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Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: May 29th, 2022, 7:19 am
by Groceteria
My latest photos from the Sears deathwatch in Greensboro:
Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: May 29th, 2022, 11:00 am
by storewanderer
Groceteria wrote: ↑May 29th, 2022, 7:19 am
My latest photos from the Sears deathwatch in Greensboro:
I wonder if those are all the leftover sweaters they couldn't get rid of in Grass Valley Kmart. They had been trying for a couple years. Most were still there a couple days before final closure.
With the large round of closures announced for corporate operated Hometown stores a week or two ago, I have to think whatever is left of their appliance procurement operation has fallen completely apart sort of like the procurement operation for the rest of the store categories (other than food and drug from C&S) was just sort of shut down in early 2020. The appliances seemed to be the only product line they were even still remotely having any sort of replenishment on.
Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: July 1st, 2022, 11:59 am
by BatteryMill
DFWRetaileWatcher wrote: ↑May 5th, 2022, 11:55 am
No clue on the timeline, if that's actually the case.
Well I guess since Kmart is Kmart, they may stretch these stores out a couple more years.
Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: July 1st, 2022, 12:07 pm
by storewanderer
BatteryMill wrote: ↑July 1st, 2022, 11:59 am
DFWRetaileWatcher wrote: ↑May 5th, 2022, 11:55 am
No clue on the timeline, if that's actually the case.
Well I guess since Kmart is Kmart, they may stretch these stores out a couple more years.
I saw some somewhat recent photos of the last NY Store and it appears the Sears Appliance Department is basically emptied out, but in clothing they are somehow sourcing some brand name items that are not present even in the remaining Sears locations that I've seen.
Really tough to understand what they are doing....... they are like one off independent stores at this point.
Guam and Virgin Islands still have a small ad circular on their Facebook pages.
Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: July 1st, 2022, 12:15 pm
by BatteryMill
storewanderer wrote: ↑July 1st, 2022, 12:07 pm
I saw some somewhat recent photos of the last NY Store and it appears the Sears Appliance Department is basically emptied out, but in clothing they are somehow sourcing some brand name items that are not present even in the remaining Sears locations that I've seen.
Really tough to understand what they are doing....... they are like one off independent stores at this point.
Guam and Virgin Islands still have a small ad circular on their Facebook pages.
Might just be a quiet closing at that point if they're not chipping away at certain departments (electronics I think they've done away with?).
Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: July 31st, 2022, 11:15 am
by kr.abs.swy
I was back in Seattle this week, so I stopped in at the Southcenter Sears again.
Continue to just be amazed that Sears thinks that the highest and best use of an entire floor of this store is to sit vacant. This has got to be expensive real estate in a busy mall surrounded by retail, but the best business plan Sears can come up with is to sell a motley collection of clothes out of the first floor, a sparse selection of appliances and mattresses out of the second floor, and keep the third floor empty during "departmental transition." Just boggles my mind.
Actual inventory was not dramatically different than what I saw when I was there in February. There were lots of sparse sections and the appliance and mattress section was depressing, but I don't think it was any worse. I actually noticed a few more brand names (Dockers for example) occasionally in men's. I also saw lots of Kmart tags. Still mostly off brands and some Basic Editions/Simply Styled type brands. Really not much reason to shop for clothes at that Sears than at a Walmart, with the exception of some work gear.
In the men's room, the soap dispenser had broken, so the low-budget solution they had come up with was to have a spray bottle with some kind of soap solution inside it. You sprayed the soap onto your hands because -- apparently -- they are too cheap (or can't afford) to buy an actual soap dispenser. The men's room smelled awful and had some graffiti.
I also noticed that some of the department name signs that had been bolted onto the pillars had been left behind when the departments were shuffled around, so there were signs for departments that were now in a different section of the store.
The shoe section was a disaster. No electronics. No specialty departments like hearing aids/photo studio. Some departments (luggage) were exceptionally sparse. I still didn't get the sense that there was any coherent merchandising strategy beyond "we got this out of a closing Kmart and decided to see if we could sell it at a soon-to-be-closing Sears." I didn't notice any employees in the appliance section.
Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: July 31st, 2022, 12:16 pm
by storewanderer
kr.abs.swy wrote: ↑July 31st, 2022, 11:15 am
I was back in Seattle this week, so I stopped in at the Southcenter Sears again.
Continue to just be amazed that Sears thinks that the highest and best use of an entire floor of this store is to sit vacant. This has got to be expensive real estate in a busy mall surrounded by retail, but the best business plan Sears can come up with is to sell a motley collection of clothes out of the first floor, a sparse selection of appliances and mattresses out of the second floor, and keep the third floor empty during "departmental transition." Just boggles my mind.
Actual inventory was not dramatically different than what I saw when I was there in February. There were lots of sparse sections and the appliance and mattress section was depressing, but I don't think it was any worse. I actually noticed a few more brand names (Dockers for example) occasionally in men's. I also saw lots of Kmart tags. Still mostly off brands and some Basic Editions/Simply Styled type brands. Really not much reason to shop for clothes at that Sears than at a Walmart, with the exception of some work gear.
In the men's room, the soap dispenser had broken, so the low-budget solution they had come up with was to have a spray bottle with some kind of soap solution inside it. You sprayed the soap onto your hands because -- apparently -- they are too cheap (or can't afford) to buy an actual soap dispenser. The men's room smelled awful and had some graffiti.
I also noticed that some of the department name signs that had been bolted onto the pillars had been left behind when the departments were shuffled around, so there were signs for departments that were now in a different section of the store.
The shoe section was a disaster. No electronics. No specialty departments like hearing aids/photo studio. Some departments (luggage) were exceptionally sparse. I still didn't get the sense that there was any coherent merchandising strategy beyond "we got this out of a closing Kmart and decided to see if we could sell it at a soon-to-be-closing Sears." I didn't notice any employees in the appliance section.
Given the closure of a large number of Hometown Stores recently, which hit CA particularly hard, I wonder if they are letting the appliance thing go now too. That Sears I went to down in SoCal a couple months ago was well staffed in appliances, despite not appearing to have much to sell.
There is no merchandising strategy. But as you point out they are bringing in new merchandise, even returning some brands. I am not sure why they are stringing this out the way they are, but there must be some reason. I think there is a supply chain that is mostly shut down and at this point the last bits of merchandise (with an actual Sears or Kmart price tag) are being pushed through these last few stores.
If you look at the Guam ad or Virgin Islands ad now, there is almost no private label merchandise from Sears or Kmart advertised. Previously a few old private labels were still showing up in the ads, but no more.
I wonder if there are separate employee and customer restrooms in this store. Tough to imagine a store manager finding the conditions you describe acceptable going in and out of the restroom multiple times in a day, but who knows. It may be too hard to go buy some bottles of soap elsewhere in the mall (could probably get them from Seafood City).
I wonder how the store in Union Gap looks.
Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: August 2nd, 2022, 12:21 pm
by Bagels
"Just for fun," we stopped at the Whittier Sears the other day. For the most part, the store was neat & clean, but there wasn't much merchandise in it. The clothing sections seemed like a thrift shop -- random collections of various items moved from nearby Sears & Kmarts that have since shuttered. Not really sure why Sears keeps these remaining stores open...
Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: August 2nd, 2022, 9:57 pm
by storewanderer
Bagels wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 12:21 pm
"Just for fun," we stopped at the Whittier Sears the other day. For the most part, the store was neat & clean, but there wasn't much merchandise in it. The clothing sections seemed like a thrift shop -- random collections of various items moved from nearby Sears & Kmarts that have since shuttered. Not really sure why Sears keeps these remaining stores open...
Did they have any US Polo Association product? I did not see any of that a few months ago but see it in photos of other locations.
The condition of the store is surprisingly good. Much better shape than a store of similar architecture Macys was operating in Sacramento but closed a few years ago.
Was anyone actually buying anything in the store?
I did find something to buy, but it was not easy. I question how the place does enough sales to make payroll.
Re: 2022: 10 Kmart, 23 Sears stores remain...
Posted: August 7th, 2022, 10:16 pm
by Bagels
storewanderer wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 9:57 pm
Bagels wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2022, 12:21 pm
"Just for fun," we stopped at the Whittier Sears the other day. For the most part, the store was neat & clean, but there wasn't much merchandise in it. The clothing sections seemed like a thrift shop -- random collections of various items moved from nearby Sears & Kmarts that have since shuttered. Not really sure why Sears keeps these remaining stores open...
Did they have any US Polo Association product? I did not see any of that a few months ago but see it in photos of other locations.
The condition of the store is surprisingly good. Much better shape than a store of similar architecture Macys was operating in Sacramento but closed a few years ago.
Was anyone actually buying anything in the store?
I did find something to buy, but it was not easy. I question how the place does enough sales to make payroll.
The majority of people in the store were like me, engaging in the nostalgia and taking picture. But in fairness, I’ve been to the Spectrum Center and Bella Terra malls in recent weeks and while they were absolutely packed (and difficult to find parking), hardly anyone was buying anything.
I don’t recall seeing US Polo Assn, but all of their clothing inventory appeared to be a hodgepodge of remaining stock.