Georgia's last Super Kmart transitions to Big Kmart

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krogerclerk
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Georgia's last Super Kmart transitions to Big Kmart

Post by krogerclerk »

The last Super Kmart in Georgia is now a Big Kmart with the grocery department walled off. The store is still one of Kmart's best performing stores in the Altanta district. Since it opened in 1993, Kroger has relocated in 2001 from the neighboring greenhouse store to a new store in the redeveloped Riverbend Center across the street becoming one of the highest volume Krogers in the Atlanta division and a 2nd Walmart SuperCenter opened just to the southeast of the Super Kmart in 2006. Rome once had 2 Krogers instead of one, 4 Piggly Wiggly's, 2 Colonial/Big Stars, 2 A&P's, a Food Giant and several independents for grocery competition and now is down to 2 WMT Supercenters, Kroger, Food Lion and one Piggly Wiggly.

http://www.romenewswire.com/index.php/2 ... -at-kmart/



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Super S
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Re: Georgia's last Super Kmart transitions to Big Kmart

Post by Super S »

I thought Kmart abandoned the Big Kmart format. Makes me wonder if they salvaged a sign from a closed location instead of installing the newer signs. That would indicate they are not wanting to invest much in this location and that closure is still a possibility.
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Re: Georgia's last Super Kmart transitions to Big Kmart

Post by Alpha8472 »

The temporary signs on the ground say Kmart instead of Big K. I believe the person writing the story might have gotten the wrong information. They meant that the format will be more like a Big K, but of course they don't use Big K signs anymore. The store signs are custom made for each store by local sign companies. Once an old sign is removed off of an old store it is usually taken to a landfill or a junkyard. I have seen many signs removed off of buildings and removing the sign often damages them.

The cost of shipping an old sign across the country actually could cost more than having a new sign made by a local sign maker. New signs these days are far more energy efficient than those made even a few years ago. Signs now feature energy saving LED lights that use much less energy. The energy savings alone will more than pay for the cost of a new sign in the long run.
krogerclerk
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Re: Georgia's last Super Kmart transitions to Big Kmart

Post by krogerclerk »

No Big Kmart signage has been added to the store, it's simply a Kmart. It's one of the highest volume Kmarts in the Atlanta region, but the grocery department had faded long ago.

Early in the Kmart/Sears merger, I had hoped that Kmart would turn this store into a Sears Grand, which would have meant closing the Sears at Mount Berry Square to the north of Rome. Since the mall only opened in 1993, the Sears lease likely has another 9 years, assuming the typical 25 year lease for major anchors. But this would have returned Sears to its original area of Rome, while Sears Grand would have created a store closer in atmosphere and merchandising to the pre-1993 Sears location in downtown Rome.
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Re: Georgia's last Super Kmart transitions to Big Kmart

Post by Alpha8472 »

I read a news article on how Sears was doomed. It also included a video. They talked about the blunders that Sears has made. It all started with a new CEO who used to run Autozone.

The guy from Autozone apparently was selected because Autozone had increased sales under his leadership.

When he got to Sears everything went downhill. Apparently, running an auto parts store is totally different than running Sears and Kmart. Auto parts are where people go because they have no other choice. People need parts for their cars and go there because they have to. Autozone stores are messy, lack personnel, and are basically bare bones self serve stores.

Sears is different. Customers are very sensitive to dirty rundown stores. People are going to shop somewhere else when the customer service is terrible, the prices are high, and the store is dirty.

Sears has enormous buying power. A chain the size of Sears and Kmart could have cornered the market and given Walmart a run for its money.

Sears should have gone crazy and created clean and well staffed discount stores much like SuperTarget or even Walmart Supercenters. What people want now are giant discount stores that sell everything like Walmart. Customers also want clean and friendly stores like SuperTarget. If Sears had expanded on the Sears Grand format, they could be as successful as Walmart right now.

However, Sears didn't do anything. Their Kmart stores are rundown and dirty with horrible pricing. Their Sears stores are also messy and also have terrible pricing. They need to clean up their stores, lower their prices like Walmart, and bring back friendly customer service. Then they need to start advertising like crazy. Walmart is advertising that they have low prices. Kmart should advertise that they will match those prices as well.
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