Kmart Closing - Marshall, MI - Last Kmart in the Midwest

[@continentalrcinglg]

1:37 - LOL at a Michigan Big Kmart selling University of Tennessee merch. Also, at one point in your video, the Muzak plays Coldplay's Viva la Vida, a song about a fallen kingdom. Appropriate since, at one point, Kmart was doing better than Walmart and Target.

[@chrislemaster2695]

Kenmore was a Sears brand made by Whirlpool

[@BlueStreakCreations]

I helped open this store. Was an empty shell when I was hired at 18. Now i'm almost 50 & live a few states away. Sad to see it go!! :(

[@andrewplantagenet5811]

Kenmore is a real brand name....a name you can trust!

[@FFDGFDOFD]

I just read they are going to Demolish the Building.. I wish I could save the Vintage Emergency Lights in there before they did.

[@dashborderless]

Are they really? That's a shame. Do you know what they are going to do with the area? Those were pretty cool.

[@nealwhaley63]

The remaining stock looks remarkably recovered for a liquidation. Stores at that stage usually look like a war zone.

[@slackingpacking]

Great video! I miss Kmart. I visited this Kmart a few days before it started liquidation.

[@jackson5116]

I was there about a month or so before it had its announcement to close. I kind of sensed at the time that'd be my last trip, because I already determined ahead of time that particular store would be my final visited Kmart. I had to draw the line somewhere, so I picked them as it, knowing whenver they close that would be my final time going there. I treated every trip there like it was the last, because it was still unknown when they'd close- I had planned to return in November, but that wasn't going to happen after September's announcement, meaning that last trip in the summer of 2021 marked the last time I'd ever shop at Kmart (good thing I documented it!).

[@ClaytonMcConahay]

“Attention Kmart Shoppers!” My first job was at Kmart 9030! Peru Indiana the smallest Kmart in the United States. We were a family there it opened in 1978 and closed the last week of March 2019. As of the closing there were 3 employees that had spent their entire careers there and started the day it opened. It was really neat to see other Kmarts compared to ours. One of the largest stores I remember going to was the Terre Haute IN store, they had their own gas station, pharmacy and food court area. Thanks for making this short film, it was interesting to see I drove by it today but couldn’t stop to see it.

[@eako2107]

I happened to be passing thru in summer 2018 and stopped thinking "who knows how much longer it will be open?" Sure enough months later Peru didnt make the cut. Small is right- seemed to be about the size of a Dollar General almost!

[@markstrouse3101]

Love your video...I had to travel 7 hours to Hyattsville Maryland to get my blue light

[@DopeAsThePope1]

I grew up in Michigan. Many know the first ever Kmart was in Garden City,Mi. The last time I was in a Kmart was 2013 St.Croix Virgin Islands. So sad to see this once thriving chain whither away. Suppose it was inevitable. I do blame Kmart for not keeping up with the times though. It seemed like they were always outdated. R.I.P. Kmart ☹️

[@dashborderless]

That is one of the reasons for sure. I think if they did keep up, they would be a little better off. Sad to see the K go.

[@charlesbolton8471]

@@dashborderless I worked for Kmart from 1991-2018, and I can tell you that is not true. Not only did Kmart keep up with the times they were ahead of them prior to Eddie Lambert’s involvement in the company. The downfall of Kmart and Sears are 100% his doing on purpose to his personal benefit. The first thing that needs to be brought to light is the reason behind Kmart’s 2002 bankruptcy which was the catalyst for Lambert taking control of the company. Kmart spent $2 billion upgrading the entirety of our IT equipment. I mean literally everything from computers and cash registers in stores all the way up to the mainframes at corporate headquarters. Additionally, our CEO at the time (Chuck Conway) and the Executive Team were stealing from the company under the disguise of “touring” stores. They spent the week in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, or Guam and the weekends were spent in Las Vegas or Atlantic City all using their corporate expense accounts. Conway was convicted of embezzlement, and had to repay some of the money. I’m not sure about the others. Next, I’ll list three things that Kmart did that were ahead of the times. 1. Kmart pioneered the Super Center concept that Walmart perfected and expanded. Kmart’s biggest failure in my first hand experience was the mishandling of Kmart Super Centers. 2. Kmart was the company that was responsible for replacing paper gift certificates with the gift card that quickly became the industry standard. The team that developed the gift card won multiple awards for retail innovation for that development. 3. While Amazon was still just a book store Kmart saw the potential for expanding the concept to mass merchandising. We were the first major retailer to establish online sales. Unfortunately, considering the demographics of Kmart’s customer base we were unsuccessful in our first attempt. However, it was this attempt that lead to the IT upgrades, because the company knew that online were the way of the future.

[@e.manuel]

@@charlesbolton8471 This is very interesting info coming from someone who worked in Kmart for so long. I appreciate your perspective very much. Thanks for sharing! Thing is from the outside in I do have to agree with the fact that for their last 20 years of history (approximately) their stores seemed to be outdated when compared with walmart stores for example. I have a great deal of nostalgia for Kmart since this was the store of my childhood. The last Kmart store I visited was probably one in Holyoke, MA perhaps in 2017 or 2018?!?

[@jackson5116]

@@charlesbolton8471 that's what also annoys me when I see people say that Kmart is still using registers from the 1980's- it's like no, they are NOT from the 1980's! I had to make a video of one in action at the Des Plaines store to prove it actually used touchscreens! That was tough too since I had been confronted several times while there by the worst manager I ever came across. Kmart was kept updated through the 90's like you say, it wasn't until around 2003 or so when they became Kmart Holdings that everything stopped being updated, and became that time warp so many talk about today. I really hate seeing comments about how Kmart is "stuck in the 80's"- or even "stuck in the 70's", because very, very little of 80's things remained in their stores. Even the blue lights got updated in 2016! I also find it funny how a store that opened in 1998 would be "stuck in the 80's"- kind of hard to do when you didn't even open until 1998!

[@jackson5116]

@@e.manuel the last time the entire chain saw any real updates was the Big Kmart transformation of 1997 to 2001. After that, only Kmart's here and there got any sort of real update, so really, they kind of were stuck in the early-2000's, at least from an aesthetic point of view. Case in point is the price scanners installed during the Big Kmart transformation- they're big, bulky late-90's items that really are outdated in 2018 compared to Walmart and Target.

[@METALMAN4Wii]

The manger must of asked them to fix the Roof and TransFormco Corp said we got another idea.

[@DalmationProductions]

RIP Marshall MI 1990-2021 RIP BIG Kmart format 1997-2021 (technically ended around 2005-2007)

[@dashborderless]

RIP to a legend

[@DalmationProductions]

@@dashborderless I remember when my Kmart was a BIG Kmart in 2007

[@jackson5116]

Closer to 2010, because that's when they rolled out that new signage to stores in my area, and began removing that "BIG" lettering from others (while also keeping it on some too- nothing like not being consistent!). The 2010's also saw some (very, very few) getting some minor updates like the orange walls, red/black signage, new coolers, etc.

[@DalmationProductions]

@@jackson5116 yeah mine was downgraded to a regular Kmart in 2008

[@jackson5116]

@@DalmationProductions that downgrade was so stupid, because the whole point of Big Kmart was to draw people in by having a full grocery store with frozen and refrigerated food. You start removing that, and you stop giving people a good reason to go there. I think what happened is that food vendors stopped working with Lampert, because he was an ass (from what Martha Stewart said about him!).

[@jackson5116]

I never visited this store during liquidation, only during normal operations- well, as normal as normal could be for 2021 Kmart! It marked the last time I'd ever shop at a Kmart. I kind of sensed it going there, so I treated every trip like it was the last knowing eventually it would be. I had planned to return in November if they weren't closed, but in September, they announced they'd be closing in November, so that was it. My last time shopping at Kmart would be in the summer of 2021 at this very Kmart. It was a good run I guess.

[@eako2107]

Important to note that the midwest was also its dominant US region. Sad what they let it become

[@jackson5116]

it started in the Midwest (don't buy that whole California stuff, that's a Kresge that became Kmart right before Kresge was supposed to open, so it wasn't a planned store like Garden City was- that's the first store built from the ground up).

[@Sora2529]

I heard it would officially close on the 21st of November

[@dashborderless]

That's what I've heard too

[@brianmiddleton2956]

Heard Several times your use of the word definatley. Rain Man would be proud it was used in a Kmart

[@guy4835]

The “Now Hiring” signage 😭

[@rapidfire3914]

Kenmore was the brand of Sears and Kmarts picked them up when Kmart bought Sears Holdings

[@MrBrewman95]

It is like going back in a time machine. Obvious reason for their decline.

[@dewaynesmith6620]

What is it today ? Or is it empty

[@DerkuiDerkui]

No new layways? Oh come on!! How am I suppose to afford the 60% off sales?!

[@dashborderless]

Right? Was so disappointed.

[@kennethscalir3092]

Here are all the remaining non closing Kmart and Sears locations: Kmarts: 1 Key West, Florida; 2 Miami, Florida; 3 Hamilton, Montana; 4 Avenel, New Jersey; 5 Westwood, New Jersey; 6 Bridgehampton, New York; 7 Tauming, Guam; 8 Hato Rey, Puerto Rico; 9 Sunshine Mall in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; 10 Sunny Isle Shopping Center in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; 11 Tutu Park Mall in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; 12 Lockhart Gardens Shopping Center in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Sears: 1 Burbank, California; 2 Concord, California; 3 Stockton, California; 4 Whittier, California; 5 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; 6 Miami, Florida; 7 Orlando, Florida; 8 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; 9 Braintree, Massachusetts; 10 Frederick, Maryland; 11 Jersey City, New Jersey; 12 Newburgh, New York; 13 Greensboro, North Carolina; 14 Willow Grove, Pennsylvania; 15 San Juan, Puerto Rico; 16 El Paso, Texas; 17 Tukwila, Washington; 18 Union Gap, Washington. A total of 12 non closing Kmarts (6 in the continental USA) and 18 non closing Sears (17 in the continental USA)

[@dashborderless]

It feels like the island locations will probably be around for awhile. It would be a pretty hard hit in those communities if they closed down I imagine.

[@DogPatch1149]

Lived in Marshall for several years until late 2020. Kmart was always a good go-to for odds and ends when I didn't feel like running to Walmart or Meijer in Battle Creek - the people were generally a lot friendlier. Sadly, it was evident even back in 2017 and 2018 or so that their days were numbered. The store wasn't completely modernized over time, but was generally very clean for the most part. During most of 2019 and 2020, the shelves were getting more and more bare sections on them as deliveries were slowed down. Lots of times, with a little digging, there were some really good specials to be had. For a long time, the Little Caesars was the better of the two in town (the other is about a half mile down Michigan Ave to the west), but the last couple of years, that reversed and the one in store was not so good. I remember working on Kmart's Sensormatic system quite a few times back in the mid-2000s - real pain in the ass to deal with the power pack being located directly above the center doors.

[@METALMAN4Wii]

The Old King is Dead, Long Live The King!

[@blueinternet4336]

Wow not much left

[@blueinternet4336]

Are they closing Sunday

[@dashborderless]

They say closing by the 21st. That being the deadline. But it could be before that even.

[@jeremyb456]

This is what happens when you have a greedy CEO and poor management

[@anandguruji83]

LAST AND FINAL KMART IN THE MIDWEST

[@anandguruji83]

LAST AND FINAL KMART IN THE MIDWEST

[@phedingsfield]

It's dark and depressing looking

[@andresguerrero5222]

Kmart is closing

[@blueinternet4336]

This store is about empty

[@kennethscalir3092]

Kmart is doing really well in Australia

[@lbputzer]

Yes, but there's no common ownership, distribution, merchandise, or marketing between Kmart in the States & Australia. Kmart in the US simply licensed the name to the Australian discount chain decades ago.

[@METALMAN4Wii]

Different Owner.

[@charlesbolton8471]

@@METALMAN4Wii Exactly!

[@DalmationProductions]

They are not the same company in Australia (they were however once owned by the US company)

[@bjv93]

Dude, how far did you drive to get to this one? The closest open one's to me now are in NJ and I'm debating whether or not to visit them haha. Almost tempted, but then I remember how crappy their current selection of merchandise is and how sparsely packed their shelves generally are.

[@dashborderless]

I live in central Indiana, so I was able to hop onto I69 and get up there in a few hours. But yeah, all the remaining Kmarts are pretty spread out now lol. I think there is only one that is west of the Mississippi in Montana. Is the one in New Jersey staying open still?

[@bjv93]

@@dashborderless Technically, the two left in NJ are not closing yet... but we know what that really means, sadly. They'll most likely announce their liquidation within the next month or two. It's only a few hours drive for me, but I already told myself after my local store in MD closed earlier this year, I was never going to visit another Kmart again. But damn, it would be nice to relive the magic one more time haha. Glad you made it to the Michigan one, and best of luck if you decide to journey all the way to the Montana location!

[@mr.drummond4656]

You know kmart is dated when it's playing how bizarre on the speaker system lol unfortunately Walmart destroyed kmart outdated and overpriced why would anyone go to kmart when they can get it cheaper at Walmart.

[@pika62221]

1:33 Hello, Kmart? This is the 1970's calling, we'd like to have this store back in our time period! Seriously, this store is literally right out of the 1970's! You can tell it as soon as you walk in and see that carpet probably installed around 1978! Kmart deserves to die when they don't update their stores for 40 years!

[@The_Naughty_Kitten]

♥️💚🥰love Kmart and miss them! 😫😭😭😤 - better merchandise than Target or Walmart! I hate Walmart! 🤬

[@PaperBanjo64]

Depends upon the Walmart, smaller town Walmarts are great but city Walmart's are full of trashy looking individuals.