Kmart's Time Is Running Out

[BatteryMill]

Just so sad... are the owners of Kmart really just Walmart/Target/Amazon fans in disguise? That's quite a bad betrayal of their own company. If only I could be the new CEO, I'd take it away from Sears (which somehow seems to be okay compared to Kmart's bottoming-out now), and make it unlike Walmart (general poor reputation) and Target (their downfall and all these lame new additions, controversies, and changes to the brand now), and make it more locally-oriented (more locations, smaller stores) everywhere and with groceries this time.

[Alpha8472]

Sears has announced 60 store closures and 17 are Kmart stores. Liquidation sales will start September 22, and the stores will close in December.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-clo ... 00868.html

[wnetmacman]

Sears has announced 60 store closures and 17 are Kmart stores. Liquidation sales will start September 22, and the stores will close in December.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-clo ... 00868.html

Your article only mentions the 17 Kmart stores. I only know of three of these.

Lafayette, IN is a newer build that replaced an old 60's store.
Abilene, TX is the same thing.

Natchez, MS is a special store. It was built as a Howard Brothers (Howard's BranDiscount) store in the early 80's. It was a newer store for Howard's; a similar one was built on US165 in Monroe. It's been Kmart far longer than it ever was Howard's. It has an interesting floorplan, with a huge backroom. It had a pharmacy but no Auto Center. I'm kind of sad to see this one go, but not really surprised. It's on the road leading across the river into Vidalia, LA. Most of the retail traffic is out on the US61 Bypass away from there, though a 'mall' is just down the street.

[storewanderer]

There may not be a closing store list released but they have deleted the closing stores from the store locator.

[SamSpade]

With the closure of West Valley City, Utah, that leaves KMart with 5 Utah stores, only 2 of which are in the Wasatch Front, where 80% of the state's population resides. Layton might be the last one to close since it's adjacent and visible from I-15, plus a military town for those out of staters that for whatever reason know and prefer KMart to other competition (Walmart, ShopKo, Smith's Marketplace).

This reminds me a bit of Oregon, where we have 3 remaining locations in the Portland metropolitan area (4 if you count Salem).

[Super S]

With the closure of West Valley City, Utah, that leaves KMart with 5 Utah stores, only 2 of which are in the Wasatch Front, where 80% of the state's population resides. Layton might be the last one to close since it's adjacent and visible from I-15, plus a military town for those out of staters that for whatever reason know and prefer KMart to other competition (Walmart, ShopKo, Smith's Marketplace).

This reminds me a bit of Oregon, where we have 3 remaining locations in the Portland metropolitan area (4 if you count Salem).

Kmart has pulled the plug on Central/Eastern Oregon already and is (according to Kmart's store locator) down to seven stores in Oregon total: Portland, Beaverton (which looks VERY close to death), Gresham, Salem, Roseburg, Corvallis, and The Dalles.

There are nine stores left in Washington, and five left in Idaho.

I did notice that Yakima, WA, which I think is still open, is not on the store locator, which hints at another one that could be closing...

EDIT: The Yakima store is in fact part of the new closing list. So counting Yakima there are ten stores in Washington.

[steps]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/report-km ... 51400.html

Updated list:

Here’s the complete list of store closings, according to Business Insider:

Kmart #3044: Lawton, OK
Kmart #3180: Merrillville, IN
Kmart #3241: Springfield, IL
Kmart #3320: Houma, LA
Kmart #3328: New Lenox, IL
Kmart #3355: Panama City, FL
Kmart #3359: Gardendale, AL
Kmart #3521: Binghamton, NY
Kmart #3556: Elkhart, IN
Kmart #3594: Chicago, IL
Kmart #3644: Nashville, TN
Kmart #3695: Sierra Vista, AZ
Kmart #3706: Wytheville, VA
Kmart #3754: Martinsville, VA
Kmart #3814: Kearney, NE
Kmart #4066: Jackson, MI
Kmart #4095: Joliet, IL
Kmart #4135: Augusta, GA
Kmart #4162: Salt Lake City, UT
Kmart #4175: Canton, OH
Kmart #4176: Cheektowaga, NY
Kmart #4439: Yakima, WA
Kmart #4700: Fenton, MI
Kmart #4717: Oak Ridge, TN
Kmart #4739: Clarksville, TN
Kmart #4772: Burnham, PA
Kmart #4781: Macomb, IL
Kmart #4837: Riverton, WY
Kmart #4845: Manistee, MI
Kmart #4851: Byron Center, MI
Kmart #4910: Mentor, OH
Kmart #4917: Thornton, CO
Kmart #4961: Burlington, NC
Kmart #4970: Memphis, TN
Kmart #4972: Lubbock, TX
Kmart #4984: Tinley Park, IL
Kmart #7024: Scottsbluff, NE
Kmart #7061: New Iberia, LA
Kmart #7077: Harlingen, TX
Kmart #7174: Pikeville, KY
Kmart #7205: Grand Rapids, MI
Kmart #7216: Moorhead, MN
Kmart #7306: Sioux Falls, SD
Kmart #7356: Jonesboro, AR
Kmart #7412: West Valley City, UT
Kmart #7478: Waipahu, HI
Kmart #7551: Indio, CA
Kmart #7560: Craig, CO
Kmart #7587: Fontana, CA
Kmart #7625: Los Angeles, CA
Kmart #7642: Natchez, MS
Kmart #7718: Hixson, TN
Kmart #7733: Alpena, MI
Kmart #7755: Deming, NM
Kmart #7775: Lafayette, IN
Kmart #7795: Abilene, TX
Kmart #9129: Mount Airy, NC
Kmart #9146: Great Barrington, MA
Kmart #9397: West Saint Paul, MN
Kmart #9571: Cullman, AL
Kmart #9586: Sault Saint Marie, MI
Kmart #9623: Springdale, AR
Kmart #9728: Smyrna, TN
Kmart #9751: Cody, WY


Kmart #7625: Los Angeles, CA is VERY surprising as I was sure this was one of their top stores. The store has had major remodels over the years and even has the "Diehard, Craftsman, etc signs on the outside. This location is in a very dense (yet low income), highly populated area. There is no Walmart near by and this is really the only "department store" in the area. This location started life as a Sears, was torn down and a Zody's opened. Zody's closed and Kmart moved in. This shopping center is VERY, VERY busy and I have this gut feeling Walmart is going to snatch up this space. It's slightly on the small side (not sure of SF, but Kmart managed to get every department in there) This would end up being a #1 store for Walmart if they can keep shrink under control. Literally, every store in this center, including anchors, has been another retailer or another. The only original tenant that has been there since day 1 is McDonalds.

If anyone was curious, the original anchor tenants were Sav-On Drugs (Osco> Sav-On> CVS), Boys Market (Ralphs> Superior Market), Newberry's (Swapmeet> Discount Store and Zody's (Kmart).

[Super S]

Very surprised that Beaverton, Oregon is NOT on that list...

[wnetmacman]

A bit of information on a few more of these:

Springdale, AR is the LAST Kmart in NW Arkansas. It was part of Kmart's threat to Bentonville of a handful of stores meant to fight Walmart that was laughed off. It did last about 40 years....

Houma, LA was thought to stay open since the local Sears closed. Evidently, that's not going to happen. It was a fairly typical 3000-series store; still had an attached Auto Center though it has not operated since the Penske pullout.

New Iberia, LA hits close to home. That was my go-to Kmart (even though it's 30 miles away from me). It was built in or around 1976 and expanded to the right in about 1990-91. During that expansion, the auto center was eliminated and removed, and the cafeteria was removed and a Little Caesars/KCafe was installed in the front right apparel area of the store. It had a huge parking lot, but I suspect that will get broken up. This property is owned by Seritage; I suspect that's why it closed. There is a huge Walmart across the street. It has been in three locations nearby, expanding every time it moves. (first was a Woolco, then a 120,000 D1 store, now a Supercenter)

This will leave 5 Kmart stores in Louisiana: Lake Charles, Gonzales, 2 in Metaire and one New Orleans store.

[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.