Kmart World

Spotlight Revisited: Kmart - Rome, GA

2012-01-21T02:20:00.000-05:00

Roadside sign, the only place you'll see the new logo.

Back in January of 2008, I visited the Super Kmart Center in Rome, GA and it was featured on the site in July 2009. At the time of the visit, it was the last remaining Super Kmart Center in Georgia and one of the last few in the Southeast. Unfortunately, as reported in the previous post about this store, it was downsized into a regular Kmart and the expanded grocery section removed by May of 2009. Fast forward to January 2012, four years after my original visit to this store. I traveled back to Rome to photograph the store again, this time with it being just a regular (albeit very large) Kmart. This store was originally opened as a Super Kmart Center in 1993/94 and is 177,786 square feet in size. It was one of Kmart's larger format Super Centers, as they did experiment with smaller ones that were in the 140,000 sq ft range.

No more Super Kmart Center here.

Upon pulling up to the store, I noticed the Kmart Express gas station and convenience store in the parking lot was still operating and evidently still going strong. I found a flyer in the store advertising a promotion for the gas station with the Shop Your Way rewards card. If you spent a certain amount of money on pantry items in the store, you would get a discount on your gas at Kmart Express. They also offered a promotion where if the blue light on the gas station price sign was flashing, everyone would get 5¢ off a gallon on gas. Inside the convenience store, they offer the typical items including fountain drinks and Nathans Famous hotdogs (like at the K Cafe's.) One cool thing is they sell lighters with the Kmart Express logo on them for 89¢. An interesting thing to note is that the logo for Kmart Express in all current advertisements still features the pre-2004 Kmart logo. I wonder how many gas stations Kmart still has in operation? This has to be one of the only ones left.

Kmart Express gas station and convenience store.

The former Super Kmart Center street sign now just features the current Kmart logo on it. The actual building still has the pre-2004 logo. All that was done to the building was they removed the Super and the Center on each side of the Kmart logo. They also did that for the signs above the exit doors inside the store. Both entrances on each side of the store are still open to enter and exit from. The right side of the store still has the vacant Auto Center. It looks exactly the same as it did four years earlier except for a couple new "For Lease" signs on it. Unfortunately, the parking lot had a lot less cars in it than did during my previous visit. The open 24 hours signs have been removed on the outside of the store too, as that stopped with the discontinuation of the grocery section.

Entrance on the former grocery side.

I entered the store on the right side, which is the general merchandise side. The store features a decent size electronics department on the right side wall just past the lawn and garden area. The appliance department has been moved to a new spot from my previous visit. It was now next to the electronics department, when in the previous visit it was on the back left wall next to the produce department.

Electronics department.

The new spot for appliances, next to the electronics.

The entire middle part of the store has the clothing, shoes, accessories, and jewelry departments. The back wall has automotive, toys, sporting goods, hardware, and home decor. The back left wall where the appliances used to be is now the furniture department. The top of the wall still has all of the brand name advertising for the appliances on it though. It was cheap looking, I don't know why they just didn't take that down. The strip of the store to the left of the clothing department in the middle features the kitchen items, office products, and a few other things.

Looking towards the Men's clothing section.

Former spot of the appliances, now home to furniture.

Now to the interesting part, what became of the grocery side of the store? Well, honestly nothing did. They put up shelving blocking the entire length of the former grocery area. It runs from the back wall, all the way up to the front wall. There is a large white plastic curtain that runs from the top of the ceiling down to the back of the shelving units, to hide any remaining trace of the former grocery area. All of the lights are turned out in the area that's closed off also. Bad news is the K Cafe/Deli Cafe is also closed and blocked off with the rest of the grocery area. The 'new' pantry area is several short aisles of shelves directly in front of the closed off area. It features all of the typical items found in normal Kmart stores pantry departments. It even has the old, sad looking coolers found in regular Kmart stores for the small dairy products section. They must have trucked those in from another (closed?) Kmart. While it was a Super Kmart Center it never had those coolers, it had real dairy cases.

Looking towards the walled off former grocery area.

Sad, old coolers replace the former full size dairy department cases.

Moving to the front of the store, it still has the Pharmacy on the front wall next to where the K Cafe used to be. The store features 13 checkout registers, which is less than it had when it was a Super Kmart Center. They removed some of the registers including the express lanes that were closest to the grocery side exit. That area now has books and magazines. The front wall across from the checkouts features a still operating Floral department. It has a lot smaller selection of flowers, but it's still open and they were even advertising it over the intercom with a prerecorded message. Next to that is a Game Room with several older arcade games in it. I must say that this is a real rarity in a current Kmart, it's probably one of only a very small handful still open. Next to that is the Customer Service area and a new refreshment bar. It has a coffee and soda fountain, both of which used to be in the K Cafe/Deli Cafe. And finally next to that is a large, still operating Olan Mills Portrait Studio.

Looking towards all 13 checkout registers.

New refreshment bar.

Customer Service desk.

That pretty much sums up this store in its current state. I will say this is still a very nice Kmart store. It's huge now for a regular Kmart and is very well kept up. Since this store is only about 18 or so years old, unlike the majority of Kmart's built in the 60's and 70's, it looks newer and is in considerably better shape. It's a shame they removed the grocery side from it, but that's the direction Sears Holdings seems to be heading to. I was able to see a little bit of the old grocery area and the K Cafe, as there were a few gaps in the shelving units. I held my camera through them and snapped a couple pictures of it. It's amazing, the K Cafe has been untouched since it closed. The trash cans are still in place as is the fake plants on the wall. They basically just closed it down and walled it off. The signs on the wall above the bakery advertising the different cakes they design are still hanging up. All of the deli, bakery, meat, frozen, and produce refrigerated cases seem to have been removed though.

Looking behind the shelves and tarp at the old K Cafe seating area.

Behind the shelves and tarp reveal the old bakery department.

Who knows what will end up with that part of the store, it's already been closed off for over two and a half years. My guess is that it will remained closed off until the store eventually ever closes down completely. What's your thoughts on this store and our revisit to it? Leave your comments below and enjoy the pictures!

Kmart Express gas pumps.

Kmart Express convenience store.

Inside the Kmart Express convenience store.

Outside garden shop, closed for winter.

Looking towards the Garden Shop area.

Kmart sign is so faded, you can hardly read it when it's lit up.

General merchandise side entrance.

Front alley of the store.

Looking towards Women's clothing section.

Fitting rooms for Men and Women were in the kids clothing area.

Looking towards the Garden Center.

Back wall of Electronics.

Looking towards Electronics.

Layaway and Restrooms.

Back alley of store.

Looking towards where the Produce used to be

Looking towards all the Pantry aisles.

Walled off former Grocery section in the background.

Looking towards where the K Cafe/Deli Cafe used to be.

Looking towards back of store from the Pantry aisles.

Kmart Pharmacy.

Another shot of the former K Cafe behind the shelves blocking it.

Another shot behind the shelves of the former Grocery area.

Super Kmart? Not anymore.

Floral department still operating.

Kmart Game Room.

Inside the Game Room.

Olan Mills Portrait Studio still in business, just closed for the day.

Spotlight: Big Kmart - Jacksonville, FL

2011-12-30T20:34:00.000-05:00

Big Kmart 5751 Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL 32207

First of all, as most of you may have heard, Sears Holdings announced that they would be closing 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores. Stay tuned to Kmart World and Kmart World's Facebook page for any updates Sears Holdings may announce including the list of all locations that are being shuttered.

Run down looking Big Kmart building sign.

The same day that the news broke of the store closings story, I visited the Big Kmart on Beach Blvd. in Jacksonville, FL. This store was briefly shown in one of our features back in 2009. It is located at a fairly busy intersection in Jacksonville, almost directly across the street from a very large hospital. This store hasn't had a remodel in many years (as most Kmart's haven't) and is getting pretty run down looking, as you'll see in some of the pictures. But because of the proximity to the hospital and from all the traffic in the area, it has managed to stay in business and stay somewhat busy (for a Kmart store at least.) This location has been here more than likely since the late 60's and has an old Kmart Food's attached directly to the left of the store. The Kmart Foods spot is currently vacant and was previously occupied by a craft store.

Former Kmart foods spot.

Looking inside the former Kmart Foods spot

The location definitely lives up to its Big Kmart name, as it's one of the largest non-Super Kmart's I've been in. I'm not sure of the exact square footage of this store but it's on the highest end of the Big Kmart spectrum. This location originally featured a Little Caesars and many years ago it was changed to just a K Cafe. At last visit about four years ago, the K Cafe was still operating inside (pictured below.) After going to this store again a few days ago, the K Cafe is now closed and was turned into a Team Sports shop. One of the road signs for this Kmart had the pre-Big Kmart logo up until the early-00's, when it was finally changed to the Big Kmart logo.

K Cafe when it was still open in Sept. 2007.

K Cafe now a Team Sports shop in December 2011.

K Cafe label scar is still visible.

This store is in somewhat of a disrepair. The floor tiles have been patched for one reason or another countless times. There is so many different shades of cream and white on the floor its ridiculous. Some of the associate help call boxes have been haphazardly removed from the poles. The back wall of the store has what looks like rust or some type of orange substance on the white painted cinder blocks. This is a nice store in that it's large and roomy and also does a decent business without a Walmart within several miles. Its just in desperate need of a facelift. If they put some money into a major remodel for this store, it would get even more business with the amount of people that go by it daily. Are you listening Eddie Lampert??

Tile floor patched so many times it's ridiculous.

Broken call box to nowhere.

The layout is a little bit different than the majority of Kmart's, as the electronics department is along the front wall of the store, close to the Pharmacy. For this being such a large store with lots of extra floor space, it has a laughably small, almost nonexistent large appliance department. There are about six total appliances on display in the middle of the electronics department, with an appliance department sign hanging from the ceiling. That sign is completely different than the rest of the department signs and thus looks out of place. This store features a large indoor Garden Center area and a fairly large outside area also. The clothing department being larger than most, features an expanded assortment of items. Looking at back wall of the store, towards the right side is the layaway counter and directly to the left of that is a small Olan Mills portrait studio. The store has nine front end checkout lanes and featured a few more that were taken out several years back. The former K Cafe is on the left wall, right next to the checkouts.

Typical Kmart Pharmacy.

Decent size Electronics department.

Here's the [extremely small] Appliance department.

Looking towards the indoor part of the Garden Center.

Olan Mills and Layaway along the back wall of the store.

9 checkout registers, with space on the right where a few more used to be.

That's about all that I know or can tell about this store. I don't really have much history on this store and haven't been about to find any from searching online. If any one knows anything more about it please leave a comment below. Leave your thoughts of this store below also.

Street sign, with whited out spot where the Kmart Foods sign used to be.

Closer shot of street sign.


Big Kmart.

Taken in Sept. 2007. Notice how the stripes are orange then, they are now red in the current pictures.

Kmart cart corral.

Looking down the hallway of the front of the store.

Closer shot of the former K Cafe.

Inside the K Cafe area. Door leads to a hidden section where the back of the K Cafe was.

Left corner of store looking towards the other end of the store.

Front alley of store looking towards layaway.

Right Corner of store looking toward the other end.

The extent of Kmart's refrigerated offerings.

Back alley of store looking towards the fitting rooms

In shoe department looking towards the service desk/store exit.

Former spot of the Kmart directory picture now covered over with sales ads.

Customer service desk.

Garden shop exterior.

Spotlight: Super Kmart Center - Virginia Beach, VA

2011-11-30T22:47:00.001-05:00

550 First Colonial Rd Virginia Beach, VA 23451

It's Alive! Today we are featuring a visit to the busy and still super Virgina Beach, VA Super Kmart Center. This store is located less than five miles from the beach and is a popular location for vacationers to shop at. It is also right off of Interstate 264 with the large Super K sign visible from the interstate, leading to increased traffic. In an article from 1997, it stated that it "sits on one of the most valuable pieces of land in the Beach's shopping mecca. The Hilltop corridor has the highest retail sales per capita in Hampton Roads and is surrounded by some of the city's most affluent neighborhoods." One must wonder if Sears Holdings opened new Super Kmart Centers in high traffic areas, would they thrive such as this one is? I believe they would, so as long as they are not located across the street from an existing Walmart Super Center. But alas that is a debate for another day.

This is the last remaining Super Kmart Center in the state of Virgina, as the only other remaining Super Kmart Center in Tabb, VA was downsized to a Big Kmart earlier this year. Originally there were several Super Kmart Centers in Virgina, but most shut down during the bankruptcy round of closings in the early 2000's. Now lets take a further look at this location. It is situated in the Hilltop Square shopping center, which features several small shops and restaurants in a strip center and several out parcels. The entire shopping center is 270,000 square feet and was built in 1973. This location was not built as a ground up super center, but was originally a regular Kmart and expanded into a Super Kmart Center in 1998. That would lead me to believe that this Kmart was an original tenant when the shopping center was built in 1973. Construction on the expansion from a regular Kmart into a Super Kmart Center begin in February 1998 and was completed in November 1998. Upon completion, it was the 100th Super Kmart Center in operation and the first prototype location to feature their new smaller footprint of 140,000; of which was rolled out to future Super Kmart Center openings. Up until then, most typical Super Kmart Center locations averaged 180,000-190,000 sq ft.

In an article that was published on November 16, 1998, a week after the Kmart had its reopening as a Super Kmart Center, Laurence L. Anderson, president of the Super Kmart division talked about the new 140,000 sq ft prototype. "We're very excited about the new size," Anderson said, "because 140,000 square feet is the prototype of choice going forward." In the new prototype, food covers about 40,000 square feet, or about 30% of floor space, compared with 65,000 square feet, or 40%, at the larger stores. The new model also shifts perishables - including produce, service bakery and service deli -- from the back of the store to the periphery, adjacent to meat and seafood, "for better labor efficiency," Anderson said. In addition, the prototype incorporates a wall of values up front, opposite the produce department, that will be visual as the customer enters the store, "for a strong price/value impression," he said; it also features a seasonal display area near the front that ties in food and nonfood. Most grocery assortments in the smaller prototype are condensed, Anderson noted. "We've practiced more category management in our decision-making in both food and nonfood, and going forward, we intend to utilize what we're learning to a greater extent." The new prototype will still feature what Anderson termed Kmart's strongest nonfood departments across the front -- ladies apparel, Martha Stewart home furnishings and a seasonal display area.

The pictures featured in this story were taken by Mike K, who visited this location earlier in the year. Some of his observations include that the grocery department is on the left and the general merchandise is on the right. Walking into the grocery side you see the produce first in front, with the bakery, deli, and meat department along the left wall. There is a K Cafe located in the back to the right of the deli and prepared foods, with a cash register and small seating area. Mike noted that the store was busy, with a lot of people in the grocery section. Also the store was well lit, clean, and the staff was helpful. This location does not a have auto center, nor a gas station. You may have also noticed that this location has a different Super Kmart Center logo. This logo was used in the later years during the time the Big Kmart logo was being rolled out. The decor package is different than most Super Kmart Centers too. This is from the location being a smaller, redeveloped prototype location. The top part of the walls feature small sayings written in cursive on them (see pictures below), which is seen in very few, if any other Super Kmart Center locations.

Enjoy the pictures and feel free to leave you thoughts below on this thriving Super Kmart Center.

Special thanks again goes out to Mike K. for providing all of the pictures in this story.

Case Study: 10 keys to survival for Sears Holdings Corp.

2011-10-31T23:30:00.000-04:00

Today we are featuring a special guest commentary spot. It's an article written by Pseudo3D about the 10 things he thinks Sears Holdings Corp. needs to do to survive.

1. Kill Sears Essentials
Sears Essentials was started in 2005 under the idea that Kmart was the weaker brand of the two (Sears and Kmart). Unfortunately, Sears Essentials is a disaster and has undermined consumer confidence in Sears as a whole. Today, many of these Sears Essentials stores are being converted back to Kmart locations. A casualty of this is Sears Grand, which has basically fallen by the wayside after the Sears Essentials debacle.

Sears Essentials location that is closing.

2. Change the logo again and stick with it

For whatever reason, Sears changed their logo to a full lower-case affair. Seeming as part of a last-ditch effort that just makes the name appear less important and less bold than it used to be. It's a sorry way to go for one of America's most well-known names. Sears needs to quit redesigning their logo and go back to one of their older ones, the bold mid-1980s logo, the script logo of the 1960s, or even the art deco logo.

Sears current lowercase logo.

3. Give Kmart the gift of food
Eddie Lampert seems to be against food in general, closing the K-Cafés, neglecting the Pantry department, and phasing out Super Kmart's. What Kmart needs to do is embrace food and follow the examples of Target and Walmart in offering a larger food selection. Both Walmart and Target have essentially stopped adding 'Super' when it comes to food. Target now offers an expanded selection of food via the 'P-Fresh' format. While Walmart internally having full groceries in some stores, no longer puts "Supercenter" on its stores. On smaller stores, Walmart puts in an expanded food section. To achieve this, Kmart should reopen the 'Super' part of the stores that it closed off and lease out the K-Cafés to other operators. The Kmart name should replace both Big Kmart and Super Kmart.

4. Stop offering Sears brands in other stores
The strength of Sears has been in its brands: Craftsman, DieHard, Kenmore. By out-sourcing those brands, it gives customers less reason to go to a Sear store and erodes the brand quality. Cutting the sponsorship and pushing the brands at Sears and ONLY Sears would be better for the company as a whole.

5. Differentiate Sears and Kmart stores
Almost from day one of the merger and continuing today, Sears and Kmart started to share brands and become more similar to each other. What needs to be done is create a full division. Sears and Kmart should offer different brands and departments from each other. If a Sears and Kmart were to co-exist in a mall, they should survive by not cross-contaminating each other, at least not by much.

6. Enter new markets
Kmart left a lot of markets open in its 2002-2003 bankruptcy retraction, leaving some stores in odd places (a single Kmart left in Killeen, Texas for instance). If done right, a Kmart in a new market could steal customers who would normally go to a Target or Wal-Mart, as well as taking up vacant space in light of recent bankruptcies from other companies.

Kmart's mass closings of 2002-2003.

7. Don't to be too quick on leasing

Sears is trying to lease out store space to other retailers, with the offer open for nearly every Sears and Kmart. Unfortunately, Sears Holdings Corp. is more interested in just 'whatever it can get' rather than a good fix for the store. For example, a Cupertino, California Sears store is leasing out some of its space to a health club! More troubling is that the strategy resembles what Montgomery Ward did in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and we know what happened to them. Service Merchandise also similarly downsized store space. A Greensboro, North Carolina Sears store is sub-leasing part of its store to Whole Foods Market, which seems like a wonderful idea until you realize the Whole Foods is not going to be connected to Sears itself. What Sears and Kmart should be doing is leasing space that will actually open up to the inside, and complement the store. In the 1960s, the Canoga Park, California store included a Vendome store-within-a-store, which sold wine and spirits (by the way, Vendome is still around, but no longer offers brick-and-mortar retail space.) Another great way for Sears to 'rent out' space would be to convert some space to a Kmart, instead of having the aforementioned bad combinations.

8. Rediscover the Past
Sears and Kmart both have a storied past. What they need to do is look for past inspirations to help them find a niche today. I don't know why the Duluth, GA concept was never pushed forward but Sears needs to be classier. You don't have to have exclusively softlines to be 'classy' but Sears needs to be "I'm a store that harkens back to the golden days of department stores, where there was something for everyone, Explore me!" This includes the fact that Sears should restore some of its older locations. A Sears store in inner Houston, TX and visible from the highway got a nasty exterior remodeling in the 1960s hiding its art deco. After Hurricane Ike, a piece of missing metal siding revealed the art deco exterior underneath, yet Sears hasn't gone ahead with any restoration of this building. Meanwhile, Kmart shouldn't imitate Walmart and Target and go for "low prices" or "affordable fashions" too much, it should just be a no-frills mid-line discount store, like it always was. Perhaps Kmart should revive the Kmart Chef name for its in-store restaurants with an improved menu and décor.

Sears Duluth, GA retro concept store.

9. Invest in Remodeling
Sears and Kmart stores are woefully out of date. Even the new-style Kmart logo on the '70s arches store is a bit painful to look at. While blue seems to work for Sears (it's kind of iconic, after all), the new brown and orange is a kind of unappealing look for Kmart. Why Kmart abandoned the green and grey concept of 2002 is beyond me. Clean up the stores and make them truly attractive places to shop again.

One of Kmart's green and grey concept stores.

10. Get new leadership
Kmart's Chuck Conaway led them into bankruptcy while frittering away the company's money on personal luxuries illegally. Lampert hasn't done much if any to improve Kmart's standings as a viable competitor to Walmart and Target. Even holding them back, all the while giving himself a large salary as CEO and bleeding the two brands to their death. Some suspect he's devaluing them deliberately and just using the company for it's real estate.

And there you have it, Pseudo3D definitely makes some very good points in the article. The main point to take away is Sears Holdings needs to do something different to right the ship, because its sinking quick, fast, and in a hurry. I think investing money in the stores for remodels and improved product assortment is the single most important and biggest thing they can do at this point to help the company.

What are some things you think Sears Holdings Corp. needs to do to improve the company overall? Post a comment below to sound off your thoughts.

Spotlight: Kmart/Sears Outlet - Concord, NC

2011-09-30T22:23:00.000-04:00

It's officially fall and that means new Kmart World updates! After taking the summer off, we're back with new posts to keep you occupied through the rest of 2011 and beyond.

Today's feature comes from Mike K. and is a former Super Kmart Center located in Concord, NC. It's now a regular Kmart location with a Sears Outlet store on the former grocery side. Below is Mike's observations from visiting this unique store.

"I've never seen a Super Kmart Center location in person before and was it huge! You can tell right away that it was a Super Kmart Center by the facade style and the sheer size of the building. Double entrances with one for the Kmart side and now one for the Sears Outlet side. All of the standard Kmart merchandise is in the middle and right side of the store. The far left, which was the fresh foods section, is now the Sears Outlet store. Kmart kept the regular food aisles and signs hanging above, where all the non-perishable pantry items are. A long shelf was put up to prevent you from going to the Sears Outlet side while shopping in these aisles. The selection of items was huge and a lot like a typical Walmart. This location included a still open Little Caesars Pizza Station. It was the largest one I've ever seen, especially with the massive glass windows out front that shouted 1990's. The front of the store had a Budget rental place, a nail salon, and the customer service desk. There was space for one or two other businesses, but they were closed off. It was probably a bank or something similar that was there before. The registers were in the front center of the store. You could access the Sears side from the Kmart side and vice-versa from the front of the store."

And there you have it, a former Super Kmart Center that found a second life and was converted into something useful. If Kmart continues to downsize Super Kmart Center's into regular Kmart's they should utilize this idea of a hybrid store for them. Instead of leaving the space where the grocery section was empty, use it for another one of Sears Holdings brands. Not only could they put in a Sears Outlet store, they could put in a limited section of regular Sears merchandise, a Lands End shop, a Craftsman shop, etc. There's plenty of things Sears Holdings can do with that space if they don't want to sell groceries in their remaining Super Kmart Centers. Unfortunately, this will probably be one of the only locations that gets a second use for its former grocery section.

What do you think, is this a good use of space or a waste of time? Leave your thoughts below and stay tuned for our next update soon!

Special thanks to Mike K. for taking all of the pictures and contributing commentary about his visit to the store.

A still open Little Caesars in this Kmart.

Little Caesars retro looking windows.

A shot of the Sears Outlet side.

Typical Kmart garden center.

Former Kmart Auto shop, now run by an independent company.

Looking towards the Sears Outlet entrance side.

Looking toward the Kmart entrance side.

Special Report: American Fare or American Failure, a history of the hypermart

2011-06-18T22:28:00.001-04:00

American Fare 1989, Stone Mountain, GA

Some of you are thinking what's American Fare? Isn't it one of Kmart's house brands? The answer is yes and no. Flashback to two decades ago and you'll discover that Kmart opened a few stores under that name. It wasn't until later on that they adopted it for use as one of their house brand names.

Before Super Kmart Centers there was American Fare. It was a concept that Kmart created in the late 1980's to be their American version of a hypermarket, a retail concept started in France by Carrefour. Kmart's American Fare hypermart was very similar to competitor Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Hypermart USA, and both were started around the same time. Carrefour opened two of their hypermarts in the US also around the same time. All three companies hypermarts didn't make it past the mid-90's.

A hypermart is a fusion of a department store and a grocery store along with other extra services. They range in size from a little over 100,000 sq ft to 250,000 sq ft. Today's closest equivalent to hypermarts are supercenters, although most are a bit smaller than the larger hypermarts of the time.

American Fare was a joint venture of Kmart and Bruno's Supermarkets, Bruno's supplied the grocery side and Kmart stocked everything else. Kmart owned 51% of each store and Bruno's 49%. The idea was to offer very low prices thus lower margins and to make up for it with extremely high volume locations. These store were more upscale in looks than current day Super Kmart Centers.

The first location was opened on January 29, 1989 in Stone Mountain, GA. The second opened on April 1, 1990 in Charlotte, NC and a third location followed in August in Jackson, MS. These were the only locations that ended up opening and the concept was discontinued completely in 1994, but more on that later.

Upon it's debut in 1989, the first American Fare in Stone Mountain, GA was a sight to behold. Coming in at 244,000 sq feet, this monster mecca of shopping was a first for Kmart. According to an article, this store had an upscale flair with several fixtures and displays that were retail firsts at the time. American Fare was able to convince companies to carry brands not normally found in other discount stores. Some of them included Calvin Klein, Jones New York, Puma, Bill Blass, Beverly Hills Polo Club, Hush Puppies, among other well known brands. Although this store was huge, the assortment topped out at just 45,000 sku's. American Fare practiced a merchandising strategy they called selective dominance. They would carry a limited selection in certain categories but keep a large amount of each item on display.

American Fare present day, Stone Mountain, GA (Courtesy of Bing Maps)

At 244,00 sq ft, American Fare would make most Walmart Supercenters jealous. The store was divided up with 105,000 sq ft being devoted to hardlines, 75,000 sq ft to food, 35,000 sq ft for apparel, and the remainder to the mall section of the store. The mall part included 12 specialty shops including: a music and video store, a full-service bank, a hair salon, a pharmacy and a greeting card store (both operated by American Fare), plus a food court. The food court featured a Taco Bell and a TCBY. The store also had the "largest retail scratch bakery in the US." This store had a whopping 81 registers including 61 "custom designed" front end checkouts and 20 others in service departments around the store. It also had 1,800 parking spaces and 2,500 shopping carts for customer use.

Fast forward a year later to April 1, 1990 and American Fare made its second store debut in Charlotte, NC. With the opening of this store it marked the redesign of American Fare, a better selection in a less intimidating store. And less intimidating it was, at only 164,000 sq ft it was considerably smaller than the Stone Mountain store. This location came stocked with 110,000 sku's, over double what the Stone Mountain location had. The Stone Mountain store was re-merchandised to match the offerings at the Charlotte location after its opening.

American Fare present day, Charlotte, NC (Mike K. photo)

To make up for the smaller size of the store the aisle length was cut down and several of the "mall" shops were eliminated or absorbed into other parts of the store. The fixtures in the apparel department were wheeled closer together removing some of the spacious feeling the Stone Mountain store had. The Charlotte location also cut down the number of checkouts to 43 with 32 on the front end. Some departments like the florist shop and greenhouse were not added to the Charlotte store. The store did feature a photography studio, as well as a Little Caesars Gourmet Pizza and Little Caesars International Submarines shop.

Following the Charlotte store, a third location was opened in Jackson, MS on August 23, 1990.It was 147,000 sq ft and was nearly the same in looks and merchandising as the Charlotte store. A fourth location was briefly planned for Birmingham, AL, but never came to light.

After the opening of the Jackson, MS store, Kmart announced it was not planning anymore American Fare locations. It would instead open Super Kmart Centers, another new concept that was based off of the American Fare stores. The first of which opened in July 1991. In June 1992, just three and a half years after the first American Fare debuted, Bruno's Supermarkets ended its partnership with Kmart. That left Kmart to take full ownerships of the three stores and the responsibility of running the grocery sections. Unfortunately that spelled the beginning of the end for American Fare. In November 1992, the Jackson and Charlotte locations were converted into Super Kmart Centers. In 1994 the Stone Mountain locations grocery section was removed and the store was subdivided. A Cub Foods opened in the newly subdivided grocery area and the rest of the store was remodeled and converted into a regular Kmart location in May of that year.

By May 1994, American Fare was gone completely. It wasn't Kmart's fault, the hypermart concept as a whole failed and was extremely short lived. By the mid-1990's all hypermarts were gone from the US and the supercenter concept was expanding in its place. Following this, Super Kmart Centers began their brief dominance.

Fast forward to 2011 to take a look at the current state of the former American Fare locations. The Stone Mountain, GA location was refurbished into the Dekalb County Schools Administrative and Industrial Complex a few years ago. The parking lot is used for the county school buses to park and practice driving on a small course in the lot. The Jackson, MS location survived as a Super Kmart Center until 2003 when the bankruptcy closings hit. It was torn down in 2007 and replaced with a Carmax used car superstore. The Charlotte, NC location was a Super Kmart Center and then briefly a Steve & Barry's. Today it's vacant and still retains the original American Fare building style.

What are your thoughts on American Fare? Do you think it was a good idea or a bad choice from the start? Share your comments below and let us know.

Special thanks to Mike K. for recently capturing these photo's of the former Charlotte, NC location. He also made a short video of it on Youtube.

American Fare Charlotte, parking lot looking toward entrance (Mike K. photo)

American Fare Charlotte, front of building (Mike K. photo)

American Fare Charlotte, Former Auto Center (Mike K. photo)

Spotlight: Big Kmart - Snellville, GA

2011-05-20T14:21:00.001-04:00

Big Kmart - Snellville, GA May 2011.

Today's spotlight is the Big Kmart in Snellville, GA. This is a very old Kmart located in a dying shopping center. As you can see from the picture above it wasn't very busy when I visited on a weekday afternoon. I originally visited this location and took a couple pictures of it in September 2008 (shown below.) A few things have changed since then including new shopping carts, the removal of the K Cafe and a few minor decorative changes.

Typical Kmart store entrance, The door striping is now red, it was blue when I visited in Sept. 2008.

Above was the picture taken in Sept. 2008. At the time you can see they were having a sidewalk sale. The carts they had were blue plastic, now they are grey and red metal (as pictured below.)

Kmart's new carts, that are being put in several stores. There are two sizes, the regular ones and a new mini cart (they are on the far right row of the picture.)

I for one am happy to see Kmart at least invest in new carts. Most stores had several different colors and styles, not to mention that they were very old. Now if they would only makeover the rest of the store maybe we'd get somewhere.

The former location of the K Cafe, now just an area for putting pallets of specials.

K Cafe pictured still in business when I visited the store in Sept. 2008. It used to feature Little Caesars pizza, but as you can see in the sign its blanked out.

K Cafe's seem to be disappearing from Kmart's at an increasing pace. I think Sears Holdings has something against food, as they are removing more Super Kmart Centers, K Cafe's, and continue to lag in their food selection at regular Kmart stores.

I could not get over how old this Pharmacy sign looked, a serious throwback.

Appliance area that was added a few years ago.


Electronics department, complete with missing signs on the wall.

One thing I will say about the electronics department during my visit was that there was an employee working in the department and she even asked me if I needed any help. I was impressed as most Kmarts its hard to find someone working in the electronics much less willing to help you.

Olan Mills Portrait Studio.

I found this Olan Mills very strange as it was out in the open in the middle of the store instead of being in a little room like they usually are. It leads me to believe it wasn't an original location and was added after the fact.

That about wraps up this spotlight feature, hope you enjoyed it. We've got plenty more to offer in the coming weeks including a former Super Kmart Center in NC that is now a regular Kmart/Sears Outlet combo store. And as always leave your comments and thoughts about this store below.

Case Study: Recent Sears Holdings Headlines

2011-04-11T23:17:00.005-04:00

Here's some of Sears Holdings most recent headlines along with my take on them.

Sears Interim CEO 2010 pay more than triples

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Sears Holdings Corp.'s interim CEO W. Bruce Johnson, who gave up the top role in February, received compensation worth $5.3 million in 2010, more than triple the prior year, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.

Johnson, 59, received a salary of $979,487, up 15 percent from the previous year, which ended Jan. 29, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The company, controlled by billionaire financier Edward Lampert, operates Sears and Kmart stores. It has struggled for more than a decade with declining sales and customer defections. Analysts say it desperately needs to renovate its stores to lure shoppers back.

The bulk of Johnson's compensation came in the form of stock awards valued at $4.3 million, up from $663,400 in the previous year. Johnson also received other compensation worth $24,983 as part of Sears' perks program.

His total compensation the year before was valued at $1.5 million.

Johnson served as interim CEO and president from February 2008 until the company named Louis J. D'Ambrosio, 46, permanent CEO in February. Johnson now serves as executive vice president of the company's off-mall businesses and supply chain.

Johnson's base salary was restored to $900,000 in fiscal 2010 following a voluntary temporary reduction of his base salary to $850,000 in fiscal 2009 as the company aimed to cut costs. In April 2010, Johnson's base salary was increased from $900,000 to $1 million. In addition, Johnson received 40,000 shares of restricted stock last year to be paid in equal installments over four years.

Sears is being squeezed by retailers from all sides. At Kmart, whose business has strengthened somewhat, it faces challenges in food as Target Corp. expands into groceries. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, has stumbled with falling sales but is still a formidable competitor.

Sears' stores' strength has long been appliances and home goods, including the Kenmore and Craftsman brands, but those sales have weakened. Home-improvement chains Home Depot and Lowe's Cos. have been specifically targeting that category.

For the year ended in January, Sears earned $133 million, or $1.19 per share. This was off 43 percent from $235 million, or $1.99 per share, in the prior year. Adjusted earnings fell to $2.07 per share from $3.19 per share.

Annual revenue declined 2 percent to $43.33 billion.

Full-year revenue at stores open at least a year fell 1.6 percent, with Kmart posting a 0.7 percent increase and Sears reporting a 3.6 percent decline. The measure is a key indicator of a retailer's health. Copyright 2011 Associated Press

My Take-
Can Sears Holdings really afford to pay their CEO's that much money while their sales shrink? Why Eddie Lampert would want to reward his CEO for declining sales is beyond me. This is just another reason why Eddie is slowly destroying Kmart and Sears. He should be using that money to renovate stores and not overpaying executives. One thing to point out that the article stated is Kmart's business has somewhat strengthened. That's been reinforced by Kmart's small increases in sales, while Sears stores have been reporting larger declines.

Sears Holdings Continues Commitment to the Military With Launch of Permanent Change of Station Promise

In Support of First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden's Joining Forces Initiative, Sears Holdings Offers Continued Employment to Service Members and Families

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. April 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - As a longstanding supporter of the military and military families, Sears Holdings has announced the launch of its Permanent Change of Duty Station (PCS) Promise. The PCS Promise was created to support Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden's Joining Forces initiative, which raises awareness around the challenges that military personnel and their spouses endure when moving from one community to another. The PCS Promise, which helps military associates and spouses employed by Sears Holdings secure job transfers, is aligned with the Joining Forces initiative, which asks the nation to support our brave service members.

"The Sears Holdings PCS Promise for our military associates and their spouses was specifically created to identify new opportunities for our heroes to continue leading successful careers, regardless of their location," said Lou D'Ambrosio, chief executive officer of Sears Holdings. "And it is an honor to offer this promise at the same time that Michelle Obama and Dr. Biden are leading the charge in the Joining Forces initiative, which is committed to providing heroes the support and opportunity they deserve."

In many cases, military spouses move from one community to another when their spouses are reassigned. On top of the stress of uprooting children and relocating to a new community, military spouses are often faced with the difficulty of continuing their careers or finding a new job in their new location. With the PCS Promise, Sears Holdings will do everything in its power to give military associates who are employed by the retailer a job at a Sears, Kmart or Lands' End store convenient to their new location.

Sears Holdings will also conduct a virtual career fair for military spouses this summer that will enable them to connect online with other military spouses currently employed with the company and get information on employment opportunities at nearly 4,000 store locations.

"From our experience, we know that military associates are driven, motivated and have leadership skills that can only help our company grow. We win by keeping talented, experienced employees working in our stores," D'Ambrosio added.

In addition to the promise, Sears will continue to offer additional opportunities through its existing Heroes at Home program. The Heroes at Home program has provided the means for hundreds of military families to shop for in-demand items and necessities during the holidays through its Wish Registry, and the program will continue to provide support to service members, veterans and their families through joint efforts with various nonprofit organizations, including Rebuilding Together and the USO. The program has already helped hundreds of deserving military families by raising more than $21 million to support the rebuilding of more than 1,000 homes by the end of 2011.

My take-
This is one thing that Sears Holdings has done well with- helping people out in need. Kmart stores have the Smart Assist card that gives discounts for unemployed people. And now they are assisting military families who need help relocating their jobs. Not to mention they've done other things like providing items for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I would hope that they are doing this things to be sincerely helpful, but I'm sure a lot of it is for positive publicity.

Sears and Kmart Join Forces With TV Star Sandra Lee on Exclusive Home Products Line

The Debut Sandra by Sandra Lee Collection Will Be Available at Sears and Kmart Stores in Spring 2012

NEW YORK, April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - TV star, entrepreneur and bestselling author Sandra Lee has entered into a direct-to-retail license agreement with Sears Holdings for home products. The exclusive collection of home products, Sandra by Sandra Lee, will be available in Sears and Kmart stores in spring 2012. The initial launch of the collection will include cookware, utensils, gadgets, bakeware, small kitchen appliances and tabletop items.

"The new Sandra by Sandra Lee collection is a welcome and timely addition to the value we offer our customers in the home category and underscores our commitment to making everyday special," said John Goodman, executive vice president of Apparel and Home for Sears Holdings. "Both Sandra's down-to-earth style and sense of practicality shine through this collection, which is both aspirational yet still attainable."

Acclaimed for her warmth and approachability, as well as her talent for offering simple solutions to everyday living, Sandra Lee anticipates a product line and a collaborative effort with Sears and Kmart that will help customers focus most on what's important to them.

"Launching my first ever, complete collection of home products with Sears and Kmart is a wonderful opportunity to help their customers live their lives beautifully and simply. I have waited a long time to find the right retail partner—one that would be able to execute my vision for the brand," said TV star Sandra Lee. "What is equally exciting is that the 'Sandra by Sandra Lee' collection will be affordable and accessible to everyone, while still maintaining the fun flair and simple sophistication my brand is known for."

"We're thrilled to welcome Sandra Lee to our Sears and Kmart family and to add her line to our portfolio of trusted brands," stated Chris Capuano, president of Home Fashions, Sears Holdings. Ms. Capuano added, "Sandra's philosophy of implementing simple ideas that create dramatic results will resonate with our customers and we are happy to be able to offer the collection exclusively to them."

My take-
This could definitely be a good thing for Kmart and Sears by filling the void left by the Martha Stewart Everyday collection that was removed a couple years ago. I'm not that familiar with Sandra Lee, but I'm sure plenty of others are and they might go to Kmart just because they carry her collection. Which can result in positive sales gains for Kmart and Sears stores. We will find out in a year when it hits the stores.

Post a comment below to add your takes on these stories and if you agree with my take on them.

Special Report: The slow death of Super Kmart Centers & the rise of Eddie Lampert

2011-03-06T21:22:00.000-05:00

One of my most popular posts on this site was from back in July 2009. It was a spotlight on Georgia's last Super Kmart Center and the subsequent removal of the "Super" part of the store. Fast forward to March 2011 and we are getting closer to talking about the Nations last Super Kmart Center. Super Kmart Centers are becoming an increasingly dying breed and it's unclear how many Super Kmart Centers are now left in the US. Kmart has removed the Super Kmart Center part of their website and thus the store locator for Super Kmart Centers. As of last count, there were just over 30 left but now that number is less because of the recent de-supering of several locations. And by de-supering, I mean the increasingly frequent practice of Kmart completely removing the grocery sections and changing them to Big Kmart's, which are no longer open 24 hours as the Super Kmart Centers were. This was the fate of the Rome, GA location I visited and reported on. Locations that aren't worth changing to Big Kmarts are closed all together, which happened quite a bit in the earlier 2000's during Kmart's bankruptcy stage.

You can pretty much put the final nail in the coffin of Super Kmart Centers. It's an unfortunate but true fact as the number of Super Kmart Centers dwindle down closer to zero with the closure or de-supering of most locations. Sears Holdings has all but given up on the concept, realizing that it's too little, too late now to try to expand it further to compete with Walmart Supercenters.

I am for one disappointed that they didn't try to maintain and expand the concept in the late 90s/early 00s, before Walmart got a stronger hold than it already had on the grocery market. Instead, during their bankruptcy of 2002, they closed several of the Super Kmart Center locations. Then in 2003 when Eddie Lampert started his rein of the company, you could all but forget any hope of progress for Super Kmart Centers.

Ever since Lampert has taken control of Kmart and then subsequently Sears any chances of progress for the company has died before it even started. Lampert runs the company to get profits for his hedge fund, instead of worrying about increasing sales or making improvements to the stores. Most people can tell this from the 90s and even 80s time warp they get when stepping into most Kmart stores. A lot of us love the nostalgic feeling we get when going into Kmart's but no matter how much we love it, it's bad for business.

Sears Holdings idea of progress is their never ending testing of different concepts, only for them to be abandoned or die a slow death. I recently did an article on mygofer, one of Sears Holdings most recent concepts that they have been focusing on. To give you a short summary, I'm not that impressed.

I hate to be critical about Kmart and Sears Holdings so much lately, but there really isn't much they've done recently to be positive or happy about. Here's hoping that Sears Holdings can do something to make Kmart a tour de force in the retail world again. Until then Kmart's outlook is looking as bleak as these pictures.

Special thanks to Kate Bingaman-Burt of Obsessiveconsumption.com. She captured these awesome photos after her local Super Kmart Center went out of business. She wrote an interesting article about that location to go with these photos, it can be read on Core77.com. These photos are sole property of Kate Bingaman-Burt.

Special Report: Mygofer or Mygoof, a concept worth the effort?

2011-02-12T00:22:00.001-05:00

By now you've probably heard of mygofer, one of Sears Holdings many concepts and tests. If you haven't, it's in short, a bit of a hybrid type shopping experience. You can order groceries, health & beauty, and general merchandise items online and have them delivered to you or pick them up at select Kmart locations. All you have to do is go to the website, select your Kmart store, pick out the items you want, then go to the store to pick them up. There's also a mobile app that you can order items from in lieu of using the website.

(Image courtesy of newmarketbuilders.com)

It's a good concept, but I'm afraid the execution is once again flawed. For example, when you're shopping for groceries on mygofer.com, you're limited to picking out whatever that Kmart store you select carries. Unfortunately, most Kmart's have a small selection of groceries. Upon browsing my local Kmart on mygofer.com, you can buy a gallon of milk yet you can't buy a carton of orange juice. Browsing further in the category of frozen foods, all it brings up is a half gallon bottle of prune juice, which is not even a frozen food item. You can see where I'm going here, there's a very limited selection of grocery items that you can order online and get in store.

There's many other catagories that you can chose from to order on the site and pick up in store (electronics, household items, etc.), but that's really no different from ordering on Wal-Mart's website and selecting their site-to-store pickup. The food and grocery catagroies are displayed prominently on mygofer's website and seem to be the main draw of the service, yet it's the part most lacking. I will go a step further and say that if you're close to an actual mygofer store (of which there is only one in existance) or a Kmart Supercenter (not many left in existance) you can chose from a better selection of grocery items. Honestly, what's the point of heavily promoting the service, if only a few places in the US can take full advantage of it?

Another point to make is the website itself is not especially quick or even easy to use. It makes a decent alternative to Wal-Mart site-to-store pick up service. If that's Sears Holdings goal, then why not just integrate the 'order online, pick up in store' service into Kmart.com and Sears.com. Instead of having a whole separate website to shop from. Yes, I understand that Wal-Mart's service won't let you pick up your items within a couple hours of ordering them, like mygofer can. That's definitely a positive, but it's only beneficial in certain situations.

Now let's look at the actual mygofer store locations, which at last check, there was only one. Joliet, IL is the original full fledged mygofer location, born from a converted Kmart building. It's basically a small showroom, with computers to order items, and a drive thru to pick them up. The majority of the building is warehouse space for all the items they sell. The city of Joliet has a webpage all about this location, including several pictures. To me, the actual mygofer store locations are a more innovative and intriguing concept than the mygofer at Kmart pickup service.

So what do you think, is mygofer a concept Sears Holdings should keep testing or do you think it's yet another failure by them?

Kmart World is back for 2011!

2011-01-27T18:42:00.004-05:00

That's right, we're back! The World of Kmart, now known simply as Kmart World is back from hiatus. We have revamped the site and are ready to post new updates for 2011! Be sure to bookmark the site, share it with others, follow us, like us on Facebook, send us suggestions, and whatever else you can do to get involved with Kmart World.

We are in desperate need for contributors around the country for our store Spotlight features. If you'd like your local Kmart featured on the site, please send us photos and some information about it to the email address here. We will give you full credit for your contribution in the post.

Thank you for sticking with us, we hope you are looking forward to an exciting year in the world of Kmart!

Kmart Photo Challenge Winner!

2010-01-04T12:27:00.003-05:00

World of Kmart wishes everyone a Happy New Year! The new year will bring new and exciting things to the World of Kmart site! The first is the winner of the Kmart Photo Challenge that was announced last month.

And the winner is the user who submitted this entry-

"This Big Kmart store in Hendersonville, TN has some interesting features that are shown in the pictures. The first, of the road sign, shows the newest Kmart logo - pretty rare for your typical Big Kmart in the South. However, as you can see in the background, the main exterior storefront signage is still the standard Big Kmart design of the 1990s. The second photo shows a relatively unique Big Kmart Garden Shop patio exterior. Since these pictures were taken in December, there was nothing growing and the external doors to the Garden Shop were locked, though one could go in through the store to see some bicycles blocking the Garden Shop exit and the usual array of hoses, garden tools, and stacks of bottled water somewhat haphazardly strewn about.

The interior picture of the center aisle of the store is shot from the rear toward the front, and you can see the "Thank you for shopping Big Kmart" signage that is found in most stores. The American flag seems to be a new and nice touch, though. You can see the old-style large circular air vents, even! The store is organized such that the soft lines (clothing, shoes, and infants) and cashiers are on the right side upon entry, and everything else is on the left side. There were a lot of carts intruding upon the entry lobby space, and the atmosphere, well, it was fantastic for a Kmart fan but still cannot really compare to a Target or Wal-Mart. This store is fairly large and well organized, and there were plenty of salespeople and cashiers to help in the week before Christmas. In fact, there were more cashiers than shoppers checking out - plus, the cash registers were numbered 4-7. I believe they removed #1-3 to make room for seasonal merchandise,
recognizing that four cash registers were plenty to handle the amount of business a Kmart does - but I wonder how Black Friday went with only 4 registers and the Customer Service desk? (Note: for comparison, the nearby Wal-Mart has 20 + 8 self checkout lanes; whereas other Middle Tennessee area Kmarts generally have 7 checkout lanes, even if only a couple are open at most times.)

Ok, before we get too far into details, let's wrap up with the history and competition trivia. The 89,000 square foot Kmart opened in 1976 (any surprise from the standard 70's Kmart exterior facade so prevalent in the South?) alongside some grocery stores, but by 1991 the grocery stores were all closed, and by 1997 Eckerds left, leaving Kmart as the sole large/chain anchor. Today, some competitors to Kmart fill up the other major spots in the shopping center - Big Lots and Dollar General. In 1989, a Wal-Mart opened down the road, but luckily this Kmart survived... until 2005, when it relocated away from Main Street and opened as a 205,000 sq foot Supercenter. Somehow, this Kmart remains open as of Christmas 2009 though. The average household income within a 5-mile radius is almost $75,000 - not sure if this helps or hurts Kmart's business. The City of Hendersonville seemed to have wanted to "revitalize" this corner of the city center and make a new hip-urban lifestyle center, but from our visit, an aging shopping center still stands.

Overall, the interior of this Big Kmart is pretty standard and well-decorated and nicely stocked for a Kmart, but with some twists on the exterior signage. I'm surprised it remains open with a Wal-Mart Supercenter so close, but hopefully there is enough population to support both stores. All in all, a pretty nice, but aging, store."

Thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to the winner! Your Kmart gift card will be on its way soon!

Special Report: Shop Your Way Rewards

2009-11-21T15:42:00.000-05:00

K'Ching Round 2?

Back in July, I wrote about a new program Kmart was testing in select markets called Kmart Smart Rewards. The program including using a card to get discounts and rewards when you shopped at Kmart stores. A few weeks ago it was rolled out nationally under the name Shop Your Way Rewards. It still has the same benefits as before, including the K'Ching surprises at Kmart, 1% back in rewards, & no receipt returns, but now its available for the Sears Holdings family of stores and websites. The card can now be used at not just Kmart stores but also at Sears stores, Lands End at Sears, Craftsman.com, Kmart.com, Sears.com, and Mygofer.com.

When I wrote about the original Kmart Smart Rewards program I said it can help build loyalty and return trips to Kmart. I again echo that sentiment, now that this program has gone national. I believe it can be a slight edge for them against Wal-Mart and Target. Most stores these days have some type of loyalty card program, because it works. Everywhere from Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, CVS, Kroger, to PetSmart have a loyalty card program. Wal-Mart and Target are in the minority now as stores without it.

I signed up for the original Kmart Smart Rewards Program as it was available in my area and they automatically sent me a new Shop Your Way Rewards card when it was launched to replace the KSR program. I get frequent emails for special deals with my card at Kmart and Sears. So far from first hand experience, I think it will be a successful endevor for Sears Holdings.

What do you think? Is this program a good idea or is it another one of Sears Holdings failed attempts to spur business?

Spotlight: Big Kmart - Buford, GA

2009-11-14T16:36:00.003-05:00

Recently I visited the Kmart in Buford, GA, which is only a few miles away from the Mall of Georgia (largest mall in Georgia).

This store used to have a K Cafe. The area is now more selling space for the baby/infant section. One odd thing they did at this store was they removed some of the registers and made it into more selling space. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of either. This is one of the Kmarts that has a Large Appliance section in it. (picture below)

Overall not too much exciting or unique about this store.

Sorry for the lack of updates to the blog in the last couple months, things have been very busy for me. I have several updates lined up, so keep checking back!

Special Report: Sears Grand, Viable Concept Gone To Waste?

2009-09-04T23:20:00.002-04:00

(Image courtesy of Searsmedia.com)

Sears Grand is one of countless concepts rolled out by Sears Holdings, but one that had great potential. Back in 2003 the first Sears Grand store opened in West Jordan, Utah, followed by 4 other locations, including one in Las Vegas, NV. The Review Journal has an article about Sears Grand and the Las Vegas location. In the article Sears Vice President, speaking of the Sears Grand concept said "This offers us an off-mall growth opportunity." A few years later that opportunity turned out to be Kmart and the Sears Grand concept was all but abandoned.

(Photo Credit Unknown) West Jordan, Utah

So here we are in 2009, Sears and Kmart are both struggling and still trying new concepts (mygofer anyone?) to little success. What if Sears would have went with Sears Grand and rolled it out nationwide? Would things be different for Sears Holdings today?

(Image Courtesy of Searsmedia.com) Unknown location

One thing to remember is that the Sears Grand concept was developed and opened just before the Sears-Kmart merger. Sears Grand was the brain child of the then CEO of Sears. Once Kmart purchased Sears and Eddie Lampert began his rein of the companies, all previous concepts and ideas pretty much died in their current form. What Lampert did was a cheap remodel of some Kmart locations into Sears Essentials, Lampert later dumped the Essentials and renamed them all Sears Grand. Unfortunately those Sears Grands were just Kmart's with an expanded assortment of Sears items in a cheaply remodeled store.

(Image Courtesy of AP) West Jordan, Utah

The thing is the original Sears Grands were pretty much a hybrid of a Sears and Kmart store. They weren't a Kmart with a few Sears items thrown in though. They were a from-the-ground-up new store. Below you will find the Sears Grand Fact Sheet, that will give you an idea of what to expect at one of the few original locations.

Overview:
Sears Grand is a one-stop home and family solution center that delivers a mix of quality products such as Sears' proprietary and national brands that no other store provides. Everything busy people need to maintain their homes and keep their family on-the-go can conveniently be found here, under one roof.

Sears Grand is a one-level store that carries everything from milk to refrigerators, bathing suits to sun block and car seats to baby food. Sears Grand offers the best of what Sears is known for – appliances, lawn and garden supplies, electronics, tools, automotive products and services, sporting goods, apparel and hardware – with an innovative mix of convenience-inspired items - health and beauty products, greeting cards, dry grocery, pet food and magazines.

Brands/Products/Services:
Sears Grand offers a mix of quality brands that no other retailer offers, such as Kenmore, Craftsman, Lands’ End, Die Hard, as well as Nike, CoverGirl, GE, Levis, Sony, Carters, Huggies, Apostrophe, KitchenAid and more.

Sears Grand’s unique product and service offerings enable multi-tasking families to efficiently manage their busy lives and households. Sears Grand product categories include: apparel, appliances, lawn and garden, plant nursery (in some stores), sporting goods, toys, baby care, cleaning supplies, mattresses, home/seasonal décor, pantry items, pet food, cards and party supplies, books, magazines and electronics (TVs, CDs, DVDs, games).

Shoppers also will find an array of convenient services at Sears Grand including: an auto center, custom paint mixing, window blind cutting and key cutting.

Shopping Experience:
The Sears Grand concept was created based on what customers want and need. The one-level store is brightly lit with wide, uncluttered aisles and easy checkout lanes at the exit. A racetrack format combined with colorful, bilingual signage make it easy for customers to navigate the 165,000 to 210,000 sq. foot stores easily. Additionally, price verifiers throughout the store enable customers to easily identify the price on any product or call for assistance if needed.

To make the shopping experience even more convenient and fun, Sears Grand features shopping carts that have a kid-friendly racecar theme and are equipped with cup holders for mom and dad. The stores also feature convenient services and a café where busy families can grab a bite to eat.

Special thanks to Erica n Juan on Flickr for the three photos below. This is the Sears Grand in Austin, TX.

So there you have it- Sears Grand, a viable concept gone to waste?

What do you think, did Eddie Lampert make a mistake by not continuing the expansion of Sears Grand, or was it just another disposable concept?

Spotlight: Jacksonville, FL Kmarts

2009-08-21T22:00:00.000-04:00

(Neptune Beach, FL)

Well its been a few weeks since the last update, sorry for the delay.
Jacksonville, FL is home to several Kmart locations, and today we are going to look at a couple of them.

First is located on the outskirts of Jacksonville in Neptune Beach, FL. This location was remodeled and expanded in the very early 2000's. Before that it was a very small and outdated store, complete with wood trim inside. Today, it looks like most regular Kmart inside, with nothing really special about it. It does not have a K Cafe or any restaurant inside. The side of the store has the former Auto Center bays, which are sometimes used for special sales and storage. Pictures were taken in September of 2007, location is still open today.

In the picture above you can see on the right where the store was expanded (the lighter colored roof part). [Image courtesy of Bing Maps]

Second location is on Beach Blvd. in the middle of Jacksonville, FL. This location I have visited since being a small child and can remember the old pre-1990 logo on the building and road sign. This Big Kmart lives up to its name, as its a very big store. It still has a K-Cafe in it, which was formerly a Little Caesars. At one time this location had a Kmart foods attached to the left of the store. It was then a craft store for many years and is currently vacant, Kmart occasionally uses the space for special sales. I'd like to know approximately what year this store was built, if anyone has an idea please post a comment. Unfortunately the pictures I took of this store are on my desktop computer which is currently broken.

On the far left is up until the first white line in the roof is where the Kmart foods was located and is currently vacant. The rest of it is Kmart, but as you can see it's a very large store. [Image courtesy of Bing Maps]

The last location was in Jacksonville Beach, FL. It closed in the mid-2000's to make way for a Home Depot. This was a nicer looking and well kept store inside. It also had a K-Cafe. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it before it closed or any history of the store.

[Image courtesy of Bing Maps]

That concludes today update. The next one will be very soon, not 2-3 weeks, I promise!

Case Study: Recent Kmart Headlines

2009-07-31T10:00:00.001-04:00

Here are some of Kmart's most recent headlines, each with commentary by me.

Kmart helps unemployed Michigan residents

HOFFMAN ESTATES , Ill. (Jul. 20) Kmart has launched the Kmart Smart Assist Saving Card to help unemployed Michigan residents. Eligible customers can use the card to receive at least 20% off more than 1,200 regularly priced high-quality private label grocery and drug store staples for up to six months. Here are some of Kmart's most recent headlines, each with some commentary by me.

Verifiably unemployed Michigan residents who register at www.kmart.com will receive a nontransferable Kmart Smart Assist Savings Card valid for up to six months depending on the date of issue. Any Kmart customer who can present valid Michigan state-issued identification and a state-issued unemployment benefits enrollment confirmation is eligible to enroll in the Kmart Smart Assist Savings Card program.

"Unemployment is severely impacting our Michigan communities, so we knew we had to step up to the plate and do what we could to help Kmart customers continue to provide their families with the staples they need, even on a tight budget," explained Curt Avallone, VP, CMO food, consumables and Drug Store for Kmart. “In these challenging economic times, people are looking for the most value for their money, and we hope the Kmart Smart Assist Savings Card will enable cardholders to keep good quality food on the table and maintain clean, healthy homes while they get back on their feet.”

Commentary-

This is a great idea for Kmart to get positive publicity and help out the community. One good thing too is that Michigan is one of the few states that has several Kmart Super Centers. So that way the residents with these cards can get a better selection of food. I would like to see this program expanded to more states though.

Kmart opens first Sears-branded store-in-a-store

Birmingham , Ala. (Jul. 21) Sears Holdings has opened its first Sears-branded major appliance shop inside a Kmart store, according to This Week In Consumer Electronics.

The store-within-a-store opened earlier July at a Kmart in Birmingham, Ala.

The appliance store will carry Sears branding, including the chain's "Blue Appliance Crew" marketing collateral, and the main sign atop the Kmart will be amended to read “Kmart Sears Appliances.”

Sears is planning to roll out the store-in-a-store concept to additional Kmart locations in the near future, a spokesman for Sears Holdings said. The effort is seen as a way to boost major appliance sales and market share by leveraging Kmart's real estate. Unlike Sears stores, which are largely located in shopping malls, Kmart stores tend to be situated in strip malls, which many shoppers prefer for their easier access.

Commentary-

Even if it is a small one, this is another new test concept by Sears Holdings. Having a Sears appliance section isn't anything new, as they have been adding them to Kmarts for the past few years. What's different about this store is they are using more Sears branding to interest people. You could call it another step in 'de-kmarting' Kmart or 'Searsidizing' Kmart.

Kmart brings back Bluelight Specials just in time for school

HOFFMAN ESTATES , Ill. (Jul. 23) Kmart's "Mr. Bluelight," the company's renowned bargain hunter, is helping customers stay back-to-school-cool without breaking the bank, with the return of its exciting Bluelight Specials.

"We brought back Bluelight Specials last weekend and based on the overwhelming response and customer feedback, we're introducing even more, new specials this Sat., July 25," said Mark Snyder, chief marketing officer, Kmart. "It's a priority at Kmart to continue to give its customers the opportunity to take advantage of our combination of quality, price and value on the summer's hottest items and even plan for back-to-school."

Kmart's Bluelight Specials are taking over everything from patio furniture to schools supplies, with savings up to 75%.

For more information on the Bluelight special event, customers can follow Kmart on Twitter and Facebook.

Commentary-

The Bluelight is back....again? Just like back in 2001, Kmart is taking another stab at bringing back the Bluelight Special. Hopefully this time around they will put more effort into it. It can be a viable marketing tool for them, if the execution is right. We'll see what happens, but it's hard to have confidence in Sears Holdings Chairman Eddie Lampert.

All articles are courtesy of retailingtoday.com

Spotlight: Sears - Marietta, GA

2009-07-24T20:00:00.001-04:00

As you could probably tell from the picture above, this isn't your average Sears store. But rather a Kmart turned Sears. I went to this former Big Kmart in January 2008 on my way to the Kmart Super Center I posted about recently. I read an article online a few days before my trip stating this store had just been converted. The article stated that this was another of Sears Holdings experiments. They liquidated and closed the Kmart and started work on transforming it into a (unique) Sears store. Here's the narrative of my visit-

Upon my arrival I could see that they didn't spend much money on changing the exterior of the store, just some paint and signage changes.

One addition to the exterior though, was a Pharmacy pick up window. The Pharmacy was one of the elements they kept from Kmart, more on that below.
They kept the Kmart Garden Center. On my trip there was nothing in it, most likely because it was the middle of winter when I visited.
Updated shopping center sign with the Sears name.
After surveying the exterior I entered the store for the interior evaluation. First off, I want to apologize for not having any pictures of the interior. The store was very open and filled with employees, so I didn't feel comfortable at the time to snap any pictures.

Let me just say I've never seen a Kmart or Sears store with so many shopping carts. They had rows and rows of carts inside and outside the store. They were all new Sears branded black carts.

Walking in the store first thing I notice is the Kmart-style low ceilings and rows of fluorescent lights. But that's where any interior resemblance to Kmart ends. The store looked as it had been gutted to the bare walls and remade. Everything was new- fixtures, registers, floor, etc. The store had Internet kiosks all over for looking up and ordering Sears products. The checkouts were centralized at the front of the store. As stated above the store was very open and airy feeling even with the low ceilings. It was mostly because the aisles were low and the store had a large, open 'race track' around it.

This store was more of a concept Sears, than a traditional mall Sears store. It had several holdover departments from Kmart blended with traditional Sears departments. Here's what they had- Greeting cards, small foods section (mostly gourmet foods), large health and beauty department, full service Pharmacy, large indoor garden center, sporting goods & exercise equipment, small toys department, baby department (complete with baby food, diapers, wipes, etc), section of large appliances, domestics/home goods, electronics they had DVD's, but no CD's), large hardware section, small jewelry department, shoes, and of course clothes. One feature of this store is a large Lands End clothing section, which is the largest in any Sears store.

The sad thing was that the store was extremely dead, the associates outnumbered the customers 3 to 1. Overall I liked the look and concept of the store. It just seemed a bit too small to have a full selection of Sears, yet didn't have enough right items to make it Kmart.

As always post your comments on what you think.

Special Report: Christmas in July? At Kmart & Sears it is...

2009-07-16T19:00:00.002-04:00

By now you may have heard that Kmart & Sears is celebrating Christmas in July online and in select Sears stores.

Upon hearing this, I decided to check out Kmart & Sears Christmas websites. The result was ..well.. disappointment. It seems as if they just threw up a few Christmas items and made a fancy Flash page to advertise it. Tom Barlow of BloggingStocks summed it up well, "The campaign shows little thought or investment beyond a landing page and a few links to existing catalog items. Dare I suggest that this is typical Kmart, unimaginative and short-sighted? I haven't even bought my Halloween costume and Thanksgiving turkey yet. Are they giving up on those holidays?" and goes on to say "Will Kmart even be around in January to accept returns? With promotions like this, I have to wonder." The last comment was a bit harsh, but I have to agree with the rest.

There really wasn't much excitement in what they put up on the sites and the prices weren't very special either. Although as of this writing they did start a buy more, save more special. The whole thing just seems to be a little too gimmicky for me.

One has to wonder if this is a desperate attempt by Sears Holdings Chairman Eddie Lampert to stir up interest in Kmart & Sears. Although I believe it has created a bit of publicity for them, most of it hasn't been very good. Time just posted an article online titled "Kmart's Christmas in July: Inspiration or Desperation?" MSN ran two article about their Christmas promotion in the past week. Neither had much positive to say though. You can read the articles here and here.

You be the judge, check out Kmart and Sears Christmas sites (which are essentially the same) and comment on what you think. Also, if anyone has been to one of the select Sears stores that have a Christmas shop, please post on your experience.

Spotlight: Kmart Super Center - Rome, GA

2009-07-09T00:30:00.009-04:00

In January of 2008 I visited the last remaining Kmart Super Center in Georgia.

Here's the narrative of my visit-
Upon arriving I was impressed with the very well kept up exterior of the store. At the end of the parking lot was a Kmart Express gas station, complete with a small convenience store. I found it funny, there was a small shopping center building in the parking lot with a still open Little Caesar's Pizza.

After entering the store (through the food side entrance), I observed it was fairly busy, quite a bit more so than a typical Big Kmart store. Though it was still a fraction of the business a Walmart Super Center would have. The store inside was very well kept up and fairly well stocked for a Kmart. The signage in the store looked fairly nice too.

Across from the checkouts at the front of the store was customer service, next to customer service there was a ICEE/Soda fountain bar, (with cups purchasable at the register), a Olan Mills portrait studio, a impressively large Floral department, and a large game room (complete with ancient games.) The store had 16 registers, but oddly they were dismantling the first 4 registers, I guess they were getting rid of them.

I walked through the regular part of the store first. They had a large section of Craftsman tools in the hardware department. Electronics was on the far right side of the store and probably the most disappointing department, it didn't have a very decent selection and was the most dated looking department in the store. Surprisingly this store didn't have any of their DVD's locked up, as most Kmart's now do. There was a typical Layaway department in the back of the store. Also along the back wall was the large Appliances department.

After touring the GM side, I grabbed a shopping cart (some carts were blue and some were grey) and headed to the Grocery side. I started at the back of the store where they had the Produce department, Dairy/Frozen Foods and the Meat/Seafood departments. I could tell they used to have a fresh seafood section but they took the sign down and was now using the area for more packaged meats. They still had frozen seafood though. The Produce department was nice, neat, and well kept.

The side wall had the Deli/Bakery and in the front corner the Deli Cafe restaurant. The bakery was excellent and had tons of goodies. They also had a Krispy Kreme case with individual donuts for 50 cents and a Vortman cookie case where you could pick 10 cookies for $1.00. The bakery was definitely better than Walmarts. Next was the deli which was attached to the Deli Cafe. The deli was large with meat, cheeses, specialty dishes, a hot bar with fried chicken, and lots of hot side dishes. You could get the hot food from the deli, or get a deli sub made, buy it in the deli, and eat it at the Cafe. The Cafe had its own large menu with snacks like popcorn and nachos, menu items like chicken sandwiches, a good sized breakfast menu, and a drink bar with sodas and coffee. It had a huge seating area. After I picked out my groceries, I got some food at the Cafe and sat down there to eat.

After finishing at the Cafe, I headed to the checkouts. Unfortunately it was like most Kmart's and had only two registers open with long lines. The store had no self-checkouts, which I don't think any Kmart's have. I headed out to my car and got gas at the Kmart Express gas station. Upon leaving I noticed on the side of the store the empty auto center with 5 or 6 garage bays.

I took as many pics as I could of the store. Outside shots were hard because of the sunshine blocking my shots.

It was my first visit to a Kmart Super Center and I was pleased with the selection and look of the store. Overall I was impressed with this Kmart.

Fast forward to July 2009 and this Kmart Super Center has been.. well de-Super Centered. It no longer has a grocery section and is not open 24 hours anymore.

According to the Rome Newswire in an article dated April 8, 2009-

'The Rome Super Kmart Store will be laying off 80 employees and closing the grocery section within 60 days, but the store manager says the business will remain open.

“No, the store is not planning to close,” said Mike Barger, Rome’s store manager. He deferred other questions to the company’s public relations department.

Kim Freely, a public relations official, confirmed the layout Wednesday afternoon, saying “we are eliminating the grocery side of the store.”

The move will change the local Kmart from a Super Kmart to a Big K. Freely said the business currently employees about 180 people, meaning about 100 will remain following the planned change.'

In this follow up article dated June 1, 2009, the new signs go up-

'The old signs are coming down and new ones going up at the Super Kmart on Hicks Drive that will soon be fully transitioned to a Big K.

As first reported by RomeNewswire in early April, the store is closing it’s grocery side and becoming a Big K. Kim Freely, a public relations officials with the chain, said the move will results in about 80 people losing their jobs. The stored employed about 180 before the change began.

Workers from Coosa Valley Signs and Rayburn Electric were working in the heat Monday morning to pull down and swap out the signs in the Kmart parking lot.'

So there you go folks, the last Kmart Super Center in Georgia is now gone, at least as a Super Center. This isn't the first Kmart Super Center in the past year to stay open but get rid of the grocery section. There have been several around the US that have quietly phased out the grocery section and become Big Kmarts. According to the Kmart Super Center website, there are only 38 Kmart Super Centers left in 13 states, with over half of them in only 3 states.

I have not been to the Rome, GA store yet to check out the change but if I do, pictures will be posted here.

So what do you think, are the remaining Kmart Super Centers days numbered? Or are they just trimming the "fat" to focus on a few profitable ones?

Special Report: Kmart Smart Rewards Program

2009-07-04T14:00:00.004-04:00

K'Ching, Kmart Smart Rewards Program is live and now available at select Kmart Stores. Upon finding out about this new program, I went to my local Kmart (which is one of the select stores) to check it out. My local Kmart had a table set up at the front of the store with applications and cards, they had signage above the registers and at the front of the store touting the benefits of being a member.

According to the Kmart Smart Rewards (KSR) site these are the perks of being a member-

Get 1% in rewards on qualifying purchases
Take part in Kmart K'Ching Surprises, a chance to win prizes at checkout
Receive 10% in rewards on Cosmetics, Skin Care and Sun Care products*
Get bonus rewards on your favorite products and brands customized to
the way you shop
Receive expedited shipping at the same cost as standard shipping when you
shop at kmart.com
Hassle-free returns
Enjoy in-store events, discounts and promotions exclusive to K'Ching cardholders

What intrigued me the most was the "Kmart K'Ching Surprises", which are prizes you can get when you checkout with your KSR card. According to the web page, they could be as small as a pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to as big as a $7000 Kenmore Appliance package.

I have to say this program is a good start for Kmart as it can help build loyalty and return trips. Like I said at the beginning of the post, right now its only available in select stores. From the list they have, it looks as if they are just testing it in a few different states around the US to gauge interest.

I signed up online to get my KSR card, and received it within a couple weeks. I got one key tag card and one wallet card. After signing up for it I've gotten several emails from the KSR program. They have all offered free items or discounts with using my KSR card.

So, we'll see how this program works out and if it lasts to get rolled out to all Kmart stores. If the program is available for one of your local Kmart's I encourage you to sign up for it, as it seems to be worthwhile to join.

Spotlight: Big Kmart - Panama City Beach, FL

2009-06-29T20:32:00.010-04:00

While on vacation in Panama City Beach, FL I stumbled upon a Big Kmart, tucked away in a small shopping center behind a large road overpass. Upon pulling the building style immediately screamed former Wal-Mart to me. I googled online but couldn't find any info on if this was indeed a former Wal-Mart. The layout and building are not of any Kmart I've seen that they have built, so I know for a fact it was something else before Kmart. The entrance is on the far right end of the store. When entering the Service Desk is immediately on the right, followed by a large K Cafe. The registers are on the left. They store was very large and open. I went during a weekday afternoon and the store was quite a ghost town. The associates working the K Cafe and Service Desk were watching a tv setup in the K Cafe dining area.

This was a very large store, this shot was taken at the one end of the store looking towards the other end. Oddly this store did not have a large appliances department, common with most bigger size Kmart stores.

The electronics department was in a very odd place for a Kmart. If walking in the store it was at the front end of the store in the right corner. I was also a larger than normal electronics department.

typical Kmart Pharmacy, complete with half-lit sign.

Still in business K Cafe, when you walked in the store it was immediately to your right past the service desk. It used to feature Little Casers, these signs were covered by banners, as seen in the second picture.

I apologize for the blurry quality of the pictures, I was trying to take them quickly with my cell phone.

If anyone knows the history of the Kmart or has anything more to add about it, please leave a comment.

Welcome to the World of Kmart

2009-06-16T15:48:00.002-04:00

Hello and Welcome to the new blog dedicated to preserving the retail memory of Kmart and other retail stores. Look for posts with pictures, information, news stories, and commentary on all things Kmart and Sears Holdings Corp.