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Kmart
Apr 15, 2017 6:59:58 GMT -5
Post by Cole D on Apr 15, 2017 6:59:58 GMT -5
I was just thinking, If Sears and Kmart go it's going to be so weird going to the mall and not having them there. Sears is one of the bigger reasons I go to the mall. I love going to Sears to look at the appliances and vacuums. They have the best vacuum department of the department stores, biggest selection as well as parts for their older models. And you can try them out. Way better than Walmart, I don't even look at their vacuum department. And Sears has a better selection of appliances than Lowes or Home Depot IMO, and the salespeople are more knowledgeable, in my experience.
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Kmart
Apr 15, 2017 8:41:57 GMT -5
Post by Parkman on Apr 15, 2017 8:41:57 GMT -5
I agree with you. I don't know if its the same today with the crisis going on in retail. But I read when Sears and Kmart merged together, the real estate portfolio was worth like twice what the company was.
Sears does seem to have the best selection of vacuums and price points too. Also they seem to have more powerful vacuums as many of the other places have ones that don't suck that well from what I've experienced.
The only aspect I do not like about Sears is the delivery services that they outsource too. I've had really great guys deliver my stuff like my fridge, it was actually a pleasure talking to these guys but then my mattress I felt like if the truck didn't have out of state license plates that those two guys would have been their the next day robbing my house or a neighbors. The way they were looking around, they backed into a tree and ripped a branch down didn't tell me, or care about their truck getting dented, jumping around out of the truck like puppies, and cussing was not professional to me. We've had other experiences in the family to of Sears delivery being horrendous.
However whenever I have to do store pick up its been good.
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Kmart
Apr 22, 2017 9:35:52 GMT -5
Post by Jordan U on Apr 22, 2017 9:35:52 GMT -5
We have a Sears Kennmore vacuum,, had it for many years now and its very good quality.. It is quite powerful..
What a disastrous mattress delivery! I certainly would not have been happy about that either..
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Kmart
Jun 4, 2017 13:21:12 GMT -5
Post by Cole D on Jun 4, 2017 13:21:12 GMT -5
I noticed my local Kmart has signs up announcing that they are having an inventory blow-out sale and that everything is up to 20% off. It didn't say they were closing, but I assume that's what is happening. It was supposed to be one of the stronger performers in the state so that shows you how bad it is going for them. I also noticed at Sears the electronic department is nearly cleared out, there were only one or two TVs on display at most. Also the vacuum cleaner department has been cleared out except for a few models and most of the shelving has been removed in that area. So far the other departments look normal.
The next closest Sears around an hour away closed last spring, and that was a big store and a good one up until then. And I get the feeling that ours won't be with us much longer seeing how it seems they are starting to empty departments out. Hopefully not, but I really think it won't be long before they're gone. I hear that Sears has a lot of issues with suppliers worrying they won't get paid for the inventory and that means that people probably don't put much faith in them anymore.
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Post by MattS on Jun 4, 2017 17:04:59 GMT -5
It's a shame because I like Sears, but all the Kmart's I've been to in the past 10 years are dumps. The facilities themselves are in disrepair, they have a lousy inventory selection, and a lot of the stuff they sell is no better quality than Walmart but at a higher price. Could they just close Kmart and keep Sears, wouldn't that save them money by consolidating into one? I just hope if Kmart and Sears go, that another retailer acquires Craftsman and Kenmore.
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Kmart
Jul 15, 2017 19:14:26 GMT -5
Post by Parkman on Jul 15, 2017 19:14:26 GMT -5
So we are (as of October) in the tri-county area down to 1 Kmart and 1 Sears. We have a Sears that opened in 1951 closing in October. We had three Kmarts close...
So our last Kmart (and nationwide) are having a Summer BLOWOUT SALE! 10-50% off almost everything for the remainder of July. So I assumed that meant clothes, summer stuff like boogie boards or folding chairs, etc. Nope its everything except grocery stuff they have there...
Even deodorant, hair dye, greeting cards.. Its all on sale, every single item.. And its all on handwritten signs like how its done in a liquidation.
Now I've heard rumors before that the plan is for Sears to go into bankruptcy and restructure with OUT the Kmart brand and shrink Sears into about half the size it is in malls omitting clothing and sticking with the things they are known for appliances, tools, some housewares, mattresses, camping gear, and outdoor furniture.
I follow all the news on Sears Holdings, Sears, and Kmart closely as it amazes me how the "Amazon" of yesterday could be dwindling down for various reasons such as changing shopping preferences (online shopping), not investing in stores, the overhead of having a physical store (the property taxes on our local SEARS alone is around 300,000 a year!), declining customer service, cheapening of products, and a horrendous Hedge fund manager CEO and majority shareholder. Its an interesting case study overall.
The girl that cuts my hair also cuts the store manager to the surviving Kmart in our part of the state and he said they are SUPER profitable. I believe it despite what I said about the summer blowout sale above... I do believe it as its in a shore town that doesn't have a Walmart for 25 minutes away (in good traffic) and has no other everything store at a decent price. The thing that worries me is I have heard Sears will close down profitable stores if it gets too be too much to ship "truck" the merchandise to that one store... I feel somethings going to happen regardless to this store as it makes it so convenient for a lot of things especially since I'm growing to hate Walmart more and more!
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Kmart
Jul 15, 2017 21:26:52 GMT -5
Post by Cole D on Jul 15, 2017 21:26:52 GMT -5
My Kmart had one of those Blowout sales a month or so ago but it only lasted a week or two and the signs were gone. This week I noticed the signs were back.
I read that our Kmart was one of the most profitable ones in the state, it's always pretty much a ghost town when I go. There aren't any Kmarts for miles around.
Our Sears recently got rid of TVs and moved the vacuums into there, where the vacuums were they put in a bigger mattress dept. They seem to be advertising bedding a lot on commercials and in their ads they send in the mail. Sears has decent clothing I think but they never seem as busy as the other department stores in those areas, tools, auto and appliances are usually where you see the most people.
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Kmart
Jul 15, 2017 21:49:55 GMT -5
Post by Parkman on Jul 15, 2017 21:49:55 GMT -5
My wife and I got our mattress and box spring from Sears. It was over $2000 we got it for under $1000. Very comfortable! It seems they are making a dent in that market. I heard someone say, if a mattress store sells 2-3 mattress a day it pays all their expenses for the store... Shows how much markup there is.
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Kmart
Feb 18, 2018 14:05:02 GMT -5
Post by Cole D on Feb 18, 2018 14:05:02 GMT -5
Our Kmart store closed earlier this month, it was a pretty good store and did well, but the 25 year lease was up and they weren't going to renew it. Honestly though, before the closing sale I probably hadn't bought anything at Kmart in almost 10 years. The prices to me seemed to be higher than other places, but at least it was faster to get in and out than Walmart. Also Kmart of today just wasn't like it was in the early 90s for me. You could tell they were cutting back, the Cafe had cut back hours and then closed a number of years ago, there were rarely many checkouts open until the closing sale, I think the Pharmacy had already closed down a few years back, and the garden center was almost empty outside. I just hope can find new jobs, I know some of the people had been there at least 20 years.
I have heard twice also that Sears Holdings will probably close all of the Kmart stores by December. I'm not sure what they're going to do with Sears yet, if they will stay open and just close down stores or if they will all close. I think some of the products are going to be sold on Amazon.
I'm not sure if our Sears will stay open either, I've noticed since some of the departments have moved around they don't have as much in them as they did before. Also selection and stock seems to be getting a bit thin if you notice. If that's a company wide thing or a sign of closure I'm not sure.
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