Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

While Sears is on its deathbed here in the States, Sears Mexico (spun off from US stores in 1997) is thriving: https://www.businessinsider.com/sears-s ... ico-2019-2
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by Romr123 »

saw a note in the Detroit Free Press that the Marshall, MI KMart which is still open apparently has a landlord in California (in a story about Meijer taking over a defunct KMart in Lake Orion, MI)
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

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Romr123 wrote: April 23rd, 2021, 12:47 pm saw a note in the Detroit Free Press that the Marshall, MI KMart which is still open apparently has a landlord in California (in a story about Meijer taking over a defunct KMart in Lake Orion, MI)
That landlord might just be the boogeyman for the Marshall, MI Kmart. Landlords have been known in CA to evict out retailers they don't want, even if the store does decent business (ex. Irvine CA Albertsons).
The Kmart in Marshall is in the same shopping center as a Family Fare (SpartanNash, who will likely sell off their corporate retail, but that's another topic)

I'm reading an article from Forbes: "From Kmart To Walmart - The Discount Store Class Of 1962"
A quote from the article: "By the end of 1962, 18 Kmarts were in operation." Kmart has 3 more than that today - 21 stores.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by Super S »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: April 26th, 2021, 12:34 pm
I'm reading an article from Forbes: "From Kmart To Walmart - The Discount Store Class Of 1962"
A quote from the article: "By the end of 1962, 18 Kmarts were in operation." Kmart has 3 more than that today - 21 stores.
To put that in to perspective, that's smaller than Shopko was when they liquidated. And Shopko was always a regional chain, where Kmart was in every state at one time.

There are no more Kmarts near me. There is one mainline Sears up north at Southcenter, which looks as if it could close at any time. And the few Hometown stores that popped up as Sears was closing mainline stores are quickly disappearing.

While I once was a fan of both Sears and Kmart, both names are now at a point where they are damaged goods and really aren't even worth preserving at this point.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

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veteran+ wrote: April 5th, 2021, 5:35 am Perhaps I should have said Incompetent Retailer. He deserves no acknowledgment for his skills of low brow profit by desiccation. A vampire capitalist comes to mind.

;-)
What does Eddie want to do? Does Eddie want to keep his cash in his hedge fund and liquidate Sears/Kmart, or does he want to supposedly keep the stores open?
And why the hell is post-bankruptcy Sears/Kmart called "Transformco"? There is nothing Eddie is doing to "transform" the two dying brands, which won't be around in a year. If anything, abandoned Kmarts are being transformed into Targets, Walmarts, and even grocery stores (Eau Claire, WI Hy-Vee, Camarillo, CA Vons).
Eddie has the business skills of a goldfish. He makes mediocre Larry Johnston of Old Albertsons look impressive.
Super S wrote: April 27th, 2021, 9:24 am There are no more Kmarts near me. There is one mainline Sears up north at Southcenter, which looks as if it could close at any time. And the few Hometown stores that popped up as Sears was closing mainline stores are quickly disappearing.

While I once was a fan of both Sears and Kmart, both names are now at a point where they are damaged goods and really aren't even worth preserving at this point.
The nearest Kmart to you is hours away from you in Hamilton, MT. This store still has the very old Kmart logo, and is located next to an Albertsons (ex-Buttrey). They don't have a Walmart yet.
The nearest Kmart to me is in Costa Mesa, CA (Orange County); an hour away. This is the last Kmart in SoCal. I wouldn't be surprised if this one is on the next closure list.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by Super S »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: April 27th, 2021, 9:59 am
The nearest Kmart to you is hours away from you in Hamilton, MT. This store still has the very old Kmart logo, and is located next to an Albertsons (ex-Buttrey). They don't have a Walmart yet.
The nearest Kmart to me is in Costa Mesa, CA (Orange County); an hour away. This is the last Kmart in SoCal. I wouldn't be surprised if this one is on the next closure list.
Hamilton, MT is quite a few hours away from Western Washington. More like a minimum of a day's drive to get there. I actually drove by there on a vacation back in 1997 but didn't think anything about it other than noticing the old logo because the old logo was still in use on other locations at that time.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

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retailfanmitchell019 wrote: April 27th, 2021, 9:59 am
What does Eddie want to do? Does Eddie want to keep his cash in his hedge fund and liquidate Sears/Kmart, or does he want to supposedly keep the stores open?
I think there may be still be some terms with Seritage or with the Craftsman royalties that require the company to continue operating for a certain time period.

But like I've said- they shut down the merchandising operation at least at Kmart in early 2020. Plan-o-grams are gone except on C&S Food/Drug. The rest of the store is just selling off merchandise and getting odd quantities of odd random items from odd random vendors. Most new clothing is coming from whatever supply chains the clothing comes from that liquidation firms get the clothing the seed into other store closing sales.

For all intents and purposes, the chain is gone. Yes there are still stores "open" (very short hours) but these stores are basically just spaces selling an odd assortment of random closeout goods and some C&S Food and Drug items at very high prices.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

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South Lake Tahoe Kmart- merchandise continues to dwindle. I don't think they've received anything from C&S in weeks now. Also don't think there has been any new clothing in weeks. I did find some air conditioners and freezers on what was a kitchen aisle that had distribution pick labels from March 2021 so the Kmart distribution center and Kmart distribution system was believe it or not still actually pushing some items out in March 2021. The few items present in the summer department are all leftovers from last summer.

The small beer selection, Pepsi, and Lay's products all looked quite full.

Also the souvineer vendor has pulled all of their product out of the South Lake Tahoe Kmart; before they had a fairly large space at the front of the store just inside the door where customer service used to be (it got moved to the side wall years ago). It appears they relocated their product to Rite Aid who really needed help to fill empty aisles (no longer any empty aisles there).

Also South Lake Tahoe recently increased sales tax to 8.75% from 7.75%. Kmart seems to have missed that memo.

I know I've said it before that the end looks near... for years now... for a variety of reasons... so I won't say it again...
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

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storewanderer wrote: April 30th, 2021, 5:31 pm South Lake Tahoe Kmart- merchandise continues to dwindle. I don't think they've received anything from C&S in weeks now. Also don't think there has been any new clothing in weeks. I did find some air conditioners and freezers on what was a kitchen aisle that had distribution pick labels from March 2021 so the Kmart distribution center and Kmart distribution system was believe it or not still actually pushing some items out in March 2021. The few items present in the summer department are all leftovers from last summer.

Also South Lake Tahoe recently increased sales tax to 8.75% from 7.75%. Kmart seems to have missed that memo.

I know I've said it before that the end looks near... for years now... for a variety of reasons... so I won't say it again...
Maybe Kmart finally ended their contract with C&S. If so, about time they did. Their contract with C&S might go back to the Fleming days (Fleming had a huge relationship with Kmart, and C&S is more or less "New Fleming").
I mean, who goes to Kmart to buy groceries anymore (well, anything really)?
With only 21 stores left (somewhere around 30 stores were closed last year and 1/3 of this year), I think this is truly the end for Kmart.
I can imagine Target has their eye on the Tahoe Kmart. I doubt Walmart would be able to get a store there, considering the area's politics.

The South Lake Tahoe Rite Aid is in the same shopping center as a long-gone Albertsons.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by storewanderer »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: April 30th, 2021, 6:15 pm Maybe Kmart finally ended their contract with C&S. If so, about time they did. Their contract with C&S might go back to the Fleming days (Fleming had a huge relationship with Kmart, and C&S is more or less "New Fleming").
I mean, who goes to Kmart to buy groceries anymore (well, anything really)?
With only 21 stores left (somewhere around 30 stores were closed last year and 1/3 of this year), I think this is truly the end for Kmart.
I can imagine Target has their eye on the Tahoe Kmart. I doubt Walmart would be able to get a store there, considering the area's politics.

The South Lake Tahoe Rite Aid is in the same shopping center as a long-gone Albertsons.
Kmart ended the old Fleming deal back when they went bankrupt. Actually Fleming stopping deliveries to Kmart 20 years ago was the event that pushed the old Kmart Corporation into bankruptcy (had that not done it, something else would have) so Kmart stopped having anything to do with Fleming 20 years ago. Most of Super Kmart was using Nash Finch after that (the few left in CA/NV/AZ after most of Super Kmart closed used Unified SoCal and some back east were using what was at the time C&S pre-Fleming). At one point during/after the 20 years ago bankruptcy, Kmart was 100% done with Fleming. But Kmart had that C&S relationship since C&S was one of the suppliers back east they tapped to replace Fleming at some Super Kmarts in NY/PA.

Maybe four years ago some Essential Everyday items started to show up at Kmart from Supervalu (around the time the old publicly traded Sears went bankrupt). Those flowed in for a while but at that point some Kmart private label (Smart Sense) food was still flowing in too. Then, Kmart turned the entire grocery operation over to C&S, Smart Sense stopped showing up, and Best Yet was brought into many categories from food to cleaning to paper and the Top Care in drug. More recently they turned the entire drug operation over to C&S as well, and even categories like batteries to C&S.
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