Kmart 6PM weekday closing time?

[Super S]

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/nbmc ... f887a.html

I stumbled across this article about the Coos Bay, Oregon Kmart, which mentions that the store hours are now 9AM-6PM, which seems very odd even when you consider the current state of Kmart. While it has been several years since I have driven through Coos Bay, I can say that Fred Meyer as well as Walmart do have a presence along the Oregon coast. Target, oddly enough, does not have a single store on the coast, and there are a few other retailers that have little to no presence along the coast. Granted, the coast as a whole does not have a large population density, especially in the winter, but can be very busy during the summer months.

I am just curious if Kmart/Sears has gone to such an early closing time in other areas? In my opinion, all an early closing time is going to do is send people to whatever other store is open to serve them, thus reducing Kmart/Sears sales and customer base even further. I have seen a slightly earlier closing time (9PM) for some Fred Meyer stores on the coast, but 6PM is going to be very inconvenient for those who work for a living. I could see it maybe if it is an extremely small town with no other competition around, but that is not exactly the case here. Even though the report says otherwise, I think it's only a matter of time before sales fall off enough that the store closes.

If a 6PM weekday closing time is becoming commonplace, Kmart is in even bigger trouble than many people realize.

[Super S]

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/owne ... a9e4c.html

And just after the last post, I found this article showing that the lease expires in November, 2013. Just what is determining Kmart/Sears closings lately.

[BillyGr]

Ours all still have 8-9 or 8-10 daily, though several now close at 7 on Sunday.

Is it possible that it's only a temporary change (given that you noted the lack of population in the wintertime) - perhaps they'll go back to longer hours in the summer?

Also - if you type in Coos Bay, OR in the kmart store locator, the next nearest store (Roseburg) still shows 8-10 and 8-9 Sunday hours, so it apparently isn't even uniform in that area.

Or maybe this store just got stuck in a timewarp back to when it was common for stores to close at 6pm

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/nbmc ... f887a.html

I stumbled across this article about the Coos Bay, Oregon Kmart, which mentions that the store hours are now 9AM-6PM, which seems very odd even when you consider the current state of Kmart. While it has been several years since I have driven through Coos Bay, I can say that Fred Meyer as well as Walmart do have a presence along the Oregon coast. Target, oddly enough, does not have a single store on the coast, and there are a few other retailers that have little to no presence along the coast. Granted, the coast as a whole does not have a large population density, especially in the winter, but can be very busy during the summer months.

I am just curious if Kmart/Sears has gone to such an early closing time in other areas? In my opinion, all an early closing time is going to do is send people to whatever other store is open to serve them, thus reducing Kmart/Sears sales and customer base even further. I have seen a slightly earlier closing time (9PM) for some Fred Meyer stores on the coast, but 6PM is going to be very inconvenient for those who work for a living. I could see it maybe if it is an extremely small town with no other competition around, but that is not exactly the case here. Even though the report says otherwise, I think it's only a matter of time before sales fall off enough that the store closes.

If a 6PM weekday closing time is becoming commonplace, Kmart is in even bigger trouble than many people realize.

[Alpha8472]

Kmart is probably sticking strictly to sales totals. If a store does not make enough sales after a certain hour, they will not pay for employee hours for those later store hours. Even if limiting store hours will further reduce sale, they don't care. Sales figures are all that they pay attention to. It is a downhill spiral. There are not enough sales, so employee hours get cut. Then sales go down because customers are annoyed by limited hours. Sales go even lower and store hours get cut again.

Closing at 6PM sounds like the store is already doomed and they are just barely staying open until the store eventually closes down.

[Super S]

Looking at that store locator tool, I also noticed a number of Kmart stores in Michigan and Ohio with odd hours, from 12:15 AM to 11:45 PM 7 days a week. Are these current/former Super Kmart locations?

[Super S]

It's official....The Coos Bay Kmart is closing:

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/the- ... f887a.html

Yet another Kmart where they conveniently decided to close instead of renew the lease. Although closing at 6PM probably did not help sales one bit. Not surprised by this news at all.

[arizonaguy]

I drove by the Kmart in Phoenix at 35th Ave and Greenway Rd in Phoenix today and saw a large STORE CLOSING sign over the entrance and a for lease sign out front. I guess Kmart is simply choosing to not renew leases chain wide now as the store actually appeared to be one of the more profitable ones remaining in the Phoenix area.