Did KMart ever not suck? When?

[Orrex]

:rant:

In the past quarter century I've never been in a branch of the store that wasn't poorly lit, poorly stocked, and staffed by a generally uninterested crew. The shelves and inventory are always dusty and in severe disarray, the carts are battered and rusty, the ceilings show extensive water stains and missing panels, and the floors are dirty, uneven, and cracked.

Usually only one or two of the dozen checkout lanes are open, with poorly trained cashiers completely befuddled by even the most basic of issues. And I'm not dissing these low-level employees either; I've worked in retail and I know that problems of this sort are very seldom the fault of the bottom-rung worker. It's clearly a matter of shoddy training and multiple levels of lackadaisical management.

What possible hope of competion can KMart maintain, when they're their own worst enemy? I'll tell you this: shoehorning a Kenmore appliance section into a run-down looking third-tier retail venue isn't going to do it.

[begin_within]

1. Only their garden shop was good, and only about 20 years ago.

At least the one near me... they had a great garden shop with all kinds of plants and all kinds of good supplies at low prices. Since they merged with Sears it's now called "Sears Essentials" and the garden shop is completely useless... only a tiny, token selection of plants. Good tools (Sears Craftsman), but not a single soul working in that area of the store. You have to drag plants to the main checkout counters.

[spinbaby]

2. Martha Stewart stuff was pretty good

They had quite a nice selection of kitchen gear by Martha Stewart the last time I was there-- basic practical stuff that you'd actually want in your kitchen. It's been a couple of years since I've been there, though, so that may have gone away. I remember saying then that KMart would be better off if they just turned all their operations over to Martha Stewart.

[AllegroRondo]

4. I got one of her skillets from K-mart last year

I was looking for a good quality skillet in stainless steel, flat heavy bottom to hold in heat, and a lid with a vent. Any other store wanted at least $120 for something decent, but Martha's was just $40.

[barb162]

49. It's still good. Her stuff is very pretty, nice colors, etc.

[femmocrat]

19. I used to love their garden shop. They even sold Martha Stewart plants one year.

Now they don't even have the stuff they advertise in their ads. :grr:

[begin_within]

29. Oh... I remember the Martha Stewart plant collection

Mother-in-Law's Tongue


Venus Flytrap


Poison Ivy


Corpse Flower


The "Martha Stewart" rose

Just kidding! And that's a good thing.

[barb162]

46. The garden shop near me was good until late last year. This yr; forget it.

They seem to have almost no stock. There are workers in the garden shop still by me but there's such little stock. It's a shame.

[slj0101]

3. They used to have a bitchin' snack bar...

[begin_within]

7. It's now a "Little Ceasars" pizza counter instead of the snack bar.

[ContraBass Black]

23. I haven't heard the name "Little Ceasar's" in years.

It used to be my family's favorite.

[PassingFair]

5. Their selection always sucked.

You had a "choice" of the expensive model or the cheap model from
ONE or TWO manufacturers.

There was usually graft involved as to what company was allowed to
stock the shelves.

They never seemed to reach any level of professionalism, anywhere.

[DS1]

6. The one on Route 17 in New Jersey wasn't that bad

so they closed it down.

[trogdor]

43. No kidding.

They also had a decent one in Rome, New York, before Chapter 11. History.

[Crazy Dave]

8. Back in the late 70's and 80's

Used to get car batteries and tires there a lot. Their brands used to be pretty high rated in consumer reports. Show me any retailer who doesn't suck now though.

Seriously.

[skygazer]

9. No

KMart did not ever not suck.

[BlueJazz]

10. The one that is down the street from me is great.....

...they have decent stuff at good prices.

I suspect it's a "Location, Store Manager and just plain luck" Thing :)

[truedelphi]

30. Mine is one town away but after I make the trip

The selection is good and prices are low.

[datasuspect]

11. they didn't suck back when they had a lunch counter and sold guns

blue light specials!


i have the space plan for old kmart stores burned into my mind for some reason

[HEyHEY]

12. HAHA - you described any K-mart I've been to perfectly!

[BlueJazz]

14. Mine in St.Petersburg are great.....It's probably because the.....

...area is filled with "Old Folks" and The Dreaded Wal-Mart is on the outskirts of town.

I bought a nice (Discontinued) 1 Gig name-brand MP3 player for 37 bucks so
I must just be Lucky to be in an area where they don't... :puke:

:)

[SacredCow]

13. That's what I remember about them.....

To the letter.

Which is why they no longer exist where I live- Wal Mart and Target ran them off. And I'm sad to report that Target is becoming largely the same as K-Mart. The other morning, it took me 30 freakin' minutes to check out because there was only 1 out of 20 lanes open and the girl wasn't allowed to scan liquor.

[LSK]

15. come to the one in Des Plaines, IL

Its not as bad as you describe.

[underpants]

16. I got a great Christmas present there one year

Totally out of the blue. I got basically picked up in the check out line.

Never heard from her again.

[NewWaveChick1981]

17. K Mart didn't suck in the late 60s and in the 70s.

:hi: They had a great snack bar and had decent stuff for not a lot. The K Marts in the area where I lived (suburban Atlanta) were actually pretty nice. They were clean and well-stocked, and most of the employees then were career workers. Things changed in the 80s, though, and I haven't been impressed since then.

[jobycom]

18. When they were the main alternative to TG & Y and Woolworths, maybe.

Everything was new once.

[idgiehkt]

20. Walmart sucks worse

I patronize K-mart just out of spite no matter how much they suck. Viva K-mart.

[BushOut06]

21. Having worked for Kmart for 4 years in the early 90s, I can tell you exactly what their problem is

When I worked for Kmart, the company was still relatively popular, Walmart hadn't established its dominance quite yet, and Target was up-and-coming. Even at that point, I realized Kmart was doomed. They don't give a rat's ass about their employees. They would constantly cut hours to the point where there were hardly any customer service employees on the floor, then wonder why customers got upset when they couldn't find anyone. Their stores were cramped, with narrow aisles, and stacks of merchandise perched perilously on the top "overstock" shelf. I said when left the company in '94 that the company would go bankrupt within five years - I might have been off by a year or two.

[barb162]

47. I knew a guy who worked there a while and he said they always

figured a way to fire someone before the pension was accrued.

[ContraBass Black]

22. Whenever a store is collapsing on a national level, its individual locations

Begin to fall apart, and few working in them care enough to put them back together. Have you been to a Toy's-R-Us in the eight years?

[Blue Diadem]

Toys-r-us is awful!

I remember shopping there when my kids were young. They've really gone downhill through the years.

[ContraBass Black]

27. Ten two fifteen years ago, they were bright, orderly, shining places

Full of delighted children and friendly employees.

[Blue Diadem]

28. The closest one to us is really crowded, poorly arranged, dirty looking

floor, basically dull. There are very seldom many people there, just lots of inventory in poorly arranged space. I'm thinking just like any home, if it's not painted or updated with something new once in a while it gets old and shabby.

[hedgehog]

24. I'm crossing my fingers because Sear's seems to be making some essential changes

and it's the only store of that type for 10 miles. A Walmart is going in across town; I hope the K-Mart doesn't go belly-up.

[Blue Diadem]

25. There was a time, when Sears was #1 retailer and they were worried about Kmart.

They used to preach they didn't want to go to Kmart style, they wanted to continue good customer service etc, all the while eliminating employees and creating virtually their own downfall. Customer service..what customer service? They'd become what they most feared.

Funny the way things happened. As they became more and more like Kmart, Kmart bumped Sears from #1 retailer status sometime in the mid 80's. Then of course, the up and coming Walmart knocked them both for a loop.

I don't believe the Sears and Kmart around here have done anything to their stores in the last 20 years. They may rearrange them occasionally but I've not seen any improvements.

I do hate shopping at either one. Kmart may have some good prices..when they have the items they advertise which around here isn't often. The newer one we used to shop at, closed it's doors. Now there is only one, quite far away and that building is exactly as you describe. Makes me want to take a shower after I'm been through there.

[ContraBass Black]

31. You still have Sears? I thought they went under.

[Crabby Appleton]

32. Sears and KMart merged a few years ago

http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/17/news/fortune500/sears_kmart/

[Blue Diadem]

41. Oh yeah, actually 3 within probably 30 miles

One is privately owned, mostly hardware, appliances, lawn and garden that type stuff. The biggest Sears retail store in the area is in Toledo, the other's in a suburb of Toledo.

They're merged with Kmart now. Still weird to see Kenmore in Kmart ads.

[Kutjara]

26. Even their ads suck.

The new ad campaign, with the irritating little blue light character, as if that's supposed to remind people of what a quality place K-Mart is. Or make them all nostalgic for the feeding frenzies over worthless crap that was "the blue light special."

The latest ad involves some stereotypically clueless woman being conned by the little blue bastard into buying a High Def tv for her husband. This is apparently the only way for a woman to show a man that she loves him. And if she's very very lucky, hubby might buy her something "shiny" in return. Well, isn't that just special? She drops two grand on a monster TV for Couchy McSportsfan at home, and he buys her some poorly-plated crap from the jewelery counter.

I don't know about anyone else, but if I bought my wife K-Mart jewelery, I'd be sleeping in the garage for a month.

[barb162]

48. Wally's ads suck too, so why is Wally's always crowded?

Plus Wally's merchandise is equal to or worse than KMart. But the Wally's here is always jammed.

[Jamastiene]

33. Yes. There was a time when Kmart did not suck.

Back when I experienced Wal-Mart in my hometown for the first time, we still had a Roses and a Kmart. When I saw what Wal-Mart was like, Kmart and Roses were like godsends when I just needed to pick something up. Less than a year after we got Wal-Mart here, Roses was gone and Kmart soon followed. Now, we have no choice but Wal-Mart here. There is no Target or any of those other great places. Kmart would be greatly appreciated by me at this point. Just walking in the door at Wal-Mart is a nightmare in and of itself.

Keep in mind though, I live in a rural area where we don't have options and choices and the natives use Wal-Mart to socialize, so it's a nightmare just maneuvering through the store. It's huge, but full of people standing around talking. The people who work there tend to be standing around talking too, so help is not on the way if you need it unless you practically kidnap one of them when their cohort, ahem, I mean coworkers aren't looking.

[FloridaJudy]

34. The stuff they have for sale is pretty good

Good quality, fair price. Unfortunately, the only K-Mart store remaining locally (we used to have three) is exactly as you describe it: dirty, understaffed, and with narrow aisles crowded with boxes and stuff that hasn't yet been put on the shelves. Navigating those aisles is a logistical nightmare, and sometimes I can't even get at the items I need.

What few staff there are seem to be pleasant and willing to help, but overworked and under-trained. Sad place.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. KaMe apART?

They pretty much always sucked. Cheap merchandise, zero customer service.

[MysticalChicken]

36. I honestly don't remember ever liking KMart.

Even when I was a kid, I hated it.

I loathe Wal-Mart too. They have suck for music selection.

[AndreaCG]

37. There are 2 in Manhattan

The one on Astor Place in the East Villlage is pretty nice and has a lot of inventory.

[yorkiemommie1]

38. the one we have here ( SoCal)

is pretty nice. ALmost as nice as Target. The only thing I buy at KMart is puppy pads. I buy as much as I can at Target. Used to go to CostCo but dh can't walk the store and is too proud to use the go-carts.

[LeftyMom]

39. Some of them here weren't too bad, so they closed them.

:shrug:

Seems to have a lot to do with Target constantly updating stuff and Wal-Mart having the cheap shit, horrible service niche wrapped up.

[Oeditpus Rex]

40. Eh, you like Walgreens better anyway

:P

[LeftyMom]

50. At Kmart I could have bought a gun for safety.

Walgreens. :scared:

[KG]

42. they are run by morons. they closed a store in Valdosta Ga. because the numbers weren't good

customers and employees alike were befuddled because the place was always busy.

well it seems a bean-counter in the corp office was reading the numbers wrong. the store was reopened several months later.

[baldguy]

44. When it was Kresge's

[barb162]

45. The one near me is well-lit, clean, etc.

WHat I don't understand is why people aren't shopping there. The Wally's near me is always jammed packed with buyers and I think it's a mess. KMart's prices are better than Wally's too.