Abandoned - Kmart

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Ever since the 1950's, SS Kresge and Kmart have been shaping the way North Americans shop. Kmart especially pioneered now common place shopping aspects and became a massive brand which is known around the world. With well over 2,000 stores across America, there was no stopping this mega retailer from their billions of dollars worth of sales. That was until a series of poor decisions and bad timing rather quickly brought down the goliath brand. Today almost all of those stores are closed and most abandoned, with little business from the company still being done. Join me as I look into how Kmart failed and who's to blame.
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Additional Credit -
Vintage Walmart Photos (Flickr) - Ben Schumin
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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Thanks for an incredible year everyone. I know this past 365 days have been tough for a lot of people but I am optimistic about 2021. This video was a ton of work for me but I hope it, along with all of my other work can provide you with some enjoyment and fascination. Next year there's so much more where this came from including the release of my documentary Closed For Storm! Thanks for watching everyone and keep your heads up. 2021 is going to be great!
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BrightSunFilms 2020

[@Choatemister]

I’m going to use “carnival cruise line of retailers” as an insult somehow.

[@nishapatel468]

Only 2 likes and one like is from me lol even tho you are pinned

[@Mr.Plecostomus]

Smart

[@joshdanial8945]

Yep

[@WolfyRed]

101 likes . mice.

[@DRG342]

Ouch!

[@HenrysHowTos]

the ironic thing is Kmart in Australia is thriving and has been growing over the years. We have 24/7 stores now just to meet the demand, I even find myself visiting Kmart after work even if its midnight

[@shadedman6035]

Yeah it’s like that tho Kmart is bloody going on here

[@jekandthesnek]

It’s the opposite here in Australia, Kmart is doing well and target stores are either closing down or changing into Kmarts

[@mx-sp8fy]

@@jekandthesnek do you guys have walmarts in Australia? (serious question i'm curious lol)

[@westvirginiaboy4491]

Ya'll got Woolworths as well

[@robotbattalion1701]

I like the idea of Kmart thriving in Australia. Run wild and be free

[@chimoshi3393]

Kmart was one of those stores that when I walked through I couldn’t help but think the world was ending outside.

[@whitneymagana3357]

I thought i was insane, i felt this all the time. Like mid zombie apocalypse outside as soon as i walked inside the store

[@ethancarbajal8496]

What exactly do you mean by this i am very curious

[@Uncle_Fred]

@@ethancarbajal8496 K-marts have this cobbled-together almost post-apocolyptic vibe to them. This is true even when they aren't abandoned. It's like they took leftovers from other old box stores and glued them together in a way that looks only semi-purposeful. There's also a creepy sense that people and staff are missing from the store, like it was built for a body count that it can no longer attract (which is true). The product was often so carelessly stocked, it looked almost ransacked. To add to this, a lot of the remaining customers in the later years could look just as run-down as the stores themselves.

[@ethancarbajal8496]

@@Uncle_Fred Interesting the K-Mart in my home town always had this liminal feeling to it...very interesting

[@therobotdevil2284]

What is this the most accurate comment ever?

[@Aeneas137]

it's interesting to me how Target survived the onslaught of Walmart by focusing on quality and cleanliness whereas Kmart went head-to-head with Walmart on quantity and cheap products.

[@Connection-Lost]

Late 90's Target was exactly the same as K-mart to me. They even had an eatery and a layaway area.

[@turtato2155]

@@Connection-Lost I miss the chicken strips and Pizza they used to serve for like $5

[@michaelschaumburg589]

Not only K-Mart was a good place, it’s lifetime guarantee lasted unlike Walmart, when the Waltons sold the business the life time guarantee went with them.. Plus, back when the companies had to have a reason to get rid of you, now they don’t have to give ya a reason.. 🐎💩

[@charlottesmom]

Our Target that is attached to a mall is always a dump! We have three Walmart's nearby, all are always neater, cleaner and way more organized.

[@hexcurse8711]

@@charlottesmom opposite for me. Nearby walmart is feels dumpy, Target feels clean and updated

[@amplifierheadache]

I worked for K-Mart during the 2018 bankruptcy, and let me tell you, our inventory storage was about 9,000 sqft, but we had maybe, ten pallets of merchandise available, our store was one of the only plus positive stores so we weren't going to close our store, a month after that....the entire town burned down and well....yeah....go figure, I still have my uniform and employee badge, lanyard and discount debit card. I'm sure it will be interesting for future prospects.

[@joeytheslimeboi8900]

Where the hell did you live if the whole town burned down

[@karlmel15]

@@joeytheslimeboi8900 likely Santa Rosa- look up the Tubbs Fire

[@bongo9384]

​@@joeytheslimeboi8900I want to say California. The Camp Fire was a sight to behold.

[@bedoniyt]

​Paradise, California?

[@TR-zx1lc]

I feel like this whole series is just a documentary on how all Spirit Halloween stores came into being.

[@Menaceblue3]

Spirit of Halloween.... Only exists.... By moving into corpses of dead retail stores.... *[WARNING! DON'T CLICK READ MORE!]* 💀💀💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀💀💀 💀 💀 💀💀💀 💀💀💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀💀💀 💀💀💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀💀💀

[@tashablue]

@@Menaceblue3 yep, a bunch of Lowes & cub foods have been zombied out by Spirit Halloween.

[@mikestewart9088]

Okay spirit corporate... I see you there

[@bigbridizzle3543]

The old Kmart in my town was a Spirit Halloween and now it’s a different store called Rural King

[@mattmasi303]

Lmao ikr

[@southwestxnorthwest]

Kmart is the only company that renovated their stores and when completed, the stores looked even more dated than before

[@krozareq]

They managed to do everything half assed. They built a bigger brand new store to replace the old one in my hometown and didn't even have full grocery. They called it a "pantry" with old gas station coolers that rattled. Stuff like that is why Walmart smoked them.

[@TahtahmesDiary]

This! I remember thinking as a kid maybe I just didn’t get it because the store still sucked when my mom took me back after they were bought out. Looking around I knew that whatever they had tried, hadn’t worked and that our store would be closing soon. A few years later it did. The only good part was the pizza place which always felt like a different world. Everything was plain white and it was filled to the brim with the most basic and plain clothes ever. There was as much mayhem as Ross without any of the potential good finds. A really bizarre store.

[@AdamadA2]

Lol Kmart is destroying target in Australia, as pretty much both of their aspects are flipped

[@cbrdealer]

We had one of the last Kmarts open in my area and when I went in there it was like stepping back in time 35 years. It was really odd feeling, but brought back memories of when I was a kid.

[@BrickedUpp]

Kmart was my first job while still in high school back in 2014. I had been going to that Kmart since I was a kid probably since 2002-3 which is as far back as I remember. Every time they remodeled it definitely felt older than before. Especially working there finding out about the asbestos, mold and even finding products that were months/years old. I only worked there from November 2014-March 2015. That store only last 2 more years after I left and closed September 2017. I remember going in July/August after their liquidation sales started. It was depressing seeing them tape off over 80% of the store and only having about 4-5 aisles and 2 register lanes. I remember around 2009-2010 is when my local Kmart stopped advertising the little blue lightbulb mascot, 2 years before every other Kmart. That definitely made it seem older than it already was. Even when I was a kid I noticed that Kmart not only had more generic brands than Walmart but higher prices too. The last Walmart here in California closed in 2019 52 miles north of my town. Wanted to go but why be depressed.

[@lachlansouthmusic]

Over here in Australia, specifically Sydney, Kmart is owned by Target, and in a shopping mall I go to, there’s a Kmart which replaced an underperforming target. It’s interesting to understand the different brands worldwide aren’t all the same

[@5Korners]

My whole family was shocked to see a Kmart when we moved to Australia over a decade ago. My mom loved going in there lol.

[@thefunnywatermelon2983]

I'm in Melbourne Australia, and you can probably find at least 100 K-Marts here, there are many in Australia. We are very tolerant to failure and avoid it very well, America just made too much of everything hence why so much of there things are going away and abandoned, there is not enough demand.

[@Sarah-with-an-H]

Kmart Australia being owned my target makes sense why they flourished. It's because Target nows how to stay trend forward, focus on merchandising and having clean crisp look. So I imagine Australia Kmarts got the upgrades to stay relevant with shoppers

[@JarochoSonOne]

When I was 19 I applied for a job at K-Mart. The interview went well. I was offered a job and accepted with a handshake. Then the store manager walked in. She started yelling at me, rescinded the job offer, and showed me the door. I was flabbergasted but the next time I drove by the store I realized what happened. She likely learned the store was closing while I was being interviewed.

[@zuko803]

What a horrible moment...why they keep opening a job vacancy while they started to close

[@HappyFaceThrilla]

Yeah well she still deserves to be euthanized. You didn't deserve that

[@SerenityM16]

@@zuko803 big box stores and chains in general have an always hiring policy that drove me nuts when I got out of high school and how long it took to get a job (ironic now), you never knew who was actually hiring and who wasn’t, the manager was probably operating off that always hiring policy before getting the news

[@thelmawooten6535]

I Remember going to Kmart with My family when I was a Little girl, I Loved that Store I have a lot of Great Memories there, I was So Sad to See it Close!! 🥰💔😭

[@analyticalhabitrails9857]

Lolol

[@Knightcowboy89]

As a child, I always preferred K-Mart over Walmart, or Target. K-Mart had the best toy department AND Little Ceasers.

[@taylorp535]

Kmart always had SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE (back in the day) compared to Walmart! That’s why my family shopped there for YEARS!

[@redgreen6436]

80's K-Mart toy department was awesome

[@ShadowU69]

i barely went to kmart because my mom never liked kmart because of prices

[@Rinabeena]

Same.

[@SharieMonique781]

YES and the slushie machines 😫

[@marqbarq5977]

I recall my mom almost tearing my arm off as she dashed to a “Blue Light Special” on jeans. In the 80s they were the ONLY game in town.

[@darthXreven]

sounds like she was trying out Jax's finishing move lolz

[@rachelk7555]

Maybe where you lived they were, but not most people - especially in bigger and medium sized-cities. I hated shitty K-mart.

[@marqbarq5977]

@@rachelk7555 Back in the late 70s and 80s they were the only game in town. I do remember a new Target opening up. I loved it, but my mother was very cheap, and Target was, "expensive." Then Walmart came in the late 80s and it was all over.

[@nicholasthompson7690]

We still have a kmart by me in NY. For how much longer, i have no idea. We have no sears after early 2021. Its really sad.

[@kellydeal72]

😄😄😄😄 Sorry, but I had to laugh. I remember my brothers always getting lost in K Mart.

[@Fraudemusic]

What’s interesting is that Kmart in Australia has to be one of the biggest retail success stories within the country. Unbelievably popular with a massive cult following that provides endless free advertising on tiktok. Unfortunately Target is failing though (which I personally think Is the better outlet) with the majority of stores being converted to Kmart

[@MelsArchive]

If you ask me target is just worse Kmart that sells almost nothing but cloths. I’m not sure if that’s just because my local target sucks tho

[@twiztedclown]

Target didn't work here in canada and we apparently accept and pay for anything with open arms. Not sure if that tells you what you need to hear.

[@amberblackler754]

the ANKO rebranding in Aus and NZ definitely helped their success here though, Kmarts were getting a bit stale before that 🤔

[@AllanElMelon1043]

Big W is failing alongside Target. Kmart is just dominating. Its so weird cause a decade ago theyre were so manh Big Ws and Targets and only a few Kmarts

[@FuckXiJinping]

Target in Australia is absolutely shit. Target in the US is just 👍

[@marcjohn9404]

The last time I went to K-Mart was in 2015, and while the experience wasn't the worst ever, when I walked in the door it felt like I was entering a portal into 1998. It looked the way I remember K-Marts looking in the 90s, and it looked similar to how I remember Target and Walmarts looking in the 90s, but the difference is that Walmarts and Targets don't look like that anymore. Only thing that was different really from it being completely 90s was that they had a modern electronics section with the then latest TVs and stuff like that. There was hardly anybody there, as one would expect.

[@ArtimusDragon]

Reminds me of my last experience with them which was on 8/23/16. I don't even think I was even aware of anything going on with Kmart either, But I remember the stores I visited that day to return some online purchases. It was like walking back into the 90s. The stores were in shambles and the employees there looked as if they all just started. I'm still sad about how things turned out for Kmart. Their board of directors should be tried and convicted for destroying such an iconic brand.

[@m42037]

Target looks like Big K all red inside, I don't like Target or Walmart it's a bore. I like Lidl they have excellent pastries that will knock your socks off! Fresh bakery unlike any Kroger or Netto or Penny's

[@Sarah-with-an-H]

Last time I stepped inside of a Kmart was in 2019 right after news got out that they where closing the one in town.ninterestingly they decided to close the store mid December 2019. That means they thought Christmas shopping was a lost cause for that particular store.

[@sporoni4036]

K-mart always felt like it was gonna close. Uncleaned floors, items and clothes on the ground, a very old smell somewhat. My K-Mart got over ran by Walmart and Target when they arrived in my city.

[@angiek3538]

Walmart and target are dirty too and no reward system

[@dougfredricks2017]

The wonderful world of Retail

[@skywalkerchick]

There used to be a Big K-Mart down the street from my apartment but it went under almost immediately when Wal-Mart opened directly across the street from them. Last time I saw anybody in their parking lot was to watch a lunar eclipse

[@jackdamenace13]

@@angiek3538 I’ve worked at all three, Trust me they clean at most of the Targets I’ve been to. Now Walmart is basically the new Kmart. Rundown and a miserable place to shop.

[@nicholasrhodes4550]

That's what Walmart looks like now...

[@INDRIDCOLD83]

Kmart was great when I was a kid, first place where my Mom could get us school clothes on lay-a-way. We didn't have a lot of money and I often got into fights for having low end clothing at school. Still thankful for what she was able to provide for my sister and I as a single Mother. RIP Mom, miss you.

[@GplusGains]

Which decade did you grow up in?

[@ColdRacoons]

I ù

[@leongay3190]

kmart is a lot like disney

[@panatypical]

I had that same problem with not being able to have the same clothing that was considered cool. Now nearly all the clothing you find is inferior.

[@Savage-en1xv]

Just don’t make the same mistake as your mom and have kids without someone to help you and you should be fine

[@MrMartellSincere]

My dad and mother took me to Kmart for clothes and shoes as I had grown up kinda poor and disabled. He made sure I was ok. I miss my dad and may my parents rest in peace 😭 Kmart was my childhood store

[@SindyJ37]

Very nice memories. My grandparents took me to Kmart every other Friday to buy me a new outfit. Very fond memories of it as well. May your parents RIP

[@MrMartellSincere]

@@SindyJ37 thank you good soul. The memories hit hard for me 😢

[@marvthedog1972]

yup.. kmart WAS the place to shot in the 80s and 90s. Until Walmart moved in and started to displace them. I recall many a time going to Kmart and shopping for school supplies, clothes and the like. and If we were really lucky, we'd hit the ritzy Target...

[@bmw328i8]

Same here…

[@joshuabautch8936]

I'm sorry for the loss of your parents

[@stalkerstomper3304]

I'm very surprised that the "layaway" program wasn't mentioned in this video of Kmart's history it was very popular with customers, yet not with corporate.

[@hirowatanabe5219]

Whenever I stepped inside a Kmart store, I always get these 80s and early 90s vibes

[@kylehill3643]

Love those vibes!

[@CaliforniaGurls258]

Miss it so much

[@nicholasrhodes4550]

Me too. The local Kmart was like a trapped pocket of '80s that I could visit when the 2010s sucked too hard.

[@kylehill3643]

@Meat The 2010s were the dark ages of technology starting with Google's forced changes of websites.

[@hakeemsd70m]

@Meat Basically, and that's why the 90's and 00's were so cool! Oh, and I miss Kmart. I had some fond memories there as a kid and teenager.

[@jordsbooktalk5406]

As an Australian it's so odd hearing about kmart in the states, cause over here it's business is going strong! I love going to kmart. It's usually my go to for most things, especially clothes.

[@MBJ84]

Was hoping for this comment lol. Strong as ever here

[@planetschlock]

As someone in America who saw Kmarts die in every town I've ever lived in or visited, that is really cool to hear.

[@johncate9541]

Your Kmarts went independent from the US company many years ago. Sears is almost dead in the US now, too, but it's still going strong in Mexico under different management.

[@IamJay02]

@@johncate9541 I actually do miss Kmart I used to go there all the time with my family

[@elijahtorres2688]

We Americans have Target now 😭!!!

[@bluemouse5039]

Kmart was a big part of my life in the 1970's and 80's, we did almost all our shopping there and have fond memories of Christmas shopping or buying Halloween decorations there with my wife or buying other things like clothes or shoes, Getting a frozen coke or a bag of popcorn before leaving and my kids bothering me for a quarter to put in the machines near the entrance to get one of those plastic bubbles with a toy inside, The store was always so alive full of people shopping or browsing , when I drive by a abandoned Kmart now , It makes my heart ache like seeing a old friends grave

[@ClaudiaMitchell-jn7fw]

You’re Sweet !❤️

[@Tom_Shepperd143]

I was a loss prevention manager for K Mart in 2006 - 2007. My boss told me that in a higher-up meeting, he was told that they were purposely cutting the workforce by like 75% to squeeze as much profit as possible. He even said the company had no integrity. Sears milked the company for everything it was worth knowing that it was going to fail.

[@EdWard-ie5wn]

The joys of capitalism I guess

[@Tom_Shepperd143]

@@EdWard-ie5wn Just any kind of authority is the problem. Power corrupts. It's a law of nature.

[@staringcorgi6475]

Your boss probably knew that the hedge fund just got in to get all of the money out of the 2 brands

[@poodlegodking1661]

I used to work at a Kmart. The clothing section was so dead that you could literally see dust on the floor, as well as footprints from the rare customers that went and looked at the outdated clothing.

[@anidiotsanimationcorner713]

Lol

[@BananaPhoPhilly]

I remember going there and seeing a yankees jersey for sale. It had a player on it that left the team years earlier lol

[@-Ricky_Spanish-]

I worked there when they were going down hill, and it was quite a fall. In 1995 they were so huge, the fire marshal had concerns that we might have TOO many people in the store on your average Sunday. We would be out of shopping carts at any given time because literally all 500 of them were in use. Fast forward just a few years and it was hard to tell if the store was even open. Shelves were bare, fixtures were broken and falling down, and customers were almost as rare as employees on the floor. It was sad to see a company fall so hard so fast, but they just made bad decision after bad decision.

[@StealsAndEatsYourSandwich]

I remember going to one that was closing and I remember leaving and doing a salute to the cashier that looked so dead inside and he said “ Thanks, I needed that “ I hope their doing well.

[@MuerteMorrison]

Funny, one where I'm at was thriving. It had nice clothes too I'm sad they took it out tbh, now it's a lonesome shopping square with one store in it.

[@yeetwoodmack4197]

I worked at K Mart when I was high school. This was ~ 11 or 12 years ago. It was like being stuck in time. It felt like it was perpetually 1990. It played old music, it had not really updated its layout or style (shelves, candy machines, soda machines, the tiles, the doors, the carts), it still had the old lighting, and even some features (like around the registers) were there from 20-30 years prior. It felt like you stepped back in time when you walked in. It was beyond bizarre. It finally closed its doors about 5 years ago.

[@spankynater4242]

Most stores play older music.

[@yeetwoodmack4197]

@@spankynater4242 ehhh yeah, they do. But they usually throw in some modern stuff or stuff from the last 15-20 years. Or they’re playing a modern station that is playing classics. This was strictly old / adult contemporary type. It was different than what other stores today have. I’m pretty sure they had tapes from the 80s and early 90s that they just kept playing and never updated.

[@spankynater4242]

@@yeetwoodmack4197 i’m sure some stores do, but I’ve been in mini stores that play nothing but 70s and 80s, and that never made them feel dated to me.

[@yeetwoodmack4197]

@@spankynater4242 okay. I don’t know why you’re hung up on this. If you read the comment in it’s entirety you would have understood that it wasn’t strictly the music alone that made me feel that way. It was the totality of the situation. The layout, style, design etc. it had not been updated.

[@spankynater4242]

@@yeetwoodmack4197 Settle down, at least I gave some life to your comment. And I’m still correct, many, if not most stores play old music. And I get what you’re saying about traveling back in time. I never experienced that at Kmart, but we all perceive things differently.

[@jadesea562]

I remember my last purchase at K mart. I bought 13 inch spinning hub caps for my 1996 2 door mits mirage, in 2004. I remember the smell, how it was cluttered and dank. I remember thinking it felt like I was walking into a relic of the past, and that it was dying for some reason. That K mart ceased to exist about a year later. I've seen very few ever since.

[@98-SR5]

Must have been one slick Mirage with those on it lol.

[@jadesea562]

@@98-SR5 lol yea it was pretty rad

[@16maze]

I remember when Kmart was going out of business, a lot of their toys were on sale and I ended up getting a bunch of tech deck sets. It was glorious. Rip kmart

[@joelbizzell1386]

About three years ago ours closed up. My oldest nephew (who is only five years younger than me, so we really grew up more like cousins) was in town, and it was their very last weekend open. So he and I decided to pop in, for old times sake...as many, many, many of our childhood memories were of being dragged there by our moms. There was a Little Ceasar's pizza place in the store, so it wasn't always bad...but the hours we spent in those days looking at toys we couldn't have, browsing the games our folks wouldn't buy us, and looking at all the movies we weren't allowed to watch. The things we all used to do while mom shopped, y'know? Anyway. We went in, and to see it empty and barren...we were just two grown ass men holding back tears. Just saying "hey, remember when..." or "then that one time..." One last memory from the K-Mart.

[@SomeBody-rm6hf]

F

[@pataker7875]

K Mart and Toys R Us, many of my favorite childhood memories happened there and I had no idea at the time.

[@SpicyMang0s]

@@SomeBody-rm6hf F

[@ray85158]

I worked for both K-mart in the 80's in the stores and Sears at corp headquarters. K-mart downfall started in the 80's. Their inventory control and ordering was a disaster. We could not order products in demand because some buyer at corp would make these "awesome deals" on products no one wanted. This inventory would then be pushed to the stores in what was called a GO (general order). This junk would eat up inventory dollars and prevent ordering products people wanted. Then we would have to blow the crap out the door way below cost to just get rid of it. Sears was struggling in the late 90's early 2000's to redefine the company for the next generation of shoppers. They just kept going back to old ways of doing things. Every decision in HQ was by committee. Nothing would ever get done. There were too many lifers at HQ. "This is the way we have always done it." Then they sold Sears Credit. Huge mistake. This is what happens when the CEO, at the time, was a bean counter. It was the profit engine of the company. IMO this was done to make the company less valuable. Sears then took a billion dollars from the sale and guess what, bought a bunch of former K-Mart locations. K-mart now getting cash from Sears and others that bought locations used this to turn around buy out a reduced value Sears. A brilliant plan to set the stage for what comes next. Dear Eddie robbed both companies of anything of value and drove them both into the ground. He gets richer while every employee gets laid off and pensions go up in smoke. One would think this should be a crime.

[@lisagillum-wells1979]

A crime, indeed. I'm sorry that you lost your job and the other hard working people did. I have memories of my mom and I going to KMart and eating nachos, at the cafe. Layaway, Blue Light Specials, and just an enjoyable shopping experience. Honestly, I hate Walmart. I've proven to folks that Target beats them on alot of stuff. Here in the DFW Texas area, we have new Kroger stores that include furniture, jewelry, toy, and clothes. I get alot of compliments and funny looks, when I respond I got it at Kroger. :)

[@aw55550]

Feudalism never went away

[@Eastsid3]

Thanks for sharing this

[@-REMOwilliams]

Wow, didn't know that. Makes sense.

[@Gebora]

at the very least he should of been investigated, how you describe the situation sounds a bit like Embezzlement to me..

[@billnotice9957]

I loved the K Mart cafeteria. The biggest mistake was merging with Sears and trying to become Wall mart!

[@mikefm4]

Such an odd feeling seeing pictures of all these smiling cashiers. These people worked day in and day out like we all do and now their entire work legacy is rotting shells of stores left abandoned. Kmart like Sears and Penney just became a neglected company that never really tried and probably thought everything around it was a “little guy” not worthy of changing for.

[@jlandon6028]

I agree with you on Kmart and Sears but JC Penney had great buyers especially their clothing lines, High quality merch and their stores we're gorgeous. The first 2 are gone forever but JC Penney could come back if they drop the woke crap and get back to what made them famous.

[@jlandon6028]

Of course I don't know the Sins of the Company if there are any. There may not be any.

[@thesteelrodent1796]

Sears messed up when they got rid of their mail order service, the very thing that made them big, and focused on physical stores instead. Then a few years later internet sales exploded and Sears bled customers left and right. By the time they got their online store going it was already too late - people had learned to shop elsewhere and Sears went into freefall. If they'd stuck with the mail order and closed down the physical stores when things got tight, there's a good chance they could've survived and wouldn't have gone into the death spiral with Kmart

[@christophernicholson20]

It's really fascinating and sad at the same time the way retailers have come and gone throughout the years decades I can remember being kid during the 80s and mostly the 90s going with my parents and going shopping at these stores Sears, K-mart......etc. it's amazing how things have changed so quickly. Owners and Vice Presidents of major retail stores have to make a profit but some point they have to realize I'm a millionaire making millions of dollars and then all of sudden Covid hits or we have to file for bankruptcy. I can't even imagine

[@giadap9501]

hate to tell you this but i dont think they were that emotionally attached to their minimum wage job bagging groceries

[@turituser1239]

my mom worked at K-mart in LA until it was closed. with her being out of a job and not being financially stable to live in California, we moved and my mom started her own business. Kmart closing could have arguably been the best outcome for us in the long run.

[@LuchadorMasque]

Jesus, what's a kmark in LA like? I see riots and forearms in my head rn.

[@turituser1239]

@@LuchadorMasque it was early 2000s so it was pretty normal.

[@monkeyslayer4065]

Good for you and your family I’m glad it has a happy outcome

[@Earth2McKay]

Yeah moving away from LA is always a good life choice.. No one should be a slave for a shitty home

[@nesiahcoward3864]

Hear me out, college essay.

[@topnep548]

“Really, just look at the state of JCPenney or Kmart, two brands that I will probably cover in the future.” - _Jake, Abandoned - Bradlees Department Store_

[@trevonpernell0814]

Well, he did cover Kmart...

[@Person_In_HD]

Lol

[@ajburrr]

Looking forward to the JCPenney one!

[@anglecado]

Same with other ones like Forever 21 and Chuck E Cheese! Oh man, Jake must have so many ideas!

[@bothpoint8667]

Depending on if this Simon and Brookfield thing works out JCPenney could either be saved or be facing bankruptcy and liquidation in the near future. However the fact that a good portion of JCPenney’s are in fact located in Simon and Brookfield malls tells me that JCPenney will be fine. At least for the next decade or 3-5 years if things go really wrong.

[@Mentalbox52]

My kmart was a big kmart with a sears on the side. Despite being a busy area, k mart was always empty. My mom hated the rude busy crowd of walmart so this was our ideal shopping place. We stopped going there after a rude confrontation with an elderly employee. It closed not long after and was left abandoned for years. Luckily someone bought the location and changed into a u-haul.

[@loydkline4686]

Kmart at it peak had everything sell pets, restaurant, popcorn,, toys, movies music , camera, film deveolpment

[@thomaspenderel]

In 1975 I was hired by KMART for the grand opening of their South Willow Street, Manchester NH store. It was big, brand new and they had a hot peanut vender out front as you entered the store, I couldn't resist that. I was hired as a cashier (I tried to get a stockman position as I tended to freeze up in crowds but they said it's cashier or nothing (yeah it didn't go well). Aside from the hot peanut vendor the thing I liked most was the grille at the back of the store. That store Is long gone now, I only lasted six months before they fired me (I came to work one day to find out I no longer had a job, nice management). The hot peanut vender was good, the grille was good and some of the girls who worked there were for lack of a better word, slutty and that was fun. 😁

[@SorasShadow1]

My clearest memories of Kmart stores mostly involve just how *old* the buildings were, everything had that sort of "thirty years old dirty" where it's probably being cleaned but it's just so old and starting to decay that no amount of scrubbing can do away with it.

[@loydkline3760]

Walmarts& meijer had different stuff, walmarts had different brands of foods, toys, & other stuff, same with meijer ,

[@sheilaolfieway1885]

Never saw k-mart as dirty.. it was just as clean as walmart... then again we're probably talking about diffrent store locations.

[@Richard-od7yd]

Check out DOLLAR GENERAL if you want to see filth !!

[@burningdust]

This is the perfect description. Experienced the same up in Canada

[@cat-le1hf]

Yep. The kind of dirt that can only be painted over.

[@ryankenyon5010]

When I was a kid, you never wanted to be spotted shopping there. "Your mom shops at Kmart" was a huge burn.

[@fryloc359]

I remember that.

[@TrojanViruzz]

People say the same for Walmart now

[@vallove8941]

Yes, yes it was lol

[@pato6672]

Back in the day (I'm 65). I was 12, wanted a pair of Converse ($9.95). My dad said, are you crazy, I can get you 4 pair of tennis shoes at K Mart for that price! Funny to reminisce!!

[@Eastsid3]

@@saavedraguitar626 😄

[@tywolfplaysMC]

As someone who worked at one of the last Kmarts left in california I do have mixed feelings of nostalgia and sadness for the company. Growing up in my home town the primary retailers we had access to were Kmart and Radioshack. I started working there in highschool around the time most of the closures took place and eventually quit to join the army not too long after transformco was the new face of the corporation. Flash forward a year later and on flying home for christmas that Kmart too now was shuttered for good. To work in the waning months of not only that location's but the company as a whole's lifespan was dreary to say the least. Most of the shelves were full of gaps where items just weren't being resupplied or products collecting dust for months. Holiday season was still extremely busy at my location but I think thats part in parcel to the fact that the store was in a rural community. By the time I had put in my two weeks I think the writing was on the wall for those of us still working there. I don't know what became of my coworkers after the closure but I do remember feeling sad for some of the management who had spent their whole career at that location and now had very uncertain futures in regards to retirement.

[@michaeltrevino201]

Fun fact: I live in the town with the only Kmart remaining in California. That place is busting at the seams everyday. If you thought "People of Walmart" was a thing, then you need to come see the "Creatures of Kmart" or as my uncle refers to them "UFO's" (Unidentified Fuckin Oddballs)

[@gobbletegook]

SO TRUE! I've seen those pictures of how people dress up to go to WALMART, but they forget about the ones that go (went) to KMART!

[@largedoggo3194]

cringe

[@tompaulcampbell]

What town? I heard the last one closed a short time after you wrote that!

[@mrtree1368]

The only reason why the one in Santa Rosa closed was because it burned down a couple years ago and the little Ceasars in the store definitely would of kept it open

[@luedog8385]

people of zodies

[@wallbirds]

I'm starting to honestly believe that Australia is just an alternate dimension

[@Ruinedtri]

No Target here is just crap 🤣. When I contacted them once about why they have so much better stuff in America and the headquarters here in Australia told me they have the same name but are basically a different company. Target here can be good but we don't get anywhere near as nice stuff.

[@Cline3911]

Yeah really. Burger King? No! Hungry Jacks!

[@miizuakiya]

lmao i live in australia

[@miizuakiya]

@@Cline3911 hungry jacks actually tastes good though

[@miizuakiya]

@@Ruinedtri I remember going to target when i was 4 or 5. It didn’t look crap suprisingly

[@ragingraichu219]

I miss Kmart. Got some good stuff there. Kroger took over our old Kmart.

[@alexandrasahoye5380]

As a teenager I shopped at Kmart.I love there prices and style.I work for both and Zellers and Sears they are great to there staff.I am happy Zellers is coming back.I do not care for Walmart .I truly feel they hurt Zellers .

[@BrendaD72]

I can remember stopping to listen when they would announce a blue light special that was going on. 😂

[@Zero-yd7dm]

Kmart always felt like it was in “store closing” mode.

[@turandorf]

Reminds me of the Frys Electronics store by me. It should have closed like 5 years ago, but nope still there, now with horribly low stock.

[@thatdude123]

@@turandorf agreed

[@TheGrayton2000]

@@thatdude123 had that grey sky gloomy feeling i loved

[@papeysmelgarejo1880]

Ikr

[@papeysmelgarejo1880]

Next 5 below

[@jenniferdaulby5519]

This is strange to hear because here in Australia, KMart is a big deal. Most stores are modern & well maintained. I can remember when the first store opened in Adelaide, South Australia.

[@staringcorgi6475]

At some point in that chain’s history they became independent from the american entity

[@BigSwarovskii]

Seeing a abandoned K-mart is like traveling back in time. It sends chills down your spin 😅

[@riseabove3082]

The bad stigma had already started in the late 80's as a kid; my parents bought all my clothes from Kmart back then but at school you would never tell anyone that's where your clothes came from unless you wanted to be harassed by them. Nobody wanted to be wearing Kmart clothes at school even though I'm sure many did they just would never admit it.

[@lauritzburbank660]

Don’t forget blue light special 😂🤣

[@angiek3538]

They had pretty good work Jean's and stuff in the 2000s

[@douglasrowland3722]

THAT'S SAD because it has never been anybody elses business where you got your clothes from !!!!!!!!!!!...be grateful you had them.

[@mrnonsense1031]

A teacher I had in middle school used to refer to Kmart as "K-ame Apart" 🤣

[@mannyb332211]

Pain

[@SpinelFan64]

My local store survived closing after closing, until finally kicking the bucket on December 15, 2019.

[@mats7492]

COVID would’ve killed it surely anyway

[@socommaster]

In nj?

[@squigin3380]

F

[@ronnieo.6647]

Redlands Ca

[@blackonblackseven]

Bishop, CA ?

[@Busch22Fan]

Fun fact: The 'lime green concept' Peoria location shown here started out life as a Venture Department Store. Recent passes by the Google Maps car show the facade starting to fade and fall apart, with the diagonal striping Venture was famous for starting to show through.

[@sonicsega6]

We used to have a Kmart literally across the street from the local Walmart, it closed in early 2020 and I'm honestly surprised it lasted as long as it did

[@antiseth3964]

I remember back in 2014-2015 they had this “Ship Your Pants” ad campaign that was hysterical and drew a lot of attention to the brand. It’s a shame they couldn’t capitalize on stuff like that, because most of the reaction among my friends was “wait, K-mart is still a thing?”

[@GummyDinosaursify]

"Big Gas Savings" too

[@andrewhaywood1262]

A shame they couldn't create more zingers like that. Reminds me of how Jack In The Box was in serious trouble after an E.coli outbreak in 1993. They were able to remedy the situation but the damage had been done, so to save the company, they took a gamble and created a crazy new ad campaign that brought their old mascot Jack the clown out of retirement. Low and behold, it worked and the company rebounded.

[@Snicketbar]

I was just thinking that. When I was watching this video.

[@princevlad4195]

I remember that ad. It didn’t run very long. Seemed more people laughed at Kmart. I really think they didn’t mean to intentionally run that to be funny. Plus I was surprised Kmart had enough money to run a commercial a commercial.

[@fryloc359]

I didnt realize that "Ship my pants" was that long ago. I'm sure it got attention and people wanting to shop there again for nostalgia.

[@Thagesthoughts]

Moral of the story: don't hire people like Eddie Lampert to run your business. All he's going to do is drive them into the ground while making as much money for himself as he can, then he jumps ship once the desiccated husk can't support his leeching anymore.

[@hikimi18]

Basically Eddie Lampert took the money and run.

[@ronniewatkins]

Fast Eddie belongs in prison!!!

[@douglasrowland3722]

There are many like that

[@kyoyameganebereznoff]

Sounds like it should be more like Eddie Lamprey.

[@kylehill3643]

It's called capitalism my dear. The freedom of enterprise! Until it's no longer free that is!

[@trclark7689]

I miss going to KMart, it really brings me back to my childhood in the 80's. I've read that there are currently only three surviving stores in operation in the US, One in Miami, one in New Jersey, and one on Long Island, NY.

[@ssgpentland8241]

Last time I walked into a K-mart in Des Moines Iowa, it was like walking 25 years back in time. Old Floorplans, narrow isles, moonscape parking lot FULL of potholes long 80's vintage fluorescent lights, analog cash registers and beige/white wire shelving. It was bizarre.....and they closed a month later

[@laustinspeiss]

You’re describing most of the USA since the early 1970s

[@Wolf_Mama]

The KMart near me finally died 2 months ago. It was a tough old store - lasted a hell of a lot longer than I expected it to.

[@jimbabbbson7653]

The store in my hometown closed down in February of this year. Half of it is a discount store in the style of an Ollie’s (fun fact: this place is a toilet) and the other half is empty and I don’t know what they’re doing with it yet

[@EJBuddy]

Mine closed in 2014

[@douglasrowland3722]

Was it so old that the toilets were stained ?????

[@jimbabbbson7653]

@@douglasrowland3722 For mine, I was too scared to use the bathrooms

[@Ward1706]

*_confused in Australian_* For reference, in Australia, K-Mart is still alive and kicking.

[@evanwalters3333]

Quite the opposite here in the U.S, but I'm glad that you still get to experience it. Cheers, Mate

[@euantiernan6991]

It's not just alive and kicking, it's thriving. I'm pretty sure it's the largest and most profitable retail brand (not incl. Supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths) in Australia. All their stores are extremely modern and well put-together, they have by FAR the best clothes and home a living section I have EVER seen in a department store.

[@Tiger-fv3nl]

@@euantiernan6991 it's a different unrelated chain called Kmart. They are not the same company

[@PurplePinkRed]

Australian here. Interesting to see the decline of Target (removal of Target Country stores in favour of a Kmart rebranding). People like value, but don't want cheap looking products. Kmart filled the gap that traditional "cheapie" stores, like The Reject Shop, didn't fill. Sleek, modern looking products without hefty prices. Target just keeps getting more and more expensive, favouring brand name products more than in the past. I suspect Target will be gone in 20 years, and they'll all be Kmart rebrandings or sold off in an area that already has a Kmart. Kmart is our Wal-Mart, and isn't owned by Kmart US. That's what confuses Americans when I tell them how good it is, because they generally see Kmart as shitty. I visited Wal-Mart in the US, and it has some elements of BIG W too in terms of layout and the bulk buys. A hybrid BIG W/Kmart style store is what the Australian market really needs, but it'll never happen. We are always 10 years behind the US with retail 🤣

[@renohasbigtits]

He mentioned that in the video

[@DefextOfficial]

Kmart is one of the staple memories I had as a kid growing up in the 80's. Pure 80's nostalgia when I think back to being in one. Thank you for this time trip!

[@ForklifterMatt]

Thanks for making this! This is such a trip to watch. I worked at Kmart for four years, two of those years as a manager, and man, oh man, what a dysfunctional company. But, I had a lot of great coworkers and made lifelong friends. Good times

[@johnpabst2960]

I can remember K-Mart always mocked, and children being picked on for shopping there. I remember the stores themselves as overrun, poorly organized, and pretty shabby at times. Walmart is taking over this mantle now.

[@drstupid4366]

Yep .....Wal Mart is falling fast .

[@kjlahti782]

Every Wal-Mart I have been in with in the last 3 years looks like K-marts did before they closed up. Dirty, no customer service, prices on the shelves not matching what they ring up, of course the price being higher at the register.

[@drstupid4366]

@@kjlahti782 Same here . Wal Mart is going backwards.

[@drstupid4366]

@Paula Carson Thats because they are changing the prices every 10 minutes! !!

[@akaaccount]

TJ Maxx

[@withlessAsbestos]

My whole town is still sad about a Kmart that closed 4 years ago

[@Thatguy55595]

K

[@reasonablemagic]

Crazy that just watching this a year later there’s only four stores in the US

[@blockrocka225]

I had a Big K in my hometown. We were by no means a small town, but it had a decent enough market share when all it had to compete with was Meijer since we didn't have a Walmart. But the second we got a Target, it was curtains. I went in there only once after the company started to go downhill hard in the 2000s, and man, it was one of the most depressing things I've ever seen. It was like one of those r/liminalspaces pictures come to life.

[@james1551]

I was an electronic lead for years at Kmart. I just recently got the chance to explore the old Kmart I worked at with a local crew of urban explorers. It was so creepy, overwhelming, and exciting at the same time. It’s terrifying how all the abandoned stores look the same inside and out.

[@timmturner]

You must not have invested in their 401k or you would have mentioned losing it all when they filed bankruptcy.

[@dorothymurray7244]

I worked at Kmart for 11yrs when l lived in Waterbury, CT. I started off as a cashier but after a few weeks went overnight as a stocker.Loved working overnight, only 5 of us there,no one to bother us.We just did our work,no worries. The only l worked at closed Nov.of 2013.

[@TSBJunkie]

Maybe you can help me find an employee working in Electronics. I don't think I saw a single worker in that section in the last 10 years I went to K-Mart.

[@dorothymurray7244]

The last Kmart l went into that was close to where l live now shutdown a little over 2yrs ago.Whenever l went in they had no one working Electronics either.If you needed help you had to go looking for someone. When l worked Kmart yrs.ago l was overnight but whenever l was there during the day there was always 2 people working the area.

[@teuast]

Man, I can't imagine working at a place and then seeing it abandoned later. That's gotta be freaky as hell.

[@brandonb1681]

No matter what they did, K-Mart stores were always dingy, dirty, and claustrophobic with yellowed plastic bins, cracked floor tiles and water stained ceiling tiles.

[@BlueWhisperer]

Don’t forget the bathrooms were like Calcutta in July 🤢😩

[@johnp139]

Anything dinghy or dirty or dusty, anything ragged or rotten or rusty, I love it because it’s TRASH! Oh I LOVE TRASH!

[@dtoy1809]

@@BlueWhisperer lol. That sounds fucking disgusting

[@BlueWhisperer]

@@dtoy1809 Going into a Kmart back in the day made me feel like I needed a tetanus shot afterwards. I never understood why ppl shopped there!

[@Uncle_Fred]

@@dtoy1809 It really was. These stores were not nice places. Even as a kid in the 90's, I remember seeing the rot. Surprised they lasted as long as they did.

[@centralgermanymapping7903]

There was a K-Mart in my town actually, it was crazy to think that this was the story. I went inside of it, other than it looking really old, the vibe in the building was really something. I went there as a younger kid. I remember the vibe being something different than any other store. My town really reacted in a way to it I’ve never seen. Nobody was really happy.

[@bradyvillamor9192]

When the Kmart iny hometown finally closed, I went with my friend (who was one of the final employees there) to start tearing the displays down. It was surreal as a store I grew up going to suddenly close.

[@adamb2216]

the saddest of all department stores in my experience has go to be Sears. every Sears i went into in the midwest felt like a half empty cheapo department store that hadn't gotten new stock of anything in months.

[@hralf6041]

Everything they sold was $5.00 to $15.00 more than at other retailers . Their value was the Craftsman and Kenmore lines. The clothing was always outdated and the electronics were too pricey.

[@slowpie]

@@silentservant_ ya. I worked there in the 90s. it was a good time.

[@sickstuff7624]

Sears used to be a top notch retailer. They had most of their stores in malls and had to look the part. Their stores looked great.

[@hotrodhunk7389]

Went to get belt for a lawnmower they make. They didn't have it in stock. Ok. And they wanted three times what amazon is charging. Ok. And it would take three weeks to arrive. Ah no thanks, never went back after that.

[@mikesteelheart]

I worked at Sears, it's a terrible company. Always short staffed, got paid $7.75/hr to unload semi-tractor loads of appliances part-time.

[@rwdplz1]

"Kmart was renovating older stores" Just that sentence makes my head explode.

[@ChevyCamaroIsBetter]

Some Kmart stores in Florida were pretty nice!

[@markoz673bajen8]

Antique

[@AllMustJump]

The kmart (which are still open) in my city is weird. The store look nice and has a modern atmosphere (kinda like a target with all the red) but the technology they have is so out of date.

[@sirekumasutra7022]

There was a Kmart near me that did a full renovation and closed down 6-9 months later.

[@Fatal1Inch]

There is only 35 Kmart Stores left in the US and US territories

[@TSBJunkie]

I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and I remember my grandma always taking me up to the snack bar to get popcorn and slushies when K-Mart was big. Good memories. Our local K-Mart was abandoned for a few years, but they've recently remade it into a makeshift strip mall consisting of Aldi, Five Below, Ulta Beauty, and Ross. They turned the Sears into a healthcare facility. I'm surprised that more retailers haven't done similar things with the old buildings considering most of the K-Marts were in prime commercial areas, at the time at least. Digressing though. From my perspective, K-Mart failed b/c they got huge, became "the" go-to department store, and failed to adapt to fight off Walmart and Target, moreso Walmart b/c Target stores are a different type of department store and don't really cater to the same groups of people. Every time I went into K-Mart, I struggled to find an associate to help me with anything, and the people I found were almost never helpful. Walmart gets a bad rap for its employees, but K-Mart's employees were in a league of their own for awfulness. The stores looked rundown and dated, and I stopped going there entirely despite the nearest Walmart / Target being twice as far away b/c their selection and prices were terrible. I still think they would have been ok for a while despite Walmart's meteoric rise, but Amazon dealt them a deathblow. K-Mart still enjoyed modest sales due to its sheer number of stores, but when you could just get things online quickly and cheaper from Amazon, it made going to K-Mart pointless. I honestly don't know that they could have done anything differently to prevent their demise, although the boneheaded decisions of higher-ups certainly accelerated the decline. It was obvious that there wasn't room for both Walmart and K-Mart in the same retail space, and Walmart does what it does so well (i.e. hostile takeovers of localities' department and now grocery stores) that K-Mart never really stood a chance.

[@simon_a.j.7255]

I remember most Kmart electronics and appliance boxes on shelves were already opened, and the items inside were either scratched, broken or had missing pieces.

[@star_is_a_potato]

It's funny how in America Target is huge whereas here in Australia they are literally rebranding into Kmarts bc they're the same company and Kmarts do better.

[@mariosnyd]

They are ?

[@blakeharrison5948]

@@mariosnyd Yes, target and kmart are owned by The Kmart Group

[@Scott_From_Maine]

@@blakeharrison5948 K Mart and Target in Australia aren't connected to the American companies.

[@blakeharrison5948]

@@Scott_From_Maine Westfarmers owns the australian Kmart and Target, with Kmart group being their subsidiary. So yes, there is a Kmart Group in the AU and it is owned by another parent company, Westfarmers.

[@michaelferguson5611]

It shows how the small things count. Once K-Mart was branded Kame-Apart (as in cheap came apart clothes) and kids from the poor side of town invented the word Targe (pronounced Tar-jay) to make it sound sophisticated it was all over in USA because Target was more fashion forward Target ran with it and K-Mart died. All because off the little things in quality. Both (K-Mart and Target) trying to sell themselves to a discount population who want to be a step extreme discounter small local brand stores.

[@jsncrso]

One big thing missed here: Their older stores were in older, more run down parts of town and cities, while newer competitors were built in the nicer outskirts of towns in new developments

[@bryanhernandez2004]

love love love these videos, I'm so intrigued by all these huge retailers that fell off. I remember when I was kid, like 2014 era seeing K-mart disappear and turn into a cub.... honestly K-mart was the precursor to Walmart before they took off. I be learning more here than anywhere I had no idea K-mart still had businesses open and that they were run alongside Sears.

[@bobfitzpatrick8952]

This was a big part of my growing up in Cincinnati. When my mother first watched "Rain Man" where he talks of a K-mart on Oak Street, my mother replied, "They did have a K-mart there, and I used to shop at it."

[@thequesomanishere]

K-Mart had the interior of a messy, cheap, overstock store like Big Lots, but prices on par with nicer stores like Target. So the stores were shitty, and not that cheap. The only reason anyone would go to K-Mart would be because they want to feel like they were in 1989, or because they haven't finished building the Wal-Mart down the road yet.

[@GabeHandle]

The last few years it was like a large convenient store when you didn't want to drive a little out of the way.

[@xygomorphic44]

So true. Every time I went into Kmart it was like stepping into a time machine to the 1990s. When people tell me Kmart was at one time larger than Wal mart and target it's hard to believe because I have no pleasant memories of that store

[@theoriginalkaro]

KMart was too expensive considering the quality of goods.

[@aknownthug2832]

My mother worked for k mart in their deli when they 1st opened in Minnesota. She visited stores and routinely picked up pizza from a Little Caesars store that was in the k mart right up until closure of all Minnesota locations.

[@happychair4880]

Nothing better than finally getting out of school and watch some abandoned k mart

[@percyyt7201]

Holiday Vacations, yay!

[@jandajanda2242]

Just finished my final final exam so hooray for holiday break

[@mrkrabs3230]

same

[@gurvirj479]

Same here! Just finished the semester! :)

[@TC-oi5pk]

Froggy Chair

[@pendremacherald6758]

My hometown had a Big KMart until the 2019 Christmas season. When they liquidated, someone even got to buy the Big KMart sign.

[@artdeco1930s]

I'm Australian, and I worked for Kmart (in Australia ) for over 10 years. The management culture was one of constant cost cutting & skimping on everything regardless of performance of the company. It was NEVER quiet. Customers always. Staff weren't treated greatly, and morale was always... always low. Maybe things have changed since then. I don't know. Today, as a customer, I shop at my local Kmart all the time (in Western Australia), and whenever I do, it's always busy & crowded with shoppers. I love the brand because the prices are so low, and they've got pretty much everything I need. It's a great place to shop ! I recall when working for Kmart, at around 3:30pm each and every day, we had to do what was called a recovery, which meant tidying up our departments after customers disheveled the merchandise displays & shelves of stock. This meant the place was always well presented. As a customer, the place is always clean, and I almost always get what I want at a really good price. I love it. In the same shopping centre, there's also a Target. I hardly ever go there, and when I do, it's always dead, as in, it's near deserted. Their prices are a bit higher, and recently, my local Target 🎯 got smaller, because a portion of their floor area became an ALDI. Interestingly, the Target 🎯 in the City (Perth) closed down, and is now a.....guess what?....yep.....a Kmart!

[@Those3Dudes]

Bright Sun Films: *Abandoned intro plays* Me: Rolling Acres Mall rolls into my mind

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

"Do you got Miss Piggy?"

[@johnp139]

My friend’s parents had a greeting card store there.

[@anglecado]

Lol i still have flashbacks from that vid

[@thanakonpraepanich4284]

How many dead mall youtube channels were launched by that mall?

[@tamed144]

My mom used to work for a K-mart in Texas, she said every morning they had to go through the store and throw away anything RATS had eaten

[@christinazeitman]

Was it the one in houston near the heights?

[@kellydeal72]

Nasty!!!! 🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@tamed144]

@@christinazeitman it was one in Houston for sure

[@JTA1961]

RATical

[@douglasrowland3722]

LISTEN to that !!!!!!

[@DanTheMan2024Official]

Kmart’s still thriving down under in Australia. I go to Kmart and absolutely love it. Unbelievable though to see this once-powerful retailer in the USA disappear. Love your content. ❤

[@DrDingsGaster]

My hometown's kmart closed only a couple years ago. I honestly really liked shopping there tbh and it wasn't as dilapidated or disorganized as a lot of other stores would have been. It was a great alternative to walmart and their crappy treatment of employees and their cafe (before it closed) was really good. It was a staple for the elderly community to go get breakfasts as it was close to one of the assisted living communities by the hospital. (You could see the houses from kmart's parking lot). When my dad called and said it was closing finally, I was actually kinda sad. Rip Kmart.

[@QuintonReviews]

A year ago my dad and I went on a roadtrip that passed through Ohio and we forced ourselves to stop and go to a Kmart, just because theres so few now. It was really run down, but open. I used to live in a small town, and Kmart was always the place that had EVERYTHING you could need but got 10 visitors a day, I was not shocked it closed.

[@eggyboi8791]

Was it the one in Fostoria?

[@Junokaii]

Was like when I went out of town and found a Walmart with the old logo where it was white bold letters with lines through it and a star in the middle. I had to at the very least take a picture.

[@americansmark]

Before we had a Kroger in southeast ohio, the south zanesville kmart was the only place to get food and clothes. Now there are dozens of places, 90% of which are far nicer. Ssd fall.

[@staceycoates1418]

I am from Ohio, we've had three in the area and the last one closed about a year ago. :( Though out of the three that is the only one where the building is being used. And indoor farmer's market is held there once a week, (I think.).

[@_BeaverDuck]

Tbh I went to K Mart only like once in my whole life when I was a kid. There was only one near where I live and my parents never wanted to shop there. We always went to Target. I assume it was probably because of how tired looking the K Mart stores were. I think I remember the one I went to when I was a kid had roller skates in the sporting goods department and I wanted to get them. K Mart seems to look run down to me even in photos from their heyday.

[@bigk7788]

I remember when ACE hardware was in the process of being purchased by Kmart. When that news got out something changed and kmart went after Sears. ACE hardware dodged a bullet...

[@Clay3613]

How would that work considering the employees own ACE?

[@bigk7788]

@@Clay3613 not sure, might have been why kmart switched up and purchased Sears. I just remember reading a letter that was given to my brother and father that both worked at ACE stating Kmart was acquiring them. Witch never happened and that same ACE is still opened.

[@popawakeprod]

It’s so weird to see how Kmart failed so spectacularly in the US, while they’re seemingly one of the most successful and well liked department stores in Australia

[@justayoutuber1906]

In America, they "went under." In Australia, they are "down under."

[@cubriffic172]

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Kmart Australia fully split from Kmart US in the 90s, and the fact that management was actually competent when Kmart Australia started showing signs of decline in the late 2000s

[@Kamau1865]

I grew up in England, but most years we would take a family trip to Orlando. This is where we discovered K-Mart. This was back in the era of the Nintendo 64 and I got to play-test Goldeneye 007 at KMart before it had even been released in the UK. This of course gave me great kudos with my N64 obsessed mates. I remember the strange look a teenage black K-Mart worker gave me as I purchased an LL Cool J album, and an Oasis - Live at Wembley CD, simultaneously. The clothing range K-Mart stocked was also superb. I loved how a size 'medium' was like a UK triple extra large. Suddenly I was exposed to the world of Floridian sports franchises like the Gators and the Seminoles, who play baseball or hockey or something. I'm all seriousness, K-Mart was an important part of some of the best memories of my childhood. I would definitely feel sad if it were to go out of business.

[@ARTV-]

Definitely did NOT expect to see my Instagram comment in the intro, did a double take 👀 Thanks for the content Jake!

[@omegaO_O]

First

[@RickyPro888]

Why are you here? Lol

[@jacksonmeads1161]

@darrell holland understandable. Have a great day

[@DuffyLONER64]

Oh, hey Jon lol

[@BeamerTheFox]

how nice.

[@PeterTurbo4]

The last time I walked into a Kmart, it felt like I was walking into the Backrooms.

[@tackytrooper]

That's EXACTLY the vibe

[@-elchoya9832]

you probably did,did you enter from the back of the store?

[@PeterTurbo4]

@@-elchoya9832 I....I don't remember

[@mattwalters6834]

Same

[@OikPoinFive]

@@mattwalters6834 Me to empty kmart = Boy, are u a sight for soar eyes! (Watch, this silly comment will garner me like 56k likes!) Yikes!

[@Joseph-jj7bw]

We had a Kmart in my hometown, it had a Little Caesar's. People still preferred the hour's drive to Walmart in the next town over. About ten years before Kmart closed down its parking lot started getting eaten up by auto parts stores and later a police station. The place smelled like grease and dirt, and it was faster to check-out in the garden area which had no climate control and was freezing cold half of the year. My family used to call the place "Came-apart" because part of the roof caved-in while we were shopping and got us covered in dirty water.

[@dronepro7316]

In 1999 I went to the Kmart in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. It was actually very well put together. Reminded me of what Target looks like now.

[@pathwaysmadepublic]

"Shark dies in Kmart commercial shoot in the valley." That is certainly some bad press.

[@c0oldug273]

Millions get killed when taken from the ocean and get sold as flake: no one cares.

[@dertythegrower]

@@c0oldug273 Flake? It gets turned into shark fin soup, worse than flakes,as only the fins are kept for the soup heh

[@c0oldug273]

@@dertythegrower actually theres way les dolphin fin soup than there is flake, flake is litteraly every boneless fish you can buy.

[@DrumWild]

Jumping the shark just wasn't good enough. They had to kill it.

[@johnr4298]

Moral of the story: Unintelligent and greedy executives kill companies.

[@viper2131]

It could still survive but inept executives have been hemorrhaging it. It was killed on purpose just like Sears.

[@johnr4298]

@@viper2131 Eddie Lampert should be in prison.

[@tonyu5985]

That could also kill a country.

[@ravevolution]

Lampert being one of the worst

[@rabbytca]

@@viper2131 I don't believe that those executives were unintelligent nor inept, rather the opposite. Their allegiances were simply not to the employees, communities, lenders and suppliers. They maintained large personal salaries and distributed massive dividends to shareholders (themselves) all while selling off real assets, profitable brand names (particularly from their Sears product line up) and de-funding pension funds. Those dividends offset an anticipated drop in share value without having to sell their controlling interests, effectively profiting in advance of creditor payments each time bankruptcy is declared.

[@masterofbloopers]

I remember going to Kmart as a kid for video games and LEGO sets when my family was too lazy to drive to Toys "R" Us. My sister worked at our local Kmart for a couple of months before its closure. Good times.

[@kittymalcolm7791]

My towns k mart got turned into a Ross after 15 years of sitting abandoned. The empty sadness still lives on in that building, as it's one of the most depressing Ross stores I've been too.

[@SuperKitaroShinX]

Even if they’re low on popularity, Kmart still has a place in my heart (Along with Toys R Us, Circuit City, KB Toys, some of the other closed stores from my childhood)

[@Dimondminer11]

Toys R Us definitely.

[@-Ricky_Spanish-]

Yeah, and I will always hold that Walmart will forever represent a step down in quality demands for American society in general. Kmart's biggest mistake was trying to compete with Walmart, because it required them to lower the bar even further, and Kmart was already a discount retailer, but they had some dignity until the late 90's. I worked there when the company was at its peak, around 1995, and the mistakes were apparent right then. The rebranding was a disaster, they had no experience in the grocery business, and their desire to keep staff relatively low guaranteed bad customer service and high shoplifting rates. The Kmart I grew up with seemed like an endearing, caring place, and everyone shopped there. They lost their way when they abandoned their founder's principals and instead tried to mimic their rivals.

[@susanolson3611]

I really miss Radio Shack!

[@cruisingscenesandtakingbea4197]

Toys r us for sure. I miss the giraffe.

[@sdmurphy20]

Does this include Showbiz Kids?

[@shecklesmack9563]

I’m 30, and I’ll always have heavy nostalgia for many things, but Kmart isn’t one of them. As far back as I can remember, there was always a cheap, run down, eerie and slightly depressing feeling to Kmart. Plus, I worked there and it was shit.

[@digitalfootballer9032]

Yeah, being 30 years old, you weren't around much for the "glory years" of K-Mart. I worked there 1995-2000. It was still pretty descent until about 98 or 99, then it started going down hill fast.

[@kathleenbortolete6069]

Definitely for any millennial or Gen Y people there wouldn't be any nostalgia for Kmart. For us older folks over 50 it was a great place back in their heyday

[@richmiller8615]

Yeah, I remember working briefly at my local Kmart back in the late 1990's. I was only there for a month, and it was the worst job I ever had or ever will have. As nasty and dirty as the store was, it's employees were even nastier. Bunch of old timers from the 1970's and early 1980's who were stuck in the old days and all perpetually depressed and angry. Easily the most toxic work environment I had ever been a part of. Seems like from there, it just steadily got worse and worse. In short, it reminded me of a glorified dollar store.

[@timothyhh]

Yeah, as a kid in the 80s I remember a sense of depressing cheapness about K-mart. My parents hated going there, we only went out of necessity. When we would visit family in the Midwest their Target stores seemed like a world away from K-mart. This was even before the whole "Tar-jay" thing started and it was just a big box with a black T on it.

[@MaryM232]

KMart products were inexpensive but better quality than Walmart’s trash.

[@scottbrewer9676]

The use of a "muzak" version of a Leo Sayer classic in the background was a wonderful touch. Well done!

[@jamestomlin5525]

Man I miss Kmart... just a part of my childhood that's gone now, damn that hurts

[@toddmcgowan9449]

I can still smell the popcorn that hit you when you first entered the store!

[@LindaFromSeaAtTull]

Yes!! I totally forgot about this.

[@ravevolution]

Always left the store with a bag of popcorn and a Icee as a reward for behaving in the store with my parents as a kid

[@manlymanyo2511]

Omg yesssssss

[@Siora-sp2do]

This was sad. I remember running around in Kmart as a kid, and later working there when I was in high school. I have so many good memories. The one in my town is now a Home Goods store. Kmart always smelled like brand new shoes, soft music playing in the distance. Like a old, sad depressing movie.

[@gregorycyr9272]

I remember buying shiny polyester shirts in the 70's from Kmart.I loved wearing them tucked in black dress slacks.

[@Tech-Mark]

I feel you. I will never forget the blue light specials and coin operated horses outside. My small town in Tennessee had Kmart way before Walmart invaded.

[@vadermasktruth]

The K Mart in Ann Arbor is a Home Goods store also.

[@angelat.8997]

Great description. This English teacher approves. 🤩

[@johnbishop4641]

Get a life. -the Troll

[@jessmcmxci5769]

There’s an abandoned K Mart in Decatur, GA. It’s been abandoned since 1999 or 2000. I remember going there when I was a child. What’s even more weird is that every other store attached to it is open & fully operational. So it’s like a busy shopping center with this big abandoned structure on the end.

[@AnxietyonAcid]

I have fond childhood memories of roaming the aisles of Kmart as a child while my Father worked back in the store’s Pharmacy. Good times 🥺

[@fryloc359]

When I was a kid in the 80s saying someone got their clothes from KMART was an insult.

[@Boltdriver70]

omg true! And if you had their sneakers (think they were called Trax) you were poor, only Nike and Reebok

[@highping1786]

@@Boltdriver70 When I was a kid in the 70s saying someone got anything from KMART was an insult.

[@carvahaunter122]

I mean “Walmart clothes/shoes” is also an insult but the company is doing A-ok.

[@lawrencejelsma8118]

@@carvahaunter122 ... Wrong! I worked at Walmart 2002-2011 and they were able to change to changing consumer buying habits. They sold high end department store, sporting goods, electronics and fashions up until 2008 before the housing crisis. People had to buy lessor quality "made in Taiwan or China" continued marketing flood of all products. Up to 2006-7 employee discussions were how Walmart was going to change to Super Walmarts to compete with grocery stores. By 2010 most regular Walmarts were redesigned to become a Super Walmart in key population areas. Walmart and Targets have always adapted since their 1980s debut to change according to economics. Even during the 2020 pandemic Walmart and Target business models are proven leaders in what was once JC Penny's and Kmarts of 1970s-1980s before their newest competitors.

[@GabeHandle]

So true. I know because that's where I got my clothes.