K-Mart and Sears closings in KY

[mcpapa]

And it's a complete mess. Run down, broken, empty fixtures, stuff just strewn about, it doesn't even look like they are trying. What few employees you see, look completely miserable. I just don't see how Kmart could be anyone's first choice for anything. Sears stores are graveyards too....old, outdated, and since they whored out the Craftsman brand (which isn't what used to be anyway), there is little reason to go there for anything either. I imagine they'll keep selling off the company in chunks (of which only the real estate has any value), until they've bled everything out of the company.

 

Retail in general though is rapidly changing. I happened to pop iinto the Tri County Mall in Springdale last week in between meetings and was shocked at how empty it was. At least 1/3 of the storefronts were shuttered, and the only people in the mall were the older mall walkers. Many of the traditional mall based stores are in trouble and facing tough times, including the big anchor's like Macy's. Online shopping is sucking the life out of traditional brick and mortar retail.

 

This.

[Run To State]

And it's a complete mess. Run down, broken, empty fixtures, stuff just strewn about, it doesn't even look like they are trying. What few employees you see, look completely miserable. I just don't see how Kmart could be anyone's first choice for anything. Sears stores are graveyards too....old, outdated, and since they whored out the Craftsman brand (which isn't what used to be anyway), there is little reason to go there for anything either. I imagine they'll keep selling off the company in chunks (of which only the real estate has any value), until they've bled everything out of the company.

 

Retail in general though is rapidly changing. I happened to pop iinto the Tri County Mall in Springdale last week in between meetings and was shocked at how empty it was. At least 1/3 of the storefronts were shuttered, and the only people in the mall were the older mall walkers. Many of the traditional mall based stores are in trouble and facing tough times, including the big anchor's like Macy's. Online shopping is sucking the life out of traditional brick and mortar retail.

 

Completely agree on your entire post!

[rjs4470]

Completely agree on your entire post!

 

I spent the first 17 years of my work life in retail, so I can be somewhat critical and still ocassionally look at stores using my retail exec glasses. And mostly, I don't like what I see from many retailers. And Kmart and Sears are among the worst.

When I left retail, I walked away from a good chunk of money, and it's taken me a few years to get back to the level I was, but getting out of retail was the best move I've ever made.

[plantmanky]

Erlanger store still open.

 

Who goes to erlanger?

[Jumper_Dad]

Kmart just did so many things that didn't make sense to me from a retailing standpoint. Just the way they looked their business on a daily basis seemed counter intuitive to how I was taught.

One example, Walmart would tell associates any financial information for their store they wanted. They would share sales numbers for the store and departments and what was expected today, this week, this month and this year. KMART employees were only given general numbers with no clear path as to what was expected.

 

Walmart associates through profit sharing and shared information felt more invested in the business. I saw a district manager get fired within 24 hours of Sam Walton finding out that he said that his managers don't have time to sit down and share all of the stores "Numbers"...that was how serious WM took sharing everything back then. At the same time Walmart dept. mgrs. had more information at their disposal than KMART store managers did. Kmart was the original "Because we say so" company.

[Run To State]

Who goes to erlanger?

 

What's wrong with Erlanger?

[swamprat]

Those companies who evolve and compete with Amazon will survive. Walmart understands this and has adapted, converting stores to warehouses and enhancing their online presence. Sears was slow to react to emergence of Walmart, now they are way too far behind to catch up to Amazon. This is their 4th restructure in just the last few years. They won't survive this one.

[John Anthony]

There won't be malls in 15 years.

[TAC]

A little over 700 left as of the 4th quarter.

 

For comparison there are almost 1500 Big Lots!

 

What is your guess on how many Dollar Generals there are?

[Jumper_Dad]

What is your guess on how many Dollar Generals there are?

 

Guessing without looking it up, I'd guess 4000, 5000 maybe more.

 

 

PS I looked it up...wow! 12000 stores doing over $21 Billion in sales (approximately same sales as Kmart/Sears combined)

[TAC]

Guessing without looking it up, I'd guess 4000, 5000 maybe more.

 

 

PS I looked it up...wow! 12000 stores doing over $21 Billion in sales (approximately same sales as Kmart/Sears combined)

 

They will have 14,000 by fall. They open 1-2 new ones per day! Family Dollar only has 8,500!

[mcpapa]

There will soon be just a couple of options. High-end etail, and Dollar/Big Lots-type stores where you can get your 5 year-old phone accessories and off-brand crackers and candy.

[Jumper_Dad]

They will have 14,000 by fall. They open 1-2 new ones per day! Family Dollar only has 8,500!

 

They pop up like mushrooms, I think we have at least 8 or 9 Dollar Generals in this county.

[Jumper_Dad]

There will soon be just a couple of options. High-end etail, and Dollar/Big Lots-type stores where you can get your 5 year-old phone accessories and off-brand crackers and candy.

 

There already isn't much in the middle. You have Walmart/Kroger/Target/Meijers on one end and Dollar Stores/Big Lots on the other.

[mcpapa]

There will soon be just a couple of options. High-end etail, and Dollar/Big Lots-type stores where you can get your 5 year-old phone accessories and off-brand crackers and candy.

 

Make it three options. Wally World ain't going anywhere anytime soon. There's a great market here for Chinese-produced goods.