Is there a Kmart store in your area?

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The Kmart store near me is closing. They're having a liquidation sale right now.

There's one being built right now. Could possibly be open in time for christmas.

Yes, there is, but I'm not sure how it manages to stay open. It's really dingy and they never seem to put any money into fixing it up. I have the feeling it will close within the few years, but for now it's holding on.

The Kmart half a mile from me is still in business ... across the street from a Walmart. The Kmart was one of the 1960s stores with acres and acres of parking. I rode my bicycle(s) there frequently as a kid. I suspect strongly that the store bought and paid for its land many years ago, and needs only to bring in enough money to pay its current bills while sitting on land that is worth more than that of Walmart. In other words, it stands proudly in resolute opposition to Big Box stores who sell crap and rush customers out the door. It is a staring match to see which will leave the neighborhood first.

Sure, the Kmart is a Wayback Machine to the 1970s, but the LGBT staffers are kookie fun, far more helpful and intelligent than they probably need to be for such a job. They enjoy their work, and chat with everyone (mostly anti-Walmart customers) who visits. The prices are better than Walmart, so, for basic needs, it is my go-to store.

There was 20 years ago. Zellers has taken its place and than Target. There's nothing there right now. Just a big, vacant space inside the mall.

There are a few K-Marts in our area.

K-Mart was "put on the map" because of the fact that Raymond Babbitt, in "Rain Man," used to buy underwear there.

He insisted that he could only by underwear at this particular K-Mart in Cincinnati.

K-Mart was rather a tacky place in the 1980s.

I miss "Clover" store, Korvet's, and Kresge's. Kresge's used to have a .99 cent lunch - delicious - meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Kresge's was a kid paradise - at the luncheonette, they would hang up balloons with either blank slips of paper in them or paper with prizes written on them such as a banana split, soda, etc... the day I picked the banana split....well....for a 7 yr old, it was like hitting the lottery. Threw up my guts on the long bus ride home but it was fun anyhow.

We used to have Woolworth's and McCrory's on the same street. They both had "lunch counters." When I was a kid, I used to envy the people who could afford to have lunch and those nice fruit drinks there.

E.J. Korvettes was an institution on Long Island until the late 1970s.

Kresge's: never heard of the place--but I imagine it was like many five-and-dime stores of the time.

There is one near my house.

I prefer my area Kmart when I am making a drive. If I'm gonna buy cheap stuff, I want it actually cheap? Walmart is not really all that in comparison. It is too big and make me sketchy to be in. Most the resason Iwent (large amountws of freezer ghoods and family size without being Costco) are gone. I often get sick in Wal mart. Number of times swooned in Walmart? 6. Number of times in Kmart? Zero

I use local market for most part. Normally it is CDs, electronics, Toys, minor furnishing, etc. that I use large box stores for.

Some years back an investment group bought K-mart & used it to buy Sears & OSH in part for the real estate, but also because the company had been plundered & used Enron-style by the previous investor-owners and had little value left apart from the real estate. I think I've got that right, it was pretty confusing how someone could use a failing company to buy a much larger one. Anyway, as mentioned above, K-mart, Sears & OSH often owned the land the store was on back then. They've already sold off OSH to Lowe's. K-Mart (corporate is now called Sears) also sold off Lands’ End and its stake in Sears Canada and Australia. The latest big decline (after the death watch in the early 2000's) for the company started with the Sears buy; the new CEO was/is a devout Libertarian with a strong Rand fetish (google: Edward Lampert Ayn Rand ) and decided that for the corporation and stores to do their best, all employees needed to be in competition with each other rather than work cooperatively toward a larger corporate goal. At least that was how he presented it. I've a feeling he may have also done so to avoid any inside criticism or scrutiny, as everyone was too busy trying to sabotage and undercut each other.

Imagine what the chain could be like if it was actually run by people who know retail rather than investing...

There was one we could take a bus to but it wasn't that close & it closed down like half a year ago.