As bad as it sounds i hope the k-mart near my house closes. They never have anything anyway and its always empty. I pray we get a best buy here. Just walk down the block if i need to pick something up

capt

They just got done re-modeling the K-Mart by me. They made it a "Super K-Mart" or something like that. it's suppose to have everything know, like a Wal-Mart.

That's the way I've looked at it for a couple years already.

Wal-Mart has already killed Jamesway, Bradlees, Clover, Ames (almost), and who knows what other regional chains. Meanwhile, K-Mart has been suffering for years now.

I think the reasons Target does so well are its differentiated merchandise and the fact that it had the advantage of expanding while Wal-Mart was on top, instead of having to alter the stores (ie. K-Mart Pantry!) just to compete.

One of the problems I've noticed at most of the KMarts I go to is that they have a lot of inventory, and a lot of it is in the aisles so you end up having to walk single-file to get anywhere. The DVD's and video games are seldomly arranged in any sort of coherent manner and finding a specific title that you're looking for can be difficult.

Yeah, that is a huge problem at any K-Mart I visit. They not only put the aisles too close together, but areas that used to be "free space" are now jammed with product. (and, more frustrating, unopened boxes of product -- stuff that you'd usually see in storerooms, but not out in the open).

I find it very difficult to navigate their stores, and I'm young, able-bodied, and never buy enought that I require a shopping cart.

"KMART SUCKS!"

-Raymond Babbit (Rain Man)

We never had K-Mart stores until about 4 years ago when they opened up in the three buildings around town that had been vacated by Venture, who was a retailer a lot like K-Mart, when they went belly up. I remember thinking at the time "they're going to open the exact same business in the exact same places that it just failed? What genius came up with that plan?"
Although I did get some good deals on some Anchor Bay DVD's, the store I went to was poorly staffed and there were usually no prices on the items or the shelves, so the only way you could find out how much something cost was to take it to the Customer service window in the front of the store. Even though they had 25 registers, there were usually only 2 or 3 open. Their specials were usually out of stock on the first day they were advertised. While I'm at it, I might as well complain about the parking lot - they had about 50 handicapped spaces plus another 20 "expectant mother" spaces that were always empty. I've got nothing against handicapped people or pregnant women and I am sure the number of handicapped spaces was federally mandated based on the square footage of the parking lot, which was much bigger than it had to be. It's just one of those things that make you shake your head in disgust when you are one of a handful of people in the store and you have walk 100 yards across an empty parking lot.

Whew! I feel better.

Does anyone know if K-Mart still owns WaldenBooks? I would miss them if they went away.

If "being a filthy pit" is all it takes to make a business go under these days, then could someone please explain why KayBe Toy Stores are still open? To walk down the aisles in any KayBe Toy Store in the Chicagoland area means tromping through a carpet of crunched action figure bubble packages. When - oh when - will this chain store file for bankruptcy? Pretty please.

And I could stand to see Waldenbooks tank as well. Absolutely no selection and full (sometimes above) MSRP on all titles. Sorry, but with a quick clickety-clickety-click, I've got the same title in mint condition under cover price from Half.com shipped.

This article by a stock analyst was published today:

This guy did say that some sort of re-organization was badly needed and likely. It might involve closing some stores but he didn't think the whole chain would go away, at least not any time soon.


Also, I should have mentioned that the WaldenBooks near me is a "clearing house" where they sell books for as much as 90% off. That is why I would miss it. If only they sold DVD's!

Waldenbooks is now owned and operated by Borders.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Kmart don't goooooooo!!!