The (Avoidable) Death of Kmart | Trapped in the Past in Every Way | History in the Dark

At one time, Kmart was the second largest retail chain in America, only behind Sears. They were known throughout the 70's and 80's as a one-stop-shop for almost all your needs. But overtime, they began to be seen as old, outdated, and they did little to change that perception. As steep competition from other big box outlets appeared, from chains like Walmart and Target, the fall of Kmart was inevitable.

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#kmart #retail #truestory #documentary #corporate #bigbox

[HistoryintheDark]

To be clear: This video is discussing AMERICA'S Kmart. Not AUSTRALIA'S Kmart. While they both have the same origin, they are two entirely different companies and Australia's Kmart is actually still doing decently. Australia also has their own Target too, which is not the same as America's Target. It's confusing, I know.

[wadechilds]

I worked at Kmart from 1985-1995. When they announced my store was closing, my friend and I knew that the drill was for a liquidation company to come in and increase the percentage off on merchandise week by week until the final day when everything in the store would be 99% off.

We hid things like SNES cartridges, a couple of car stereos, action figures, bowling balls, etc. in the store's HVAC system. On the last day, we pulled everything out and marched up to the register with two carts loaded to the top with goodies. If looks could kill, we would have died multiple deaths that day. In total, I got about $3500 worth of merchandise for $35. 😁😁😁

[MrLulzbot]

While the death of K-mart is sad, what is truly depressing is the demise of Sears and their associated brands.

[tarkov]

I walked into one about 5 years ago right before it closed, and it was like going 30 years into the past. Smelled like it too.

[NealB]

Kmart was a time machine. The Kmart stores of 2010 looked exactly like the Kmart stores of 1970. But with less stuff. Ouch.

[MK-ofqw]

bad management killed Kmart. the great kind of management that probably paid themselves bonuses after for the job well done.

[TheBigdog]

I'm 54. As a kid, I remember my great grandma saying she wanted to go to Kresge's. We thought it was funny because it had long ago changed to Kmart, but that's what she called it.

[JohnZombi]

I'll never forget the last time I was inside a Kmart. Late 2009. Store was dirty and half the lights were burned out. They were a couple weeks from closing completely and employees stopped caring (I don't blame them, I'd stop caring too if my unemployment was imminent). We had a cart full of stuff and the cashier told us just to take it. 😂

[Atlazuko]

I used to work at Kmart in America. I quit because of management and I told the manager at the time the way you run this place it’ll be closed in year. They didn’t even make it nine months.😂

[garymackey]

My mother started at a KMart in northern Texas in 1968 and stayed until she retired in the late 90"s. She saw them at their peak and the demise in that area. She was laid-off a couple of times but offered a part-time position at a lower wage....she sued both times and got back pay and her job back. Due to mismanagement of the retirement funds by Lampert and bunch....after 30 years her retirement check was just shy of $200 a month! Once they went from full time to part time employees and the resulting bad attitudes....I stopped shopping there....//

[nikolasincorporated]

My mom and dad met each other and started dating when they worked at kmart together. My mom calls my dad her “blue light special” 😂❤

[justsumguyu]

The biggest failure of Kmart was to adapt to the world of computers and internet back in the 90's. First of all, they had no computerized inventory management----they were sitting on millions of dollars of merchandise that was unaccounted for. The second was no online presence, which Walmart adopted immediately. Kmart corporate at the time honestly believed that the internet was just a fad that would blow over

[christopherthompson]

The kmarts by me had a little caesars in it. The whole store smelled like crazy bread ❤

[rlgx]

When I started truck driving in 2007, the company I worked for did store deliveries to Kmart and Sears. It was depressing making the deliveries. The employees would hand unload the truck using a system of conveyor rollers, taking 3-4hrs to unload. Walking in the stores felt like going into a time machine back to the 1980s. Drab and dingy and feeling like a ghost town with little to no customers inside. My company would also do temporary store deliveries for Walmart when they needed extra trucks, like leading into the holidays. It was a night and day difference. Bump the dock and leave paperwork in the back of the trailer and hook to an empty trailer. 30min process. It was so efficient and organized.

[MrCookieCat]

We had a Sears Essentials store near us for a time. It was near a busy highway, good location. My mom and I went to look for a vacuum. The store was clean, bright, well stocked. *AND THERE WERE NO CUSTOMERS THERE.* Maybe us and 3 others. 6-8 employees though. The guy that rang us up was really excited to check us out. Maybe we were the only customer he had that day. Or week.
Mom passed on long ago, and was sad to have watched Sears go downhill.
Still have that vacuum.

[claykennedy]

The stores were old and dirty and the reimaging never took, but my family was a Kmart family far longer than most. Not so much me, but my mom was a loyalist from the glory days. When they lost people like her, they were doomed. I'll always have fond memories attached to it from my childhood.

[graywolf]

I worked for Kmart 2011 to 2015/16, can confirm, it was like working in the early 80s.

[ax]

Walmart with groceries is called Walmart Supercenter. Almost all of them have groceries now but they also used different names for different sized stores like Kmart did. Not quite as bad though.

[THEBACKSTER]

My mom loved K-Mart, I have found memories of going to the one in Enola, Pennsylvania during the early 2000's, it's actually where I got my first PS2 and DS

[DamianWard]

I worked at kmart in almost every store position from 2014-2017... which was their real foray into the "buy online, pickup in store" arena. A lot of stores like walmart and target were doing that already too, but kmart wanted to scale it up and make it the norm, and they could've been great at it too. But in typical kmart fashion, greed took over instead.

One thing about kmart is, they did NOT price-match other retailers, which is not really the end of the world at first glance... but they took it to another level. In order to try to push for more online sales, a lot of the time any given item's price on kmart's website would be less than the price in store, and guess what... the stores would NOT match the online price on their OWN website either!

Imagine being an entry level hourly employee and telling the customer that they have to purchase the item online, select the in-store pickup option, wait for an employee to pick/pack the order, and wait in line to "pick up" the same item at a slightly lower price that they are currently holding in their hand... because that is EXACTLY how that scenario played out on a regular basis. Utter nonsense and despicable customer service just to try to over-blow the exec's "multi-channel" strategy so they can say in their board meetings "look at all these online sales we're making!"

Some bargain-hunters actually played along and did just that to get the lower price, but I guarantee you it was the last time they ever set foot in a kmart. Others just walked out in disbelief, leaving full shopping carts behind. I just remember thinking to myself, why is kmart alienating their customers like this???