KMART Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
 

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Kmart Corp., the second largest discount retailer in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, ending weeks of speculation about the company's financial health.

read the rest of the story on www.cnn.com (under US News)

I CAN believe it.........
 

I'm not suprised. I can't remember the last time I went to K-mart. I myself am a Target girl. :D

I love Target as well....I like Walmart as well. I rarely, very rarely shop at Kmart.

I can't really say the last time I've been in KMart either. Where I live there is a KMart and Target right next to each other and from going into both, you can really see the difference of the quality in them. I prefer to shop at Target....or a Super WalMart when I can find one! :D

Target isn't here yet...
 

I'm not surprised either. Kmart NEVER seemed to have any of the items they advertised in their circulars.

The stores I visited always seemed "dusty". :confused:

I prefer Wal-mart...especially SUPER Wal-mart.

I knew this was gonna happen
 

...cause Wal-Mart is where it's at!!!:D

Re: I CAN believe it.........
 

Girl, me too. The K-Mart by my house is ALWAYS janky-looking; you can't find nothing in there (heck, you can barely walk through the ailes (sp?) w/ out stepping or tripping over something...

Target, on the other hand, has [i]everything[i/] on sale! I get things from there that cost almost twice as much at Sav-on :mad:, such as Thera Flu, Clean & Clear Face wash, etc.

although I think WalMart is fun...I don't buy things there because they do not support Public Schools, and that's a no-no as far as i'm concerned!

OH MY!!!http://www.plauder-smilies.de/sad/smhair1.gif
I did not know that! Where could I obtain more info about this?

I hate Wal-Mart...every time I go in there I feel like I need to take a bath when I leave. It's always dark and dirty and totally disorganized. I felt the same way about Kmart, too. I LOVE Target, it's always bright and clean and easy to find stuff.

Other reason why Wal-Mart is evil: they push their views/morals on consumers. If they think a t-shirt might have an offensive message, or if they deem an album's cover art to be "inappropriate," they won't stock it. Who are they to say what's right and "appropriate?" Stock the damn thing, and if I deem it offensive I won't buy it.

k-mart
 

K-mart has been steadily declining in quality over the years. I remember when i was little, all i wanted to do was run up and down the aisles and pick out toys to take home, or go outside and ride the little bumper cars or buckin' bronco.

nowadays, you'll be lucky to find a K-mart with ANYTHING inside that you'd actually want in your home. I agree with AKA2D '91 - the products are dusty. I'm currently addicted to Wal-Mart, but i'd like to know more about this public school issue. I can always drive an extra block for Target.

But get this... a K-Mart in my area has the razor / shaving needs section in a glass case and LOCKED UP! :eek: I have never seen anything like that before in my life. When i asked an employee what was going on, she replied, "most K-marts have their razors like this." I was completely disgusted and left the store.

I did a brief search, and found some information on this website: http://home.earthlink.net/~mantonucc.../Vouchers.html
NBI 73 says “That the NEA Executive Committee explore initiating a boycott of Walmart
Corporation. That NEA inform its members and Walmart Corporation about the actions of
Walmart Corporation that conflict with NEA’s strategic focus, such as: financial support of
voucher initiatives, the privatization of education, payroll protection, unfriendly charter
school initiatives, removal of products that support opportunities for women and girls, and
refusal to carry the prescription contraceptive Preven.”

(NEA is the National Education Assoc.) The big killer is the financial support Walmart provides to voucher initiatives...

Re: KMART Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
 

Kmart simply couldn't compete with Target or Wal-Mart -- I suspect they didn't make much investment in trying to make their stores attractive to consumers. Personally, I like Target when I can't get my mother to go to the Navy Exchange and buy stuff.

On a side note, this bankruptcy may rock the world of Martha Stewart. :rolleyes: That is because Ms. Martha ("It's a good thing") relies on royalty payments from Kmart for a good part of her rather handsome living.

"On a side note, this bankruptcy may rock the world of Martha Stewart. That is because Ms. Martha ("It's a good thing") relies on royalty payments from Kmart for a good part of her rather handsome living."


I was thinking the same thing as well. Until I saw this on the Washington Post website.

"In bids to bolster sagging sales in recent years, it began marketing Martha Stewart housewares items and even resurrected the "Flashing BlueLight Specials" from the 1980s. But those efforts have done little to turn the tide, and Stewart’s contract with Kmart allows her to withdraw in the event of bankruptcy. Martha Stewart officials could not be reached for immediate comment today. "

Wal-Mart and the NEA
 

I am a Teacher, and I also am active with my union. I don't know NATIONALLY what's going on, but I know LOCALLY, Wal-mart is very, very supportive of schools in this area. Wal-mart, locally, supports the training of our handicapped individuals and eventually hires them after they have graduated from high school.

Also, Wal-mart/Sam's in the past with my school alone has supported fundraising efforts of groups and organizations within the school by matching whatever profits received. I for one, benefitted from that because my group held a car wash and made plenty of bucks...and wal-mart match that! Also, every Monday I take my kids there to shop. So if there was an "issue" I'm sure that my supervisors wouldn't have us patronizing them.

So I don't know what's up with the NEA, but our JFT (local union) hasn't mentioned anything about a boycott. Why should they? When Wal-mart is supporting our efforts? :confused:

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:

Going out of business sales
 

There are at least three Kmarts in the two counties that I live in that are having going-out-of-business sales. I certainly hope there's some "Kmartha" Stewart stuff there at discount. :p

Breaking News
 

The CEO resigned today...

I guess it's all down hill from here? :confused:

Let me tell you how bad it is.

I was reading in the investment today, paper(I'm into that kind of stuff). :cool:

Do YOU KNOW that kmart, had the nerve to have an ad saying they were selling their stock, for 29.90,
Because it would become a collectors item, and worth the investment?????

But I'll sure be the first inline to invest in martha stewart's slashed prices, when the 50- 75% sale begins.

So far, I'm not impressed with the sales. I want to see some serious price slashing. Until then, I may as well stick with "tar-jhey".

I'm trying to do some Spring re-decorating and would love some great sales on the martha stewart stuff...since that's all that's worth buying there.

As I was looking through the paper this morning...it read that Kmart's stock was up. I wonder if the CEO's departure had anything to do with it? Or, if his leadership paved the way for Kmart to decline?

Actually it is up, It was 1.03 at the beginning of last week, and that's a good thing, but I also think the stock is either going to stay at a low rate, or begin to decline again.
I think his leadership paved the way for the decline. Hopefully they'll get someone that knows how to handle biz, this time around. Sometimes you can't Keep OLD practices, with a changing economy.