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Post by Cyno on Mar 23, 2017 11:59:21 GMT -5
The local Sears close down last year and was torn down by the mall. They are building a Whole Foods in its place (not sure it will do well enough as the town already has a Fresh Thyme, a Lucky's Market, a fairly dominant local chain, and all of the local Krogers were remodeled to be really nice with a sizable health/natural food section within them). One of the K-marts in town also shut down (the one next to Target, unsurprisingly). It is particularly galling to think of the incompetence involved. A moderately competent CEO could at least keep the Sears brand afloat thanks to their proprietary brands. Craftsman, Kenmore, and DieHard should be able to keep any store brand afloat, or at least that used to be the case. You know what I cannot believe is still a thing in my town? Macy's is still kicking despite the fact that it looks like a damned ghost town every time I see it. I keep expecting them to join Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise, and Kay-Bee Toys in that great shopping center in the sky but they endure. Maybe the rich people go on massive shopping sprees when us regular folk aren't looking. If your town has a lot of well-to-do white people, the Whole Foods should do fairly well there. |
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Dr. T is an alien
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I've been found out!
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Post by Dr. T is an alien on Mar 23, 2017 18:40:03 GMT -5
The local Sears close down last year and was torn down by the mall. They are building a Whole Foods in its place (not sure it will do well enough as the town already has a Fresh Thyme, a Lucky's Market, a fairly dominant local chain, and all of the local Krogers were remodeled to be really nice with a sizable health/natural food section within them). One of the K-marts in town also shut down (the one next to Target, unsurprisingly). It is particularly galling to think of the incompetence involved. A moderately competent CEO could at least keep the Sears brand afloat thanks to their proprietary brands. Craftsman, Kenmore, and DieHard should be able to keep any store brand afloat, or at least that used to be the case. You know what I cannot believe is still a thing in my town? Macy's is still kicking despite the fact that it looks like a damned ghost town every time I see it. I keep expecting them to join Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise, and Kay-Bee Toys in that great shopping center in the sky but they endure. Maybe the rich people go on massive shopping sprees when us regular folk aren't looking. If your town has a lot of well-to-do white people, the Whole Foods should do fairly well there. It is not so much that the customers aren't there; it's the fact that there is plenty of competition that is already established (though I imagine that the Lucky's Market will likely not be able to withstand the competition that already is there). |
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Post by RadcapRadsley on Mar 23, 2017 21:21:01 GMT -5
I blame it on Roman Reign's as those Roman Empire shirt's aren't selling anywhere close to what Cena's merch did at K-Mart.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2017 21:55:33 GMT -5
This news does not surprise me, as the local Sears & K-Marts are in their final days 'round here....
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crash1984
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Post by crash1984 on Mar 23, 2017 22:33:14 GMT -5
I live in Chattanooga and our immediate area used to have 6 Kmarts. Today there is only one and it has seen better days itself.
The sad thing is that K-Mart for years has been their own worst enemy and over-all it seems they have no clue how to do things. To start with the style of the stores is very outdated and in some cases were never in date to start with. You walk in K-mart it feels like the late 1980s-early 1990s. This really is not a new problem either it has just become more and more obvious as time has gone on. Case in point those things they have in stores that tell the prices. Target put them in, in the early 1990s and Walmart followed suit a couple of years later. K-Mart on the other hand did not add them until about 2001 or so. Then a lot of the merchandise was a combination of outdated items and items you did not care about in the first place. Back in 2007 or so there still were a few WCW items there and they were still selling it for the same $10 price they were when it first came out.
Another problem K-mart has is that they do not have a certain type of customer they want to attract. Walmart's appeal is for people who are looking to save money. Target on the other hand targets those who don't mind spending a little bit more for a better quality product. K-mart on the other hand does not really have a certain style of consumer they want. To make matters even worse they have gone the route of offering Walmart quality merchandise at Target prices.
The biggest problem though with K-Mart in area at least is their poor customer service. I mentioned earlier about those things that tell people the prices and how K-mart was the last one to get them in. However when you looked at the three stores K-Mart needed them more than the other two because they would frequently not have items priced. One of the big things K-Mart has going for it is year round layaway. However the problem is that when you do want to put something in the layaway there is never anyone back there. When you push the button for assistance it takes a long time for some one to get back there. It is not only with layaway but any other department as well.
The worst horror story I had at K-mart was back in 2002. My parents had gotten their tax refund and we decided to get a new barbecue grill. We found one we wanted at K-Mart but it was on the top shelf. We pushed one of those need help buttons and after a reasonable amount of time I went to the service desk and they paged someone to the grills. About 10 minutes later I went back to the service desk again and once again they paged someone back there. In total we waited about 25 minutes before saying "Let's go to Walmart"
As far as Sears. As soon as it was announced that K-Mart was buying them I figured that Sears would fall to the level K-Mart was and sadly I was right.
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Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Mar 24, 2017 9:28:12 GMT -5
All things must change, I guess. I don't know how any brick and mortar stores can stay in business much longer. All the mainstays of the past, JP Penny, Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc. are all SOL Especially RadioShack since they filed for bankruptcy last week (the second time in 2 years). www.businessinsider.com/list-of-radioshack-stores-closing-2017-3Weren't they bought by Nick Cannon? There was a 'The Shack' that opened up near me, and I swear it was there a month before it became a mexican restaurant instead. "Grand opening, grand closing" -Chris Rock |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2017 10:34:09 GMT -5
Our local mall is closing its sears that opened as one of the anchor stores in 1983, and there are rumors that the Macy's directly across from it will also be closing. I can't see that mall surviving after that. The former Montgomery Ward in it is already an office complex.
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Post by Gopher Mod on Mar 24, 2017 11:06:57 GMT -5
The K-Mart around here closed about 3 years ago and to be honest I wasn't surprised. Some of it was Walmart beating it at every punch, but most of it was mis-management at the very top. The building was dated (last updated ~2002 in a futile attempt to make it more like Walmart), the help was non-existent, and it just felt like it was going to go out of business at any point in its last 10 years of existence.
It got replaced by a regional farm supply store.
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Ultimo Gallos
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Mar 24, 2017 15:39:40 GMT -5
The last time I lived in an area with a K-mart was 2000 or so. We do have a Sears in town,but it is small and mostly appliances. There was a Sears in the mall south of us. But it closed at least a year ago.
Back in the day I loved K-mart cause they were quick to put action figures on clearance. And unlike Wal-mart,K-mart's clearance wasn't just taking 2 bucks off the price. K-mart would mark stuff to 50% or more off. Managed to get a full run of Super Mario Brothers movie figures for a buck each.
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