Last Kmart closing

[abunaitoo]

The last Kmart on island is closing.
Kind of sad.
I liked to shop at Kmart more than Walmart.
I hope Sears can rebound.
Grew up with Sears.
Christmas catalog was the best.

[shaner]

We lost our last one here in northern central ohio in march. All we have is walmart now

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk

[mwhite49]

The real weird thing is that M Mart owns Sears. Makes hou pause and wonder whats next.

[richhodg66]

We lost the Sears in Manhattan recently. Lost the K-Mart there a while ago. Junction City, oddly, still has one of the small stores that focuses on things like appliances and lawn mowers and such. Salina still has a K-Mart and Topeka still has one of the three they used to have open.

The Dollar General stores sure seem to be doing well in the face of the Wal Mart onslaught. They just built a third one in Junction City (maybe 25,000 population) and we have ne here in Chapman which can't be but 4,000 people max. A lot of other small towns have them springing up. I guess you need to be enough different from Wal Mart to have a distinction if you want to compete against them.

I hate to see the old retailers go away too. There was a Montgomery Wards here when we first moved here. It's been gone nearly 20 years now and there's a Goodwill in the old building, but it bothers me every time I look at it.

[lylejb]

Yeah, it's strangely sad to see them go. We still have 3 kmarts around the Portland area but they are far enough away I don't go anymore. More worrisome to me is that Sears recently sold the craftsman tools brand to Stanley. I have and use many craftsman tools and have to wonder what the future holds.

[Bazoo]

Kmart closed here. There is probably one the Louisville, But I dont go there less I absolutely have to. I too enjoyed Kmart, to an extent. I am not a walmart hater though and go there regularly. Wherever has what i need.

[am44mag]

We lost the Sears in Manhattan recently. Lost the K-Mart there a while ago. Junction City, oddly, still has one of the small stores that focuses on things like appliances and lawn mowers and such. Salina still has a K-Mart and Topeka still has one of the three they used to have open.

The Dollar General stores sure seem to be doing well in the face of the Wal Mart onslaught. They just built a third one in Junction City (maybe 25,000 population) and we have ne here in Chapman which can't be but 4,000 people max. A lot of other small towns have them springing up. I guess you need to be enough different from Wal Mart to have a distinction if you want to compete against them.

I hate to see the old retailers go away too. There was a Montgomery Wards here when we first moved here. It's been gone nearly 20 years now and there's a Goodwill in the old building, but it bothers me every time I look at it.

I used to work at DG. I recall hearing that they were the biggest threat to Walmart. Most likely due to the fact that they are more convenient (closer parking, smaller store, quick checkouts, ect), and they are everywhere. Why go across town to Walmart when the DG around the corner has most of the stuff you need? They are a CHEAP company to work for though. They are literally paranoid about employee theft, pay you peanuts (as a shift manager, I made $8.25 an hr), and there were never enough employees working.

[richhodg66]

I used to work at DG. I recall hearing that they were the biggest threat to Walmart. Most likely due to the fact that they are more convenient (closer parking, smaller store, quick checkouts, ect), and they are everywhere. Why go across town to Walmart when the DG around the corner has most of the stuff you need? They are a CHEAP company to work for though. They are literally paranoid about employee theft, pay you peanuts (as a shift manager, I made $8.25 an hr), and there were never enough employees working.

Dollar General subscribes to the liquor store mentality of being within walking distance of your clientele. The three in Junction are located close to neighborhoods and you see people walking to and from them, the Wal Mart is out on the edge of town close to the interstate. They're also willing to put stores in little towns Wal Mart won't.

I have no idea what they're like to work for, but I like their business model and they figured it out; if you try to compete with Wal Mart on even footing, you get crushed (like K-Mart). You have to fill a different niche to make it.

I started a thread a few moths ago about retailing in America. We had a chain of stores in the Midwest called Alco, it was headquartered in Abilene just down the road. Watched the whole thing go down and it doesn't exist anymore inside of about ten years. I noticed a similar chain, Rose's, in the deep south is still going, we had one in my hometown, so at least some survive. I'm not a Wal Mart hater, but I try to support others too. Been shopping those Dollar General stores more and more lately.

[GhostHawk]

Fargo North Dakota and Moorhead Minnesota is down to 1 Kmart from 8.

Wife was there this weekend, picked up a few odds and ends.

We also do a fair amount of online shopping both Amazon and Walmart.
We live a little further out so Prime is not normally here in 2 days. Mostly its 3, with once and a while a 4.

Walmart takes a day longer but often has better prices. So we are comparison shopping more and more.

I even recently splurged for one of those Chinese Electric scooters from Amazon.
570$, came assembled, just had to slip handlebars and seat into place, tighten, and charge. I have been riding it every day, mostly short 4-6 blocks with dog to get him back into shape. But a few longer mile long cruises.

I have to charge it about once a week. They said it could be a month but it was here in 6 days. Now the wife wants one.

Have to say this retired life is not all bad.

[bedbugbilly]

There were two in Jackson, MI. We noticed the other day that the one on the west side was all closed up. Haven't been past the one on the east side but imagine if it isn't closed, it may soon be.

How did that song go . . . "but the times, they are a changing".

Technology is a good thing but it also costs jobs . . . I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years, you'll be able to order your kids from the "note" instead of having them the good old way?

I didn't realize that K-mart owns Sears - makes you wonder where that is headed? There is a Sears store in Jackson, MI that is still there but I have often wondered how it keeps hanging on.

[mozeppa]

bedbugbilly ...that was bob dylan 1962 or 63


western auto is what i miss.

where i bought all my B-B's for my first gun!

daisy... i miss you!

[sundog]

Yessir, Western Auto and Otasco. TG&Y was purdy good, too. Anyone still have a Ben Franklin store, or are they all gone?

[Handloader109]

Grew up in little town that was suburb of larger. TG&Y was about it for a decade, then a Howard's, it lasted 7 yrs maybe. Then Walmart. Fred's is another small retailer that has slowly grown, but I see dollar tree and Dollar general pushing them hard in lot of areas. Kmart here was **** for at least the 7yrs I've been here, closed down back in March. zero loss. Sears in mall is hanging on by a thread.

[shooterg]

Craftsman tools all made in China now. I quit buying 'em, although I pick up USA made ones at the flea market still.
Never knew for sure who made the USA ones for Sears, but they were dang good tools.

[TexasGrunt]

Sears is circling the drain. They just announced another round of store closings. Most retail prognosticators say they'll be done by the end of the year. The final sale may go on longer than that through a closeout company but Sears will be gone.

[308Jeff]

The future is Amazon. Malls and the stores in them are dying faster than an ISIS platoon messing with an FA-18.

Even my dog food costs 15% less and UPS brings it here in 2 days !

It's the truth. Pretty soon there'll be nothing left but Amazon and Walmart.

It's been interesting to see it play out. Barnes and Noble killed B Dalton and the mom and pop places. Amazon is killing Barnes and Noble. It's all about being the bigger fish, and convenience/price for the consumer.

[Soundguy]

The last Kmart on island is closing.
Kind of sad.
I liked to shop at Kmart more than Walmart.
I hope Sears can rebound.
Grew up with Sears.
Christmas catalog was the best.

20 years ago, I loved kmart.. When it turned into basically a 2nd hand outlet store like Beales... and they stopped doing any maintenance on the stores, and it basically looked like an indoor flea market.. AND all their stuff costs more than other places.. .. I lost interest and quit going.

If you want cheap tools, you can't beat harbor freight, lowes, or walmart or rural king. Heck.. Target is better than kmart.. and I won't go in a target anymore.

I Do miss the kmart lunch counter and coke icee's

woolworths used to have a good lunch counter too.. .. but I digress.

clothes, shoes, etc.. walmart beats kmart on availability etc. and it's all chinese made anyway. if I am bying cheap walking shoes.. I can pay 15$ at walmart vs 19$ at kmart. it's a no brainer.

Sears killed themselves.. Kmart, sears, martha stewart.. that was all a bad dream.

Craftsman used to be good.. but it's made in the same places that other durable tools that cost 10% as much are made and have the same warranty... so it's name recognition only.

Only good lasting thing that came from sears was Discover..

[mold maker]

Kmart left as soon as Walmart announced a Super Store opening. Dollar General has opened 3 new local stores and left the strip mall. Five grocery chain stores closed as Walmart opened small local stores. Sears is still in the mall, but barely holding on.
I despise Amazon, but the choices are getting few and further between.
The choices we make today affect the ones we can make in the future.

[Soundguy]

Kmart closing/walmart coming in sounds like a good thing to me.

[Walkingwolf]

My father predicted Sears fall when they moved from their old stores to uppity mall stores, it just took longer than he thought. K Mart dying for the opposite reason, they didn't keep up their stores.