Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

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

Post by SamSpade »

storewanderer wrote: April 28th, 2020, 11:05 pm Kmart doesn't really have a bed/bath department anymore. All of those aisles now have seasonal goods (Easter this week, spread out over the 4 or 5 aisles, at 90% off). There is a single aisle of very few towels stocked and a few random bath accessories. I've seen a better spread of bed/bath products at larger sized Rite Aid Stores on the West Coast.
You have to wonder what the "home" departments look like at remaining Sears (full line) stores must look like as well, then. Most of them also carried small kitchen items, Cannon bath, and a full spread of bedroom products to flesh out that (new) mattress purchase. :lol:
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by cjd »

SamSpade wrote: April 30th, 2020, 10:12 am
storewanderer wrote: April 28th, 2020, 11:05 pm Kmart doesn't really have a bed/bath department anymore. All of those aisles now have seasonal goods (Easter this week, spread out over the 4 or 5 aisles, at 90% off). There is a single aisle of very few towels stocked and a few random bath accessories. I've seen a better spread of bed/bath products at larger sized Rite Aid Stores on the West Coast.
You have to wonder what the "home" departments look like at remaining Sears (full line) stores must look like as well, then. Most of them also carried small kitchen items, Cannon bath, and a full spread of bedroom products to flesh out that (new) mattress purchase. :lol:
The Sears here closed last fall and for about a year or two before that those areas were looking pretty sparse. They cut back the linens and bedding department and moved the small kitchen items there, in order to create a place for the mattresses.

After that just about stopped selling cookware or utensils and what was left of the small appliance selection was pretty small (even of their own brand items) compared to before. Also, not sure when it happened but the electronics department was ended sometime after 2015 or so and mostly just seemed to be leftovers. A few cables, surge protectors, memory cards, TV mounts - that's about all there was. I think they tried to sell Kenmore branded TVs for a while, but that was about it. All of the brand name stuff in that department was long gone.

Eventually most of that area was just emptied out and used to store appliances. There was a toy department that opened up from about the final Christmas up until the liquidation, but it ever seemed to be that popular. It was very well stocked though.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by storewanderer »

Forgot to report as of last week, Kmart now has Top Care brand items in its drug department.

OTC, Dental, Cotton Balls, etc.

I guess C&S must be supplying that stuff too along with the grocery items.

Cannot believe they are still open.

Oh, the plastic sheets were removed at the checkstands.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: May 11th, 2020, 6:34 pm Forgot to report as of last week, Kmart now has Top Care brand items in its drug department.

OTC, Dental, Cotton Balls, etc.

I guess C&S must be supplying that stuff too along with the grocery items.

Cannot believe they are still open.

Oh, the plastic sheets were removed at the checkstands.
What brand does Kmart use in grocery now?
Did they replace the flimsy plastic sheets with anything?

Using Topco brands says something about how small Kmart is now (around 40 stores). Once Kmart had over 2,000 stores. A chain with over 300 stores sources brands on their own.
Since the year started, Kmart has exited 6 more states: WA, NM, CO, TX, IL, and NC. They will be history in Minnesota by this summer. The Minneapolis Kmart will be bulldozed. https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-ne ... -minnesota
Even though they are getting more traffic because of COVID, I don't see the Kmart name surviving by January 1, 2021. I wouldn't be surprised if there were another closure announcement sometime later this year, that could probably end Kmart.
Where will the last Kmart to operate be?
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by Super S »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: May 12th, 2020, 2:20 pm
Where will the last Kmart to operate be?
I am going to say that Guam could be the last. For logistics purposes, I could see this one (if there is interest) potentially coming under control of Kmart Australia. In any case, this one will likely survive until the end. No other Kmart locations that are left really strike me as stores that will continue with the Kmart name.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by mjhale »

Super S wrote: May 12th, 2020, 5:09 pm
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: May 12th, 2020, 2:20 pm
Where will the last Kmart to operate be?
I am going to say that Guam could be the last. For logistics purposes, I could see this one (if there is interest) potentially coming under control of Kmart Australia. In any case, this one will likely survive until the end. No other Kmart locations that are left really strike me as stores that will continue with the Kmart name.
How about the remaining New York City stores? Or do you think they will bail because of high rents? Walmart still hasn't managed to get a store into the five boroughs.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: May 12th, 2020, 5:09 pm
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: May 12th, 2020, 2:20 pm
Where will the last Kmart to operate be?
I am going to say that Guam could be the last. For logistics purposes, I could see this one (if there is interest) potentially coming under control of Kmart Australia. In any case, this one will likely survive until the end. No other Kmart locations that are left really strike me as stores that will continue with the Kmart name.
Guam is a really high volume store and I think the Puerto Rico ones and Virgin Islands ones run some good volumes too. Surely Target or Wal Mart would be interested in these stores. I have no clue why ANY of the mainland US ones that are open, are still open. Grass Valley location does well, it has a pharmacy inside and the pharmacy is very high volume; the nearest Wal Mart is a good 45 minutes away and there is a Target about 25 minutes away. The store would do a lot better if it was merchandised properly but the corporation has no merchandise sets anymore in the home category, it is pathetic. However this store in Grass Valley is always very well staffed and the people who work there are exceedingly friendly. The store in South Lake Tahoe is a total dump, runs on a skeleton crew (some of them are friendly), but always has a trickle of business. Again if this store was merchandised better, it would do a lot more business. I observe many customers walk into the store and ask for a real basic item (like a toaster or something) and the employees apologize and say they do not have any. Another situation the nearest Wal Mart or Target is about a 45 minute drive.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by storewanderer »

It appears 5 more Sears and 2 more Kmarts were announced for closure in the past few days...

How long can this string out...?

Is it going to get to a point where there are like 5-10 stores under each banner still open? Unreal.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: May 30th, 2020, 12:46 am It appears 5 more Sears and 2 more Kmarts were announced for closure in the past few days...

How long can this string out...?

Is it going to get to a point where there are like 5-10 stores under each banner still open? Unreal.
They appear to be quietly closing stores yet again with no announcements. There aren't many left to close. The logistics of shipping alone do not really support keeping some of them open unless the volume is unusually high. I can see where some of the far flung locations with not much else around, such as that store in Hamilton, Montana, probably have a higher volume, but still, there is only so much volume a store like that can generate.
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Re: Sears/Kmart: Will 2020 be the end?

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: May 30th, 2020, 10:09 am
storewanderer wrote: May 30th, 2020, 12:46 am It appears 5 more Sears and 2 more Kmarts were announced for closure in the past few days...

How long can this string out...?

Is it going to get to a point where there are like 5-10 stores under each banner still open? Unreal.
They appear to be quietly closing stores yet again with no announcements. There aren't many left to close. The logistics of shipping alone do not really support keeping some of them open unless the volume is unusually high. I can see where some of the far flung locations with not much else around, such as that store in Hamilton, Montana, probably have a higher volume, but still, there is only so much volume a store like that can generate.
I'm beginning to wonder if there is any rhyme or reason to what they are closing. The stores still open as of this moment in CA are in some town names that I consider interesting. Big Bear Lake, South Lake Tahoe, Grass Valley, McKinleyville, Freedom... maybe someone keeps stores open in towns with funny sounding names. They don't really have any competition but the past couple years they have been closing a lot of stores with no competition so that factor does not seem to justify staying open any longer.
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