Metro Detroit-Windsor Kmart / Sears Closings?

[Ray1936]

About ten years back, I needed a new propane grill. My paper that morning had an ad for Sears for a nice looking grill for $189 on sale [[down from 219 or something like that). So I went to sears, found a salesman, showed him the ad, and said I"ll take one. He started to write it up and said "It will be in on Thursday". [[this was Tuesday).

I said, "Wait a minute. Sears puts an ad in the paper for these things, and you don't even have them in stock??" He shrugged and looked a little sheepish.

Well, I told him what Sears could do with their grill, then drove to Home Depot where I picked an even nicer one for a lower price right off the shelf. Some assembly required.

Haven't been back to Sears since.

[Goose]

it's all Rainman's fault..... K-Mart sucks....

[ThisIsForTheHeart]

I don't associate Kmart being apart of Metro Detroit. If Kmart still had its HQ in Metro Detroit, then it be a different story. Soon as a company is out of the state, it no longer holds a local ID for me.

I don't shop sears as it offers nothing for me and sometimes I walk into Kmart to get a item on sale.

Northface is a huge brand that people are buying like crazy right now. Go out in public and out of 10 people there will be 8 people wearing some kind of Northface gear.

If Kmart or Sears can get this brand in their stores, then it will help a little to stay afloat.

Open up a mini Apple store inside with a Genius Bar and that is another way to get foot traffic.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

KMART is one of the most pathetic corporate mismanagement stories. Wal-Mart was smaller, but kept innovating with technology, store design, and modern distribution systems. KMART didn't have to fall apart. But they have hardly innovated since the 1980's. When they had money, they didn't reinvest much in their stores, products, and services. Now, KMARTs all look cheap and dated. Now the brand is so tarnished that it can't be saved. KMARTSEARS will not exist in 5 years. They will sell off the signature product lines [[Kenmore, Land's End, etc), and shutter all stores. They no longer have the ability to be competitive. Like Burger King and Borders Books, a once good brand has suffered from prolonged mismanagement. Corporations can survive a rough patch, but not a generation raised to think of them as subpar. Sad.

[fastcarsandfreedom]

The Kmart story is by now a well told one - big profits, some of which were poached by fraud and much of which went into 'investing' in a diversification strategy that brought Borders, The Sports Authority, Waldenbooks, Builders Square, etc, into the corporate fold. At the same time the supply chain and point-of-sale parts of the business were falling badly behind the competition--Target had style on its side, Walmart had a viciously disciplined inventory and supply chain...Kmart had incredible real estate--and not much else. Amazing to read how in the early days of Walmart's aggressive expanstion Sam Walton came to Troy and was given free reign to run around the complex on Big Beaver and poach any and every good ideal the K had...incredible on Kmart's part. The 'hook up' with Sears can only have been a real estate play--otherwise it makes no sense [[and of course real estate is now a dead issue)...of all the big retailers in this country the one perhaps more lost and rudderless than Kmart is Sears...a helluva combination.

[jackie5275]

I live not far from the Kmart at Fort Street and Pennsylvania, nearest Sears is at Dix and Southfield [[this particular location is where I bought a Motown album collection for my Christmas shopping). I would hate to see both close. I felt the same way back in 2008 when they wanted to close the Meijer across the street from Kmart.

When I lived in Lincoln Park, I would always compare the grocery ads between Meijer & Kmart. At first, when the Kmart was new, I would split my shopping between the 2 stores. However, after a couple of years I had to stop going to Kmart as they never had any sale items left when I got there. Also, most of the shelves were bare as if no restocking was taking place. I gave up on it & just stuck with Meijer. Since moving out of downriver, I occassionally stop at the Kmart in Taylor on Van Born. I see no difference there. Lots of empty shelves where it looked they had limited stock, sold out, & didn't restock. Also, like 401don says, most of their stores are just a hodge podge of merchandise. You can't attract & retain a sustaining customer base with business activity like this.

[Brian1979]

Locally? As far as I know there are no Sears or Kmart in Detroit. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

There's a Super K-Mart on Telegraph, it's on the east side of the road south of 8 Mile.

[mtburb]

---

At first, when the Kmart was new, I would split my shopping between the 2 stores.

What Kmart did you go to and when? Since you lived in Lincoln Park, you might have gone to the one at 3710 Dix in LP circa 1994: http://rimes12.tripod.com/streets/dix.html

If the Kmart on Fort Street were to close [[and the Meijer closed in 2008 and still closed by then) businesses around Fort and Pennsylvania would drop like flies and suddenly Fort between Pennsylvania and Quarry will turn from a thriving area to a ghost town.

[jackie5275]

---

What Kmart did you go to and when? Since you lived in Lincoln Park, you might have gone to the one at 3710 Dix in LP circa 1994: http://rimes12.tripod.com/streets/dix.html

If the Kmart on Fort Street were to close [[and the Meijer closed in 2008 and still closed by then) businesses around Fort and Pennsylvania would drop like flies and suddenly Fort between Pennsylvania and Quarry will turn from a thriving area to a ghost town.

I went to the Kmart on Fort near Pennsylania. The Meijer across the street from it is still open. It's even listed on Meijer's website. I don't know where you got this info that it closed in 2008.

[mtburb]

I went to the Kmart on Fort near Pennsylania. The Meijer across the street from it is still open. It's even listed on Meijer's website. I don't know where you got this info that it closed in 2008.

So that meant you went from 1998 to 2000. And the Meijer closing was just a rumor. An announcement that this particular Meijer would close, then the people of Riverview, Southgate and Wyandotte said "KEEP IT OPEN!" and they did. I also know it's still open because that's where I did a large portion of this year's Christmas shopping at. And I also continue to split my grocery shopping between the two stores, as well as the Kroger next to the Southgate Shopping Center.

[Lowell]

Back in my Sears delivery days, Sears and Kmart were locked in competition as the number 1 and 2 retailers. Kmart passed Sears and then both began a long downward slide.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

And you are correct Bartock; this forum is and always has been about all Detroit -- the entire international metropolis of Detroit, Windsor and all their suburbs.

[msamslex]

I was at the Garden City K-Mart, near Aldi's last month looking for a particular body wash that Meijer and Target no longer carry in their stores. K-Mart sells it online so after I left Aldi's I stopped in to K-Mart to see if by chance they still carried this particular brand in the store but they didn't. Went ahead and ordered 3 bottles online, regular shipping. Package came but they sent the right brand but wrong scent. Went to the UPS store and sent it back. Didn't reorder, just wanted my credit. Got a package was shipped email after I got it, I repeat AFTER I got it. I did get another email saying that they received my return and would be issued a credit. If I wanted to reorder, just let them know. I don't think so. I hadn't been in a K-Mart in years and it looked so outdated. I live closer to Dearborn and would go to that Super K sometimes when it was open, but I wouldn't go out of my way just to go now.

[JenniferL]

The Kmart where I shop [[Greenfield south of 11 Mile in Oak Park) is always pretty full. But yes, the store could use some updating. They also need to hire more cashiers and more people working the aisles, keeping the store tidy.

[Zacha341]

Yeah if they cannot do online well they're toast for certain. Though I hear they have an online layaway but I not want to try that. Sadly, I have branded in my mind disorderly store, high prices on foods [[unless they are on sale), lost items in layaway [[perhaps inside 'shopping' of supposed layaway items)... and just a dated feel overall and lack of sales associate. Still Kmart was one of the first of its kind. So sad to see them go and for certain a sign of the economy!

I was at the Garden City K-Mart, near Aldi's last month looking for a particular body wash that Meijer and Target no longer carry in their stores. K-Mart sells it online so after I left Aldi's I stopped in to K-Mart to see if by chance they still carried this particular brand in the store but they didn't. Went ahead and ordered 3 bottles online, regular shipping. Package came but they sent the right brand but wrong scent. Went to the UPS store and sent it back. Didn't reorder, just wanted my credit. Got a package was shipped email after I got it, I repeat AFTER I got it. I did get another email saying that they received my return and would be issued a credit. If I wanted to reorder, just let them know. I don't think so. I hadn't been in a K-Mart in years and it looked so outdated. I live closer to Dearborn and would go to that Super K sometimes when it was open, but I wouldn't go out of my way just to go now.

[trotwood]

I hope the Kmart at Ten Mile&Dequindre will remain open. The Sears in Macomb Mall always seems to be empty no matter what time of day/night I've stopped in. The sales staff have rarely seemed happy to wait on customers.Or maybe it's just they weren't happy to see me
Sad to hear of more buisness closings&more Michigan residents being displaced.

[canuck]

The story of the Kresge's flagship store in downtown montreal. I dont remember ever going in but tremember the building. I did go to one of the suburban K-Marts for a while but Zellers was a fairly good competitor in that retail category in the eighties and nineties and so it got less foot traffic in time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/montrea...n/photostream/

[GPCharles]

Interesting. The 9 Mile and Harper Kmart store was consistently either #1 or 2 in sales [[both per store and per sq. ft.) in the entire chain, during the glory days.

[Gistok]

Interesting. The 9 Mile and Harper Kmart store was consistently either #1 or 2 in sales [[both per store and per sq. ft.) in the entire chain, during the glory days.

Every time I drive past that store in recent years... the parking lot is always 80% empty.

[jcole]

You should see the one in Romeo/Washington Twp. I refer to it as "K-Mart Lite" due to it's tiny little size and the lot seldom has more that 10-12 cars in it, even at Christmas. It smells like cheap plastic inside the store and it's just crummy looking. But, even in the last purge a few years back, K-Mart hangs on to this store and keeps it open for some reason. I've heard it's becasue they own the store. They bought it from 'Big Wheel' back in the 80's, if that tells you anything about the size.

[Novine]

K-Mart and Sears are textbook examples of once-profitable corporations being bled to death by corporate pirates intent on squeezing every last cent out of the carcass before casting it over the side. Retail experts nailed this back when K-Mart and Sears merged a few years back as nothing more than a real estate deal. Most of the value is in the existing real estate, not the retail operations. The complete lack of re-investment and failure to adapt to changing times and technology show that there's little interest in revitalizing these companies. Need anymore proof than this?


"When Kmart acquired Sears in 2005, Chairman Edward Lampert said the new company would have the geographic reach and scale to compete with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The billionaire hedge fund manager has since presided over 18 consecutive quarters of declining sales. He's on his fourth chief executive. While Sears Holdings Corp. shares soared in the first few months after the merger, they've fallen 55 percent in 2011 alone."

Read article

[GPCharles]

Then Chairman Ben Fauber killed Kmart [[the correct spelling, by the way) with his diversification policy in the mid to late 1980s. The analysts told him there was no growth left in the discount store industry, so he ignored the core business and bought into, among others, Furrs Cafeterias, Builders Square, Sports Authority, Walden Books and Borders and started a few others, such as Designer Depot, Bargain Harold's and Office Square. Designer Depot was supposed to compete against T.J. Maxx and Marshall's - what a joke. The buying agreement for Designer Depot went to litigation and resulted in a $60+ M judgment against Kmart. The corporate guarantees on all of the Builders Square leases were real killers. The two guys that ran Builders Square really took Fauber to the cleaners. He paid top $ for a 9 store chain that had one foot in bankruptcy court and expanded it to over 100 stores, competing against industry segment killer Home Depot. Interesting in that the head of Home Depot, Bernie Marcus, and the head of Builders Square, Frank Denny, both came out of W.R. Grace's home improvement chain.

Someone needs to write a book on Kmart's fall from the top.

[Hypestyles]

what finally happened to the abandoned headquarters campus in Troy?

..i hope as few close as possible.. more lost jobs..unlikely for a competitor/independent to re-open the site..

[Scottathew]

what finally happened to the abandoned headquarters campus in Troy?

..i hope as few close as possible.. more lost jobs..unlikely for a competitor/independent to re-open the site..

To my knowledge, it's empty.

I do agree on the jobs part, that would suck. These jobs are going to be held by people that are most likely not doing well, or they're trying to make it, doing all the right things by working and staying off the dole, and then to lose your already shitty job would just suck.

I agree that the stores would most likely sit empty. All the ones I can think of are self-contained stores not really connected to other retail.

[Zacha341]

The one on Telegraph near Eight Mile seems to be pretty busy. But many are ghost towns!

Every time I drive past that store in recent years... the parking lot is always 80% empty.

[iheartthed]

I'm surprised this company is even still in business. My money is on the Summit Place Sears getting the ax... But really, I can't think of very many Sears or K Mart locations that I don't think should be shuttered.