Kmart's Time Is Running Out

[bm10k]

I'm Not Surprised About the Moorhead, MN Store. I live in the Fargo-Moorhead Area. Every time I've Gone in to the store very few customers and overpriced for what you get

[wnetmacman]

There are a number of states now where the total number of Kmart stores is, or will soon be, in the single digits. I think we are (if Kmart continues this long, drawn-out process of closing stores) going to soon see states with only a single store, or Kmart exiting states entirely.

In my opinion, the Shop Your Way program has been a disaster. Eddie Lampert is now convinced that this program makes Kmart and Sears "membership stores" and all this does is cause frustration and confusion during the checkout process, not to mention three-foot-long receipts that have useless coupons.

And from what I am seeing, a store's performance isn't a factor in which stores are closing. Many good stores seem to be shutting down, while some of the worst examples (such as that terrible location in Beaverton, Oregon) stay open as the only stores in a given area. This is doing nothing to improve sales.

I have come to the conclusion that Kmart is past the point of no return.

Not only past the point of no return, but making no attempt to fix the problems they do have. SYW is a massive pain. It complicates the checkout process, but it has gotten me quite a bit of free stuff. It can be difficult to use, however, and with the current climate of the company, it's just not good business. I can't tell you how many times I've walked out of there with free stuff just because I was able to get points.

My biggest fear is that Sears is going too, and I'm not sure we can handle both of them gone. Sears, however, has cut and is continuing to cut all the stuff they did in the past. Parts and repair stores? Gone. Portrait studio? Gone. Paint? Well, coming back, but too little too late. Home Decor? Gone, mostly. Brand Central? Limping.

We've all said it before. SHC is selling the names they've been known for to mortgage Sears/Kmart, and their time is running down quickly.

[reymann]

i wouldn't be surprised to see total liquidation of kmart starts after the holidays and use whatever they can get out of the real estate to put money into sears

[storewanderer]

The SYR program is interesting as it encourages cross shopping between the two brands. It is more interesting that you often have to go kind of far to get to the two since they have closed so many locations...

Sears and Kmart are both laughably bad. I was in the Reno Sears on Sunday afternoon and the place was dead, hardly had any staffing, and has empty spaces all over the store in EVERY department. It looks like a store that is about 3 weeks into a store closing sale. The store is clean, neat, and fully lit. For a 21 year old building it looks good as new almost, especially the first floor. The two Macys in the mall and the JCP were all fairly busy and stuffed with products (almost too much stuff). Even the Dillards 10 miles south of town in a dying off "lifestyle center" that takes 15 minutes to walk from Old Navy to Orvis and another 10 minutes to get to/from the movie theater or Dillards from either one which is typically dead had a better customer count and far better amount of items available than Sears.

I actually feel like Sears is in worse shape than Kmart. I feel like Kmart is to some degree serving a purpose with these 40-50 year old stores in areas that much of the retail has long left. I also feel like while Kmart has a bad reputation for reasons such as messy stores or bad customer service, the type of purchases you make at Kmart are pretty simple and straightforward and pretty hard to really leave a deep screw up. Sears with its bad reputation on the other hand come for other reasons, reasons that cut much deeper. Customers hate Sears for bad experiences with the Sears appliances, or the Sears repair services, or some sort of issue where the Sears Auto Center screwed them over somehow or they think it did...

[arizonaguy]

The Arizona store, in Sierra Vista, isn't surprising.

It's a smaller town of about 44,000 and Target and Walmart both have better located stores nearby.

The Kmart there was actually a fairly decent store (from what I remember when I was last there in 2008/2009).

I don't know why they just don't pull out of the state. They only have 3 stores in the Phoenix Metro area (Mesa, Central Phoenix, and Tolleson).

None of the locations is a "destination" and the Central Phoenix store only seems to hold on as there's currently no Walmart nearby (although one will open within the next 6 months and likely doom the store). The Tolleson store is in a "sketchy" neighborhood and the Mesa location is strangely in a shopping center that also contains a Target.

Sears, strangely enough, has only closed one store in Metro Phoenix over the last several years (the Arcadia store at 44th St / Thomas which was in a former mall that had been demalled). They still have stores in the 3 "dead" malls in the Phoenix area (Desert Sky, Fiesta, and Metrocenter) as well as most other malls in the state (the only other store that they've closed recently is the Scottsdale Fashion Square mall that they closed in 2001 and eventually became a Macy's).

[Super S]

There are a number of states now where the total number of Kmart stores is, or will soon be, in the single digits. I think we are (if Kmart continues this long, drawn-out process of closing stores) going to soon see states with only a single store, or Kmart exiting states entirely.

In my opinion, the Shop Your Way program has been a disaster. Eddie Lampert is now convinced that this program makes Kmart and Sears "membership stores" and all this does is cause frustration and confusion during the checkout process, not to mention three-foot-long receipts that have useless coupons.

And from what I am seeing, a store's performance isn't a factor in which stores are closing. Many good stores seem to be shutting down, while some of the worst examples (such as that terrible location in Beaverton, Oregon) stay open as the only stores in a given area. This is doing nothing to improve sales.

I have come to the conclusion that Kmart is past the point of no return.

Not only past the point of no return, but making no attempt to fix the problems they do have. SYW is a massive pain. It complicates the checkout process, but it has gotten me quite a bit of free stuff. It can be difficult to use, however, and with the current climate of the company, it's just not good business. I can't tell you how many times I've walked out of there with free stuff just because I was able to get points.

My biggest fear is that Sears is going too, and I'm not sure we can handle both of them gone. Sears, however, has cut and is continuing to cut all the stuff they did in the past. Parts and repair stores? Gone. Portrait studio? Gone. Paint? Well, coming back, but too little too late. Home Decor? Gone, mostly. Brand Central? Limping.

We've all said it before. SHC is selling the names they've been known for to mortgage Sears/Kmart, and their time is running down quickly.

The thing that bugs me about SYW is how EVERY transaction begins by asking for my phone number (I find this offensive especially when buying one or two inexpensive items) When I refuse, instead of checking me out and getting me on my way, they have to do their pitch about signing up, slowing down the process. I say no again, which usually shuts them up. Sometimes they continue, even though I made it clear that I have no Kmart or full line Sears within 40 miles and the program is not worth my time, and at one point not long ago at Sears two minutes of their pitch passed without a single item being rung up. Sears has lost several tool purchases due to this as I gave up and walked out. Kmart seems more inclined to keep the registers moving, but one has to wonder how many times this plays out at Kmart.

A while back I was in a Kmart and heard over the P.A. "Attention Kmart MEMBERS." That was going a bit too far and illustrates the big issue I have with the program. You don't hear customers being referred to as members in Safeway. The program needs to be retooled or eliminated altogether.

[wnetmacman]

A while back I was in a Kmart and heard over the P.A. "Attention Kmart MEMBERS."

A page in Sears has the same thing: "Attention Members". It's pretty disgusting how they handle it. I have taken major advantage of the program. The last pair of shoes I bought cost me $9 by ordering online (one bonus) and using points (another) and having surprise points (third).

Driving past the New Iberia store today, the parking lot was fuller than normal, and all the garden center items had been moved to the front of the store. No GOB signs yet, but I suspect they were coming shortly. Most of the liquidations were supposed to start tomorrow.

[BillyGr]

The thing that bugs me about SYW is how EVERY transaction begins by asking for my phone number (I find this offensive especially when buying one or two inexpensive items) When I refuse, instead of checking me out and getting me on my way, they have to do their pitch about signing up, slowing down the process. I say no again, which usually shuts them up. Sometimes they continue, even though I made it clear that I have no Kmart or full line Sears within 40 miles and the program is not worth my time, and at one point not long ago at Sears two minutes of their pitch passed without a single item being rung up. Sears has lost several tool purchases due to this as I gave up and walked out. Kmart seems more inclined to keep the registers moving, but one has to wonder how many times this plays out at Kmart.

A while back I was in a Kmart and heard over the P.A. "Attention Kmart MEMBERS." That was going a bit too far and illustrates the big issue I have with the program. You don't hear customers being referred to as members in Safeway. The program needs to be retooled or eliminated altogether.

And especially since (unlike most of the supermarket card programs) it doesn't have any effect on the items being sold. That is, while you can use and earn points for things, the price of the item itself isn't discounted by the card so even if you don't have one you're still going to pay the same advertised price.

[storewanderer]

Actually Sears/Kmart have "member prices" on certain items. In Sears there are various clothing items that have a tag showing a member price and a non-member price. Usually private label items that are unlikely to go on sale due to already having a "discounted" price point.

I have also encountered some Kmart sale prices that require the card. Some liquid soap earlier this year is an example. During last year's back to school they also had a "member price" on glue. So while it has been limited to a very low number of items they do have some card pricing in Kmart and in Sears.

I have been hassled significantly in Sears over credit card sign ups and also over SYW. If I have a small transaction I am not going to bother with any of it... In Kmart, when they ask about any of it (which is not very often), no is all it takes. Another reason why I think Sears is more broken than Kmart: their aggressive tactics on credit cards and SYW have upset a lot of people...

[BillyGr]

Actually Sears/Kmart have "member prices" on certain items. In Sears there are various clothing items that have a tag showing a member price and a non-member price. Usually private label items that are unlikely to go on sale due to already having a "discounted" price point.

I have also encountered some Kmart sale prices that require the card. Some liquid soap earlier this year is an example. During last year's back to school they also had a "member price" on glue. So while it has been limited to a very low number of items they do have some card pricing in Kmart and in Sears.

I have been hassled significantly in Sears over credit card sign ups and also over SYW. If I have a small transaction I am not going to bother with any of it... In Kmart, when they ask about any of it (which is not very often), no is all it takes. Another reason why I think Sears is more broken than Kmart: their aggressive tactics on credit cards and SYW have upset a lot of people...

That must be something new(er) (at least the Kmart side, never did wind up shopping in Sears much, just walking through it as it's usually the easiest place to park in that particular mall). Since most of our Kmart stores left a couple rounds ago, I haven't been to one recently - but when they were here I don't remember it being for anything aside from earning the points for purchases and then sometimes they would offer x amount of points when you spend y$ or buy z items from whatever area/section.