time capsule. The store looked the same from when I was a kid, but was in desperate need for maintenance and repair.

 

I really didn't need anything, but decided to picked up something anyway. I went to check-out and the machine rejected my credit card and then completely froze.  The cashier didn't know what to do and called over a manger. The manager said there was nothing they could do and we would have to wait for the machine to restart.  I literally had to stand there nearly 20 minutes waiting for this ancient register to turn back on to void my transaction and to restart. I couldn't leave because they wouldn't give me the item unless they knew payment processed. And if I left without waiting and payment went through then I wouldn't be able to get the item. The employees were so apologetic and blaming the store for lack of updates. It was embarrassing... for everyone.

[JustGeorge]

The one in my current location closed down. There is one near my home town that still does decent business, but the condition of the store is straight outta the 80's. Even smells the same as it did when I was a kid. Same tile, nearly the same layout. Gonna miss that store when it closes. I stop there for nostalgia while in, visiting.

 

It's a shame they're about to go under, but management dropped the ball years ago.

[+Warwagon MVC]

The only thing K-Mart gave to me recently (they are closed now) is a new debit card ...grrrr

[Marshall Veteran]

K-mart has been long gone from my city, however, I do remember fond memories of visiting them as a child. At the time they were the authority for toys and games. Walmart hadn't yet established it's dominance, so K-mart was the go-to place.

[Nashy]

Kmart is still alive and very strong down under though.  The difference is amazing, I had to check out a US store when I was there just to see how awful the experience compares.

[quikmantx]

I haven't been to one since I was a kid, because they closed all their stores in my city. Now I just want to see one in case they do disappear in the near future.  

[+JHBrown Subscriber¹]

I remember getting a pair of Velcro Spider Man shoes from K-Mart back in 1982. Don't judge me!

[freak180]

nothing rings  nostalgial than this 

[HoochieMamma]

40 minutes ago, Nashy said:

Kmart is still alive and very strong down under though.  The difference is amazing, I had to check out a US store when I was there just to see how awful the experience compares.

Not the same K-Mart we know, their one has different owners. Basically a different company all together here.

[benthebear]

We have one in town that I went to last week just to see how bad it is. I haven't been to it since I moved back home just over ten years ago. I checked out the electronics department. Or what's left of it. Like the Sears attached to the mall, the department is a few TVs, some movies, and a bunch of mattresses. I then went to go see what their prices were on LED light bulbs. They want $10 for a 4 pack of off brand bulbs. Home Depot has a better brand for $4 cheaper (God, how old am I that I'm price checking light bulbs?!). That was about the end of my journey there. It still smells the same as it did in the 80s, so I guess it has that going for it. 

[Shiranui]

 

[Open Minded]

1 hour ago, JHBrown said:

I remember getting a pair of Velcro Spider Man shoes from K-Mart back in 1982. Don't judge me!

I would go there with my mom and grandma when I was a kid in the early 80's.  Aint no one judging here.

[dragontology]

For anyone who didn't grow up in the 80s or at latest, the early 90s, Wil Wheaton has a book, I think it's called "The Time of Our Lives." It's a bunch of short anecdotal stories, I believe taken from his blog? Anyway, he has a K-Mart story, and it was dead on with what I remember. So next time you find yourself in a bookstore, look it up. If it's a Barnes & Noble, they even provide comfy chairs for reading the merchandise.

[Revore]

Retail is dying and Kmart is no exception. It's gonna be next in line like Sears if it hasn't already. Online is killing almost every consumer niche.

[Circaflex]

I remember going to K-Mart as a child with my mom or grandma; there are still three of them open "near" me in SoCal, but I haven't been to them.

[BinaryData]

iirc, K-Mart was bought by Sears. As a former employee of K-Mart, I still have my active discounts. It's rather funny to be quite honest. The closest Sears/K-Mart is 100 miles away, Sears is 5 miles, however, the next K-Mart is 1,608 miles away in Minnesota. =/

[cork1958]

4 hours ago, Revore said:

Retail is dying and Kmart is no exception. It's gonna be next in line like Sears if it hasn't already. Online is killing almost every consumer niche.

Thar really sucks too, IMO. I'd much rather go to the local store, although haven't been in a Kmart in years, and get what I want now, not later online.

 

Kmart just closed here within the last couple months.

[seta-san]

the kmart I went to in this thread is going into liquidation later this month and expected to be closed by mid January. it's the last in my city and after this there will only be one more in the metropolitan area i'm in .

[seta-san]

And today it's closed. Dead be it.

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

Growing up in the 80s, Mom used to drag us along after school. It was the only place us bratty kids could stand because of:

 

 

We would only get it if we didn't ask where we were going. If we complained about going somewhere, we got nothing ;-)

[+JHBrown Subscriber¹]

5 minutes ago, seta-san said:

And today it's closed. Dead be it.

Sears/Kmart had a terrible holiday sales season as well. They're slated to close 103 more stores this year. R.I.P.

[PGHammer]

Sears Holdings (which now owns Kmart) is like a lot of retail - unable to compete with the Bezos Behemoth that is Amazon.com - where it largely survives is in the exurbs where there has never been much in the way of retail.  It is hanging on (Sears Holdings in general and Kmart in particular) due to the exurbs.  Consumer Cellular (which used to a staple OF Kmart until less than five years ago) has left the company for Target (which has, in fact, replaced Sears as the go-to national retailer in most suburbs - even suburbs that still have malls - the closest Target typically has more traffic than the mall it neighbors - which says quite a bit bad about that mall - considering it STILL has both a Kohl's AND a JC Penney - as well as a Macy's - still open inside it).

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

Recently went to a Target that I had worked at in 1997... it is insane how crowded it is now. So many checkout lanes...