tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post6800318490183219775..comments2024-03-28T03:22:39.407-04:00Comments on Albertsons Florida Blog: Until the Blue Light Fades AwayAlbertsons Florida Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-37439359152009145182021-10-11T16:43:31.913-04:002021-10-11T16:43:31.913-04:00At this point, if that were to happen, you’d just ...At this point, if that were to happen, you’d just have to buy the IP and start from scratch, as there really isn’t much left from either company to save. It’s sad, as there was a place for Kmart and Sears had they been kept in good shape, but Eddie had different plans…Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-5160072541311009752021-10-11T16:43:14.669-04:002021-10-11T16:43:14.669-04:00I’m the same way with Kmart – Kmart was always my ...I’m the same way with Kmart – Kmart was always my go to for clothes shopping (and my lone purchase while visiting the Miami Kmart was a shirt too). Even when my last somewhat local store was still around (about 45 minutes away), I still liked to go down there and support the place as much as I could, and take in the nostalgia of shopping at Kmart. If you want to see a really crazy Kmart throwback, look up the remaining Kmart in Hamilton, MT. That store still has the original 80’s teal and red logo on the exterior – the last one in existence!Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-25312536202409469102021-10-11T16:42:58.858-04:002021-10-11T16:42:58.858-04:00With most of Kmart’s mainland US presence down int...With most of Kmart’s mainland US presence down into the single digits (if it’s not there yet), most people involved in this hobby are a good few hours away from their nearest Kmarts, so it’s rare that anyone gets to visit one anymore without making a day trip (or more) out of it. As much as Kmart has withered away recently, it’s still good to document what’s left, and I certainly had a nice visit to the Miami store.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-75051372386070282792021-10-08T07:46:48.479-04:002021-10-08T07:46:48.479-04:00I wish someone would buy KMart from that moron Edd...I wish someone would buy KMart from that moron Eddie (and Sears, too!). I think with the right management, it could survive. Just like if Eddie could sell Sears, it could survive with caring people. Oh well... Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06777948370342480997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-64794538884725126142021-10-06T10:31:53.572-04:002021-10-06T10:31:53.572-04:00Kmart was a bit of an oddity to me as the decor, s...Kmart was a bit of an oddity to me as the decor, selection of merchandise, and layout of the stores in my area were outdated, yet not vintage enough to pique my interest. I even visited the store in Crystal River, which appeared to not have been remodeled at all since it was opened around 1990.<br /><br />Kmart was once my go-to store for jeans, shoes, and other clothing items, but the last few times I went I didn't see a single thing I wanted to buy. Which is sad because I wanted to support them, if for no other reason, as an alternative to walmart.<br /><br />I was sad to see Kmart disappear from our area and do miss it, but my nostalgia would really kick in if I saw a location that still looked like it did in the '80s or earlier, like the ones in those pictures that were shared with the red and teal signs still intact.Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10235041708769810551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-84908825880966732652021-10-05T01:14:33.627-04:002021-10-05T01:14:33.627-04:00Surreal seeing a Kmart post at this point consider...Surreal seeing a Kmart post at this point considering such has slowed down across our community, especially as the chain has become more and more sparse. Awesome detail though; quite common for Kmart, but I digress!BatteryMillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02438239313093459501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-80936387096403079132021-10-01T22:04:48.076-04:002021-10-01T22:04:48.076-04:00Kmart was my favorite discount store for sure duri...Kmart was my favorite discount store for sure during their time here in Houston, but they made it so frustrating to shop there in the latter part of the 1990s and early 2000s. You're right that Kmart did have new formats like Super Kmart and Big Kmart. In fact, my local store was a new Big Kmart that relocated from a mansard slice facade Kmart built in 1978 like this Kendall Kmart to an ex-Venture building in 1997 (the Venture itself was built in 1993 so it was still a relatively new building even when Kmart closed and left town in 2002-3). That said, Kmart had so many problems during that time. Kmart had a bad habit of only leaving 1-2 checkout lanes open during that time. Granted, not many people shopped there, but it still led to very long checkout times. Also, Kmart had a bad habit of leaving old sales signs up throughout the store so sometimes you'd think something was on sale, but then find out the sale price expired like two weeks prior! General upkeep of the stores was quite poor, I remember some of their stores here having a lot of trash and such in the parking lots. On top of that, Kmart in that era had a bad habit of not having sufficient supply of advertised products. It was not unusual to go there looking for something on sale, but then find it was sold out!<br /><br />Things were so bad that I remember specifically taking Kmart ads to other retailers and having the other store match Kmart's prices. I would have preferred buying said items from Kmart, but they were so often sold out that I didn't have a choice but to go elsewhere! <br /><br />It was around this time that one could tell Kmart was going to go bankrupt. It was not uncommon for the local Big Kmart to literally only have about 10 cars in the parking lot during prime shopping times. Conversely, this was around the same time that Wal-Mart stores were becoming madhouses of activity.<br /><br />When I visited a couple of Kmarts in the Northeast in 2011, including the aforementioned Moon Township, PA Super Kmart, it seemed that Kmart had more checkouts open and better inventory than what they had in their last years when they had stores in Houston. Perhaps Lampert was able to offer Kmart some stability with staffing and inventory that they were lacking before their first bankruptcy, but even that fell apart quickly under Lampert just as the physical condition of their stores did.<br /><br />Kmart replaced a decent number of their older Houston stores with new ones in the 1990s, both with ex-Ventures and new construction, and we had a few Super Kmarts as well. I went to at least two of them in Houston. Visiting the Moon Township Super Kmart was nice because it was a pretty well-run store. The nice thing about Super Kmarts was that the grocery department actually felt like a grocery store more than what is the case with Supercenter Wal-Marts and Super Targets.<br /><br />When I left that Super Kmart in 2011, I had a feeling it was going to be the last Kmart I ever visited. I hoped that wasn't going to be the case, but I had a hunch it would be. Thus, I even took a photo of the outside of the store as I was leaving! I'm certainly no retail photographer, even now, so I suppose that shows how much I was moved to take in that one last visit. Of course, prior to the Kmarts I visited in 2011, it had been about a decade since I had shopped at a Kmart prior!<br /><br />Here are two blog posts about the Moon Township, PA Super Kmart from old blogs that I'm sure you remember! I made Anonymous comments to both of these in 2013. It probably won't be hard to figure out which are mine if you want a vintage Anonymous in Houston comment reading experience, lol.<br /><br />https://www.kmartworld.com/2013/01/spotlight-super-kmart-center-moon.html<br /><br />http://www.deadanddyingretail.com/2013/07/death-of-super-kmart-moon-township-story.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-58657957095218015172021-10-01T18:01:20.312-04:002021-10-01T18:01:20.312-04:00I’m 99% sure the store in that photo isn’t of the ...I’m 99% sure the store in that photo isn’t of the old Westchester Mall Kmart. The Westchester Mall Kmart’s left wall bumped up to the side of Coral Way, and the store in that image has another outbuilding to the left of the Kmart building. I also found the Facebook page that photo was posted on, and that user took a picture of the old Fort Pierce Kmart and claimed it was of the Westchester store too (see here: https://www.facebook.com/WestchesterMiamiFla/photos/kmart-in-westchester-mall/579494928761257) Still a neat old photo of Kmart, but it’s not of that particular location.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-23422785430319297112021-10-01T18:01:01.895-04:002021-10-01T18:01:01.895-04:00You’re welcome! I’m pretty sure the Kendall Kmart ...You’re welcome! I’m pretty sure the Kendall Kmart is your “local” Kmart as well, as your only other options for Kmart (besides heading to Florida) would be to go to Central California or Montana, which seem even further away!<br /><br />With how fractured Kmart is as a whole, I don’t even know how much corporate direction is even left for the company. It seems like most merchandising decisions are being done at the store level now, so it seems like Kmart is almost on par operationally as a typical independent supermarket. I wonder if anyone will ever be tempted to buy any of the remaining Smart Sense laundry detergent on the shelf here. I quickly thought about buying one to keep the bottle as a souvenir, but that detergent is probably so old, using it would have my laundry dirtier than it was prior to going into the wash! Eddie does live in Miami, so he could always venture in here to buy himself that notepad if he ever felt the temptation to!<br /><br />Even though it’s been so long, that’s neat your last visit to a Kmart was at a Super Kmart store. I never got to experience a Super Kmart, as much as I’d always wanted to. We never got Super Kmart in Florida (one had started construction near Fort Lauderdale in 2002, but the bankruptcy killed that from ever happening), and even outside of that, I’ve never been to an area where Super Kmart was ever present (so I’ve never even seen a former Super Kmart!). I’ve always considered “Kmart’s prime” to be before 2002, and the decline to be after 2002, the bankruptcy being the pivotal moment. I’m sure Kmart wasn’t as glorious in the late 90’s as they were in the 70’s and 80’s, but Kmart was still a decently put together company in the 90’s, opening new stores and trying new concepts (even if a lot of that is what fueled the bankruptcy come 2002).<br /><br />I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for your upcoming post on HHR! And I always love some good Grocery Palace relics!Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-50936321054246948012021-10-01T18:00:30.726-04:002021-10-01T18:00:30.726-04:00Thanks! Considering what other people have said on...Thanks! Considering what other people have said online about Kmart recently, it was intriguing to compare that commentary to an actual visit. I know the little cluster of Kmart stores around NYC has gotten a decent amount of attention from the retail crowd (since that’s where a lot of people in this hobby live), so it was interesting to compare the condition of the stores in that part of the country to one of the stragglers in Florida that doesn’t get quite as much attention. All things considered, the Miami Kmart is probably as top-tier as a Kmart can be in this day and age. I was glad to see the employees still cared about their store at the very least, even if corporate direction is all but gone anymore. It would be fun to visit the other remaining Florida Kmart in Key West to see the conditions there, but that store is an additional 3-hour drive beyond this one, meaning that journey probably won’t happen anytime soon. As bad of a place as Kmart (and TransformCo as a whole) is in, I’m rather curious myself to see just how long this will go on for. Every year for the past 15 years has been predicted as the last one for Sears and Kmart, but they keep going. At this point, the company will make it into 2022 at the very least, although I don’t know what Eddie’s rationale for anything is anymore.<br /><br />I know Sears Hometown is owned by TransformCo again, but I’ve never been in one of those to know what the merchandise situation is like. Since the stores are independently franchised, I don’t know if the individual owners have power to use outside suppliers for merchandise in addition to whatever suppliers corporate has in place for the stores to use. If that’s the case, the Hometown stores may be able to fill up space better with tools, appliances, and other hardline merchandise better than relying on the fractured supply chain of Sears alone, but I don’t know exactly how those stores operate. I do know in the final months of the Merritt Island Sears (which closed in May 2021), like Kmart, softlines was stocked well, but the tool department was barren, and the appliances and mattresses were spread out to fill as much empty space as possible, so hopefully the Hometown store owners have found some way to stay viable if that’s supposed to be the company’s future.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-29679854139090929542021-09-28T19:57:28.778-04:002021-09-28T19:57:28.778-04:00*****the person who shared that photo of the Kmart...*****the person who shared that photo of the Kmart Foods stated that Westchester Mall in Miami had such a store. I don't think the photo they shared is of the actual Miami store, unless Miami had an unusual cold snap at that time period.YonWooRetail2https://www.blogger.com/profile/08255107904539545011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-38201892410960493282021-09-28T19:39:58.826-04:002021-09-28T19:39:58.826-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.YonWooRetail2https://www.blogger.com/profile/08255107904539545011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-2152901415346377652021-09-28T19:37:08.659-04:002021-09-28T19:37:08.659-04:00I was surprised to find these two photos on FB. Th...I was surprised to find these two photos on FB. This is not the Kendale Lakes Kmart, but the Westchester Mall Kmart in Miami back in 70's. Apparently Kmart operated a Kmart Foods next to the regular store:<br /><br />If I'm right, this former Kmart might have been located in Westchester Shopping Center, 20 minutes from Kendale Lakes:<br /><br />https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jMqsY4EBrJwiMsBwSfoVIZSlHyYaGXdi/view?usp=drivesdk<br /><br /><br />https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jNS7pQTlsXXtGkeqPtXKZADi2BgYChHs/view?usp=drivesdk<br /><br />YonWooRetail2https://www.blogger.com/profile/08255107904539545011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-28625691218878537612021-09-26T21:33:28.543-04:002021-09-26T21:33:28.543-04:00Thanks for the photos, it's interesting to get...Thanks for the photos, it's interesting to get a look at one of the rare currently-operating Kmarts that are left in existence. I have not checked for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is the closest Kmart to Houston as well. Granted, it's way more than a 3 hour drive for us!<br /><br />I agree with Retail Retell above that the somewhat more updated decor here at this Kmart and the updated outdoor signage helps this Kmart look a little more modern than even some Kmarts that closed during better times for the company. The inventory at this store is also better than one might expect given some of the sad sights seen at Sears stores in this area over the last couple of years. That said, as you pointed out, they are fluffing up their offerings by putting out out-of-season clothing and all of that.<br /><br />Yes, I remember reading last year that the remaining Kmarts were being supplied with C&S Wholesale Grocers brand products like Best Yet. In that regard, Kmart is on equal footing with small, independent grocers who use those same brands! That laundry detergent must be old if it still has the actual Kmart house brand on it.<br /><br />The 'I Love Edward' notepad seems quite odd at Kmart. I wonder if they stock those because Eddie Lampert likes to buy them from Florida Kmarts, lol.<br /><br />Perhaps the ultimate sign that this Kmart is pretty well run, relatively speaking at least, is that I don't see any bags of underwear or socks that seem to be opened. That seems to be the true litmus test of how well-run a store is, lol. So either this store is pretty well-run to keep things in order or they just don't get any shoppers at all. Given that it is Kmart, it's probably a little of both, lol.<br /><br />This post helped me to remember this, but it's actually been exactly 10 years this month since my last visit to a Kmart, the former Moon Township Super Kmart near Pittsburgh, PA. Yep, in all likelihood, the last Kmart I went to was a Super Kmart!<br /><br />We've probably discussed this before, but I still think that you were born after Kmart had already started their decline. Prime Kmart was probably in the 1970s and maybe into the very early 1980s. Kmart got distracted by things like Builders Square in the 1980s and full-out malaise was on by the mid-1990s. In some ways, the early Lampert years were actually an improvement over the previous regimes that took the company into bankruptcy. It's amazing that Kmart has been swirling around the drain for 40 years now and is still around, but just barely.<br /><br />Here's a shameless plug, but stay tuned to Houston Historic Retail as I have a guest post coming soon which features some unique views of 1980s retail including of a Kmart!<br /><br />Since this post could use a little Albertsons, check out this Fiesta Mart in Dallas which is still using Grocery Palace decor! I didn't even know about this, but I really like it! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/KSywqC1rnwENAtfZ8Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-38197559956146277982021-09-26T12:01:31.810-04:002021-09-26T12:01:31.810-04:00Nice post here. While I've read about the stat...Nice post here. While I've read about the status and a lot of the issues plaguing what remains of Kmart and Sears, it's still helpful to actually see visual evidence of the same, and in a full store tour, no less. A tour of a Kmart in 2021 is somehow both very depressing yet strangely heartening, the latter at least in the sense that this specific location's employees clearly care enough about the place to create some of those merchandise displays and move the department signs to where they still remain accurate, etc. I would imagine most Kmarts and Sears stores could care less at this point, so in a way this is nice to see, although there's still no denying just how sad it is. I know supply chain issues are hurting everybody these days, but Kmart and Sears did themselves no favors under Eddie's management, and I can't blame most of their vendors for refusing to do business with them anymore following the bankruptcy. And I'm never quite sure whether to rationalize their continued existence despite those obstacles as a tale of resilience or as one of sheer delusion.<br /><br />It is ironic to me how so much of the merchandise that remains is softlines stuff, particularly when Sears of course is known heavily for its hardlines. The recent statement from TransformCo to USA Today -- unless it's just more BS like normal, which I wouldn't doubt -- suggests to me that they see the future of the company as the Sears Hometown stores, which is fine and dandy, but those stores need to have tools and appliances, not Christmas sweaters and puffy coats! Oh well, I guess if nothing else they can just make do with the tools and appliances they still have in stock that haven't sold in ages, much like that Smart Sense detergent you saw at this Kmart. (I also like how that notepad set gives options to someone like me who hasn't seen Twilight -- I don't have to choose between Edward or Jacob, I get one notepad for each!)<br /><br />All things considered, between the more modern décor (which absolutely helps the store feel less dated than it would otherwise), the good job at closing off the unused space at this location compared to some others I've seen pictures of online, and the effort of the employees, this store in particular seems to be in about as good a place as a Kmart can be in 2021. We'll have to see what happens with the company from here, but yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if somehow we're still dealing with a couple of straggler locations even by the time the next decade rolls around. It's certainly been a wild ride for Kmart, and one that feels like it should've been put out of its misery years ago, but now it's just gone on so long since that time that there's nothing to do but simply watch with morbid curiosity to see where their story takes them next.Retail Retellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12636351832804174132noreply@blogger.com