From 2400 stores...to four.

[craigster59]

We used to get our K Mart tennis shoes there. The rich kids wore Chuck Taylors.

[Steve Carlton]

[stevej37]

So...the last one existing is on Long Island? (in the US)
The others have said closed.

[LWJ]

Well. Big K had dark and sloppy stores. There was a stigma to shop there. Target had the IDENTICAL (some, not all) inventory at the same price and the stores were lit and clean. No stigma.

It was crystal clear to me.

[Bill Douglas]

They put a Kmart in around here. I don't know what the fuss is about all that crap they sell. So many people are going there they had to put traffic lights in for their own entrance where it joined the street.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^
Until two years ago...there was one still open within 20 miles of me.
I went there once in their last year...strange store. Stocked with discounted stuff...kinda like a dollar store...but better quality.

Our local Kmart has done the same. Mostly house decoration stuff.

[Bill Douglas]

Our Kmart kinda has one of everything. A good place to buy tshirts but I wouldn't want one of their crappy toasters o their cheap shelving, or furniture.

[sc_rufctr]

I haven't bought anything there in years.

[ramonesfreak]

Bought my Gary Numan “pleasure principle” record at KMart in 1980. Still have it

Or was that Gold Circle….not sure anymore
Times sure have changed
“The man of the house may be the one that brings home the paycheck, but Gold Circle stores recognizes that it’s usually the woman who spends most of it,” wrote reporter Jim Sykes. The chain’s CEO, Hal W. Field, added, “We try to cater to the female.”

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by LWJ

Well. Big K had dark and sloppy stores. There was a stigma to shop there. Target had the IDENTICAL (some, not all) inventory at the same price and the stores were lit and clean. No stigma.

It was crystal clear to me.

I never really went into Kmart around here but from memory you're right. In modern terms I'd liken it to Family Dollar.

[asphaltgambler]

Interesting that there was a K-mart with a 10 bay full auto service center, and just down the street located in another strip mall that was anchored by a similar Sears store, also with 12 bay full service center. All gone now

[Sooner or later]

I had the hots for a girl thst worked in the K Mart jewelry counter. Where are you Anne Curran?

[MRM]

When I graduated from college Kmart was still doing well. They recruited our business school grads for their management trainee program and they were considered good jobs. I don't think Target was big enough to recruit in our area at that time. A guy I went to high school and college with went through the program and always acted like he was pretty hot stuff. At about our 10th or 15th class reunion he was a regional manager and later he was something higher, so he did well there, even as they declined. I haven't seen him for a few years and I've always wondered whether he jumped over to Target or what happened to him.

Some years ago my wife was a consumer brand manager for a product that had distribution in Kmart. She started working with them to increase her sales and started with a basic question - how much inventory of her product did they have and how much more were they going to need. They had no idea. They didn't have a central inventory system for their stores so they didn't even know what they had in stock of anything and never predicted how many widgets they needed. She asked the exec how they knew what they had. The answer was something like when the stores run out of something their manager orders more. We realized then that Kmart wasn't long for the world.

My understanding is that the guy who owns the hedge fund that bought Kmart bought it for its real estate and never wanted the retail business. That's why they never invested anything in the stores and let them wither on the vine. Last I heard the real estate play didn't work out and he lost a lot of money on the investment. Serves him right.

[Starless]

I bought my first "real" camera at KMart. A Yashica Electro 35GX rangefinder. Paid about $100 if i remember correctly. But yeah, the place was kind of dumpy.

[GH85Carrera]

I don't think I ever went into a Kmart. I have been on one Wal Mart in 40 years and that was to buy a some distilled water for my battery when on a road trip when my alternator was overcharging.

I used to love the Sears tool department. Sears is the same sad story, from the biggest retailer on the planet, to just gone. I guess there are 19 Sears stores left. None that I know of locally.

[flatbutt]

Of them all I miss the old Sears hardware section back when Craftsman was the real deal.

[MRM]

Originally Posted by Starless

I bought my first "real" camera at KMart. A Yashica Electro 35GX rangefinder. Paid about $100 if i remember correctly. But yeah, the place was kind of dumpy.

I remember that. I used to dream over it when I was a kid. If I recall they had the Yashica rangefinder and two SLRs on display all the time, I think one was a Pentax and I can't remember what the other one was. I did buy my first telescope there when I was about 10. They used to have a nice photo department.

[stevej37]

I remember their clothing dept being terrible. It was a store that you could always find something unusual in the home or outdoor dept.
I think the last item I bought was a gravity patio chaise. I still have it....looks like new yet.

[URY914]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmart

Wow, what a long strange trip it has been. American business at is finest.

[cabmandone]

Honestly, I think I bought the tent I still use for camping from Kmart.