I prefer Target above Wal-Mart and Kmart. Target is usually cleaner and nicer, but it is also more expensive. Since there is a Super Wal-Mart that is packed full of people for the entire 24 hours that it is open each day, I go to KMart when I am just buying something insignificant. I normally do not enjoy the experience.

All I can say is that I'm moving in a few months and I just hope that they will have started their final liquidation about that time. So, I can get all of the "little things" for my house at a deep, deep discount.

It's as though the stores have only one or two of the advertised items and everything is gone before you get there.:mad: That is why I haven't shopped at Kmart in a very long time. I'm a Wally World Girl!!!! :D

Now, I will admit, I still go to Kmart from time to time, but not enough to actually miss the store. They always have good deals on their Bed-in-a-Bag's. But I just feel like them going under is lightweight horrific. Yeah, I said horrific, lol. I mean, Kmart is SO American, you know? I mean, we even use their phrase, Blue Light Special, then TLC with their Red Light Special, you know where they got that mess from. Anyway, Kmart is a "slice of American history." (That's a quote from Grease2, lol) Though I don't go there a lot, I like that they are there, just cuz they always have been.

I DO wonder what will happen to the clothing lines and stuff. Like where will Jacqueline Smith's clothes go now? What about Martha Stewart's stuff? What else can you only get a Kmart? Or CAN you only get this stuff at Kmart? I really don't know, lol.

Re: I CAN believe it.........
 

Yep. Pronounced "Tar-jay". :D :D

I feel you on that one. It seems like all of the stores that have been there forever are now closing. Sometimes I wonder if my kids will shop at the same stores that I did when I was their age. Now, it's K-Mart, and a few years ago it was Woolworth's (I absolutely loved that store http://plauder-smilies.de/bawling.gif).

When I was a kid, we had a store called Best (kinda like Service Merchandise, who also filed for bankruptcy a few years back). I used to love to go there with my mom and look at the big swing sets. Well, they closed too.

Where have all my stores gone?

GIRL!!! Woolworth's used to be the SPOT when I was little!!! I would love to go downtown with my mother, cuz I KNEW we would stop in Woolworth's!!! There was another one on Shaker Square, but the one downtown was HUGE, and they had a Soda Fountain (is that what it's called? like a mini ice cream shop?). Girl, I would sit at that counter and twirl around on the stools with my root beer float!!! Friggin' LOVED Woolworth's!!!

We used to have Best, too. But my other store when I was little was Zayre's and Gold Circle. Man, I remember getting lost in Gold Circle and getting a whoopin for it. I was kinda glad when they closed to become Hills. Then Zayre's became Ames. And now both Hills and Ames are closed.

Ah, sweet nostalgia...

I remember Woolworth's. We had that store even out here in Cali. Back in the day, our "downtown" was basically one little street and the big stores there were Woolworth's and JCPenney (Jacque Penyee). It seems like my mom had us up in Woolworth's every day! Now, Soror Ideal08, our Woolworth's didn't have a soda fountain and all of that. That really would have been cool.

Maaaaaaaaan DANG
 

I used to love BEST and their CHRISTMAS CATALOG!!
Ideal08 done told y'all how she got lost in Gold Circle.
:rolleyes: :p (J/J)

Remember Children's Palace, y'all!?!?! Before Toys R Us. This summer my granny had her porch redone and in the porch was a big azz Children's Palace bag that must have held my Christmas presents of yore. http://www.plauder-smilies.de/crying.gif

I too will miss K-mart more for old times sakes. I really am a Tar-zhay conoisseur but I too look forward to liquidation sales. Speaking of Ideal08, there is a Victoria's secret 50% off of EVERYTHING @ Northland Mall.:D I am going @ 2:40 to stock up on lotions and stuh.:cool:

Have you heard.....?
 

I had to jump on this KMart thing b/c my part-time customer service job has a KMart department, and I take their calls more and more these days. There hasn't been a Kmart close to my home in years, so I'm definitely a Wally World kinda girl, but I slip into Tarjay on occasion, too.

I personally believe that Kmart will be gone before the year's end b/c they won't have any customers left unless it's in areas where there are no other options besides Kmart. Their new return policy sucks. Basically, no receipt, no returns. Even with tags attached, still in the wrapper, bought the same day, etc.. That's a corporate decision. Even if it's just to get a different size of the product. If you have a receipt, it seems that you will not get a refund at all. I haven't been informed about cash purchases, but a woman was featured in the Atlanta Journal Constitution telling her story of how she could not get a refund for her $212 diamond earrings. What???? (Why is she buying diamonds at Kmart anyway?) :mad:

The point is that Kmart is going into the hole, and there seems to be no stopping it. Many customers are not going back ever, and I'll never be there again either.

Just sharing.

Re: Maaaaaaaaan DANG
 

Girlfriend, I bought a pink robe for $19.99 and pajamas for $12.99 each yesterday. A sistah loves Victoria's Secret!!!:D Of course, I picked out stuff my husband could go back and buy later.;)

***OK!! Back to the origianal discussion:D***

Re: Re: Maaaaaaaaan DANG
 

DAng on Vickie's has already closed, no 50% off for me. :(

Re: Maaaaaaaaan DANG
 

The BEST Christmas catalog was the BEST! I would read that thing like it was a novel. But, funny, I never got any of the things that I put on my Christmas list from BEST.

We also used to have a toy store called Lionel Kiddie City. Their motto was "Lionel Kiddie City will turn that frown upside down." They went out of business too. My grandmother bought me a pogo stick (do kids still play with those?) from there one summer. How 'bout I was out on that pogo stick? That was my little Merceds Benz and I rode that thing all over.

Aaah, sweet nostalgia!!

K-MART to CLOSE 284 Stores and CUT 22, 000 JOBS
 

Fri Mar 8, 4:38 PM ET
By Anna Driver

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Kmart Corp. said on Friday it will close 284 stores and cut 22,000 jobs in its bid to emerge from bankruptcy, but analysts said the retailer still needs a marketing strategy if it wants to survive the cutthroat U.S. discount market.

Photos

Reuters Photo


The closings, the first the company has announced since it filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 22, will shutter 13 percent of its 2,114 stores and reduce its 250,000-person work force by nearly 9 percent. Analysts had speculated that Kmart would close as many as 500 stores. The store closings require bankruptcy court approval.

Kmart, based in Troy, Michigan, said it will take a charge of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion to cover costs from the restructuring. The company said the closings should increase its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by $31 million a year.

Shares of Kmart closed up 5 cents at $1.29, a rise of more than 4 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) on Friday. Volume was nearly 19 million shares, making Kmart one of the most actively traded stocks on the exchange.

The stores to be closed include 271 Kmart discount stores and 12 Kmart Supercenters in 40 states, and one Kmart store in Puerto Rico. Kmart's Supercenters carry a full line of groceries and general merchandise.

Texas is set to lose the most Kmart stores, with 33 slated for closure. The company plans to close 21 stores in Illinois, 18 in Michigan and 16 each in Florida and California.

WHAT NOW?

"The closings are important, but what is more important is the strategic direction they are going to take going forward," Wayne Hood, retail analyst at Prudential Securities, said. "How are they going to improve profitability at existing stores?"

Kmart became the largest retailer ever to file for bankruptcy protection after intense competition from rivals Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. and weak holiday sales left the retailer strapped for cash.

Wal-Mart is known for its low prices, and Target has distinguished itself in the discount market by attracting more upscale shoppers with its trendy clothes and housewares by designers like Michael Graves. Analysts have said Kmart lacks a niche and must find one to survive.

"Now comes the real question, and that is what is Kmart going to do to draw lots of customers into all the other stores that will remain open?" Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Consulting Group, said.

Kmart tried last year to compete with Wal-Mart on pricing of everyday items like soap and toothpaste with its "Bluelight Always" marketing campaign, but the drive fell short.

Since the bankruptcy filing, Kmart has said little about its plans. But Chuck Conaway, Kmart's chief executive, has said its private brands like Martha Stewart Everyday linens, paints and housewares will be a large part of the company's focus.

"If the stores that remain open can't compete with Wal-Mart, they may have to close more," Frank Badillo, senior economist with consulting firm Retail Forward, said.

Based on sales in 2000, Kmart was the second-largest U.S. discount chain behind Wal-Mart.

Kmart said it expects to liquidate more than $1 billion in inventory as it closes the stores. The actions are forecast to improve the retailer's cash flow by $550 million in 2002 and will result in annual savings of $45 million, Kmart said.

The expected flood of merchandise into U.S. markets may take market share from Wal-Mart and other low-price retailers in the near term, an analyst said.

"What will happen is it will probably temporarily draw bargain hunters to the Kmart stores to see what great buys are there," Retail Forward's Badillo said. "That might shift some demand from Wal-Mart to Kmart."

Badillo said the $1 billion in Kmart merchandise represents 2 percent of the $42 billion in inventory on the books of department stores and discount stores at the end of 2001.

After the flurry of liquidation sales, analysts see Wal-Mart getting the bulk of the business.

Sanford Bernstein retail analyst Emme Kozloff estimates "an immediate market opportunity between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. She said the Kmart store closings could add 1 cent to 3 cents a share to Wal-Mart's annual earnings.

Kmart said at the time of its bankruptcy filing that it would close underperforming stores. The company aims to emerge from bankruptcy in July 2003.

LIST of 284 STORES
http://www.kmartcorp.com/corp/story/.../pr020308b.stm

They are closing stores in about every state,CLEARANCE LIQUIDATION SALES here I come. :cool:

They are closing one about 5 minutes from my job that is scheduled to close. You know I'm going over there to see if they have a patio set priced reasonably.


I wonder are they going to reduce the prices for their oil changes? :confused: LMAO

I heard that Spike Lee is suppose to direct some commercials for K-Mart. Why?:confused: