Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
Super S
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by Super S »

I was up north yesterday and briefly stopped in at the Southcenter Sears store, the only full-line store still open in my area. The store is in very bad shape. There are many random areas where merchandise has thinned out with no rhyme or reason. And there are maintenance issues. In addition to the intense moldy A/C smell which has been present on the last several visits to this one (and is getting worse) there were numerous lights out, on the upper level several entire areas were out (but still had merchandise for sale in the dark...nothing was roped off) as well as three lights where the covers were open and hanging down. The upper level had only one employee. I didn't linger too long as the mold smell was so strong. And I didn't find what I was after.

I didn't go in to the mall this time but it looked like it was doing ok judging by the cars in the lot.

It's only a matter of time before the Southcenter Sears closes...A store this poorly stocked and this poorly maintained really seems out of place in this mall and why it remains open is a mystery to me.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by storewanderer »

I don't think this can go on much longer. To say the situation with these two chains has hit rock bottom, is an understatement. It will be interesting to see if they do formal liquidation sales. For those two Kmarts I am looking at every so often based on what is there, it would not be much of a point to even do a liquidation sale.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: October 11th, 2020, 10:49 am I don't think this can go on much longer. To say the situation with these two chains has hit rock bottom, is an understatement. It will be interesting to see if they do formal liquidation sales. For those two Kmarts I am looking at every so often based on what is there, it would not be much of a point to even do a liquidation sale.
Sears is like one big drawn-out slow liquidation sale. There is no real reason to shop there, or at Kmart, any more. I got the impression that they have just given up trying to make the stores look presentable and are just running them in to the ground now.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by storewanderer »

Went into Kmart in Grass Valley. This store has actually received some new merchandise. I am shocked.

They have more toys (bunch of weird generic stuff), a full aisle of hangers, about six feet on the shelf of "Egyptian Cotton Towels," about a full aisle worth of beach accessories selling at full price (maybe these were here before but if they were I didn't see them), a full aisle of foldable fabric storage cubes, and various other odd random items. Also they had a small Halloween area with costumes and other accessories (those were not there before) and they have set up a small Christmas department with some trees and some limited decor. The Christmas Decor is some generic label but has Kmart logo/distributed by on the back of the packages and is made in Guatemala. The previous few Christmas seasons Kmart's Christmas stuff was basically the same stuff as the previous years in either Trim a Home or Jackyln Smith brand and they had some pretty nice stuff, but the stuff this year is from different suppliers (different country) and not at all the same stuff and definitely not nearly as nice as the previous offerings. Also received various new shoes and clothing; I don't recognize any of these brands either, all just super weird stuff. Food area continues to be well stocked by C&S; no promotion and outrageous prices. They have Pepsi products again.

Basically no customers in this store other than for the pharmacy and for Halloween items. Store is very clean, all the lights are on, no music playing.

I think they should sell the Kmarts to Dollar Tree. Actually maybe they need to pay Dollar Tree to take them given how they have run them so far down into the ground. The mix, customer traffic, and merchandising would radically improve.

No coupons printed with my receipt but cashier said it still prints coupons sometimes but not as much as it used to.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: October 31st, 2020, 12:45 am Went into Kmart in Grass Valley. This store has actually received some new merchandise. I am shocked.

They have more toys (bunch of weird generic stuff), a full aisle of hangers, about six feet on the shelf of "Egyptian Cotton Towels," about a full aisle worth of beach accessories selling at full price (maybe these were here before but if they were I didn't see them), a full aisle of foldable fabric storage cubes, and various other odd random items. Also they had a small Halloween area with costumes and other accessories (those were not there before) and they have set up a small Christmas department with some trees and some limited decor. The Christmas Decor is some generic label but has Kmart logo/distributed by on the back of the packages and is made in Guatemala. The previous few Christmas seasons Kmart's Christmas stuff was basically the same stuff as the previous years in either Trim a Home or Jackyln Smith brand and they had some pretty nice stuff, but the stuff this year is from different suppliers (different country) and not at all the same stuff and definitely not nearly as nice as the previous offerings. Also received various new shoes and clothing; I don't recognize any of these brands either, all just super weird stuff. Food area continues to be well stocked by C&S; no promotion and outrageous prices. They have Pepsi products again.

Basically no customers in this store other than for the pharmacy and for Halloween items. Store is very clean, all the lights are on, no music playing.

I think they should sell the Kmarts to Dollar Tree. Actually maybe they need to pay Dollar Tree to take them given how they have run them so far down into the ground. The mix, customer traffic, and merchandising would radically improve.

No coupons printed with my receipt but cashier said it still prints coupons sometimes but not as much as it used to.
Christmas stuff is one area where brand names don't really matter, especially for something being used for only a month out of the year. But to be doing away with brand names in other areas is a bit troubling. But they did have some established private labels, which was once a strong point for Sears, whose brands were also at Kmart. Brand names aren't always a priority for budget shoppers, but they need to maintain a good mix of both to survive.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: October 31st, 2020, 7:22 pm
Christmas stuff is one area where brand names don't really matter, especially for something being used for only a month out of the year. But to be doing away with brand names in other areas is a bit troubling. But they did have some established private labels, which was once a strong point for Sears, whose brands were also at Kmart. Brand names aren't always a priority for budget shoppers, but they need to maintain a good mix of both to survive.
This stuff will not sell. It looks like Dollar Tree stuff, but costs $4-$6. Kmart has little branded or private label stuff left in its store (other than Best Yet groceries and TopCare drug items). They have weird generic items and only on a small number of aisles in the store (maybe 5-10 aisles total of general merchandise/home/bed/bath/sporting goods/auto/hardware in the entire store). And there are weird things like a full aisle of hangers, about 1/4 aisle of rain panchos (those trash bag like things you put around yourself in the middle of a big downpour), a full aisle of suitcases. This is rural northern California- this stuff is not going to sell. 80% of the aisles in the store are closed off/blocked by shelving. Most of what they have is very very weird stuff, I have never seen anywhere before. The auto/hardware aisle (yes aisle, there is one aisle total for both categories) is one exception with Die Hard and Craftsman both prominently displayed (in limited assortment- very limited).

The entire Kmart merchandising operation seems to have been laid off about a year ago. I do not think the stores were meant to still be open at this point and they are scrambling to put even a little bit of merchandise into the stores. I was really shocked to see any new merchandise.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by klkla »

Super S wrote: October 31st, 2020, 7:22 pm Christmas stuff is one area where brand names don't really matter, especially for something being used for only a month out of the year. But to be doing away with brand names in other areas is a bit troubling.
I don't think they are 'doing away' with brand names per se. I think it's more likely none of the brands will extend credit terms to them and they are picking up what they can.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by storewanderer »

klkla wrote: October 31st, 2020, 8:39 pm
Super S wrote: October 31st, 2020, 7:22 pm Christmas stuff is one area where brand names don't really matter, especially for something being used for only a month out of the year. But to be doing away with brand names in other areas is a bit troubling.
I don't think they are 'doing away' with brand names per se. I think it's more likely none of the brands will extend credit terms to them and they are picking up what they can.
This is what I am suspicious happened with the Christmas stuff. I took a look at some stuff I have from the past couple years and it is all made in China. Now, on the decor stuff, it is all Guatemala. I am suspecting the China Christmas Decor suppliers got burned and blacklisted them, so Kmart had to go procure stuff from a different country.

You have to see how a Kmart looks to fully understand this merchandising. Well, "understand" is probably the wrong word. Maybe "get a feel for" is the right phrase. Anyway, I have never seen any retail store merchandised in this manner that the current Kmart is being merchandised in. It is halfway normal (maybe a better way to say it - consistent with the past) if you look at the food and drug area... but the rest of the store... oh man. Really cannot believe it is like this and still open.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by BillyGr »

storewanderer wrote: October 31st, 2020, 8:56 pm
klkla wrote: October 31st, 2020, 8:39 pm
Super S wrote: October 31st, 2020, 7:22 pm Christmas stuff is one area where brand names don't really matter, especially for something being used for only a month out of the year. But to be doing away with brand names in other areas is a bit troubling.
I don't think they are 'doing away' with brand names per se. I think it's more likely none of the brands will extend credit terms to them and they are picking up what they can.
This is what I am suspicious happened with the Christmas stuff. I took a look at some stuff I have from the past couple years and it is all made in China. Now, on the decor stuff, it is all Guatemala. I am suspecting the China Christmas Decor suppliers got burned and blacklisted them, so Kmart had to go procure stuff from a different country.
Though it could be just issues getting stuff this year (given how everything is going overall around the world) and they took/got it from whoever was available.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by storewanderer »

BillyGr wrote: November 1st, 2020, 4:13 pm
Though it could be just issues getting stuff this year (given how everything is going overall around the world) and they took/got it from whoever was available.
Maybe some Youtube Videos from this past week that someone back east filmed in Kmarts will better show what is going on than the text posts I've made here: This is pretty consistent with what I've seen. The main difference is these stores look clean and relatively maintained physically. The store in South Lake Tahoe, CA is a filthy dump; the floors don't look like they've been cleaned in years and lighting is poorly maintained. I guess a 40 year old moss green floor is hard to make look clean in an area with tough winters. The Grass Valley one is clean and lit up similar to the two in the below videos:

Surprised how many videos there are. I guess it is not too hard when there are less than 30 stores left. Guam is supposedly somehow still fully stocked.





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