What the executives who are constantly sacrificing Kmart for Sears don't seem to understand is that NOBODY under the age of 50 views Sears as iconic. Sears means nothing to us! NOTHING! Kmart was more relevant in the past few decades than Sears. Nobody who grew up in the 80s, 90s, or 00s had any relationship to purchasing items at Sears. Do these executives think we have fond memories purchasing washing machines, tools, or garden trimmers when we were 8 years old? What exactly do they think would make Sears nostalgic for anyone who lived in the discounter era post 1960s? Our memories are of getting toys, Christmas lights etc at discounters. The boomers (no disrespect meant by that, I couldn't care less how old someone is, but it is relevant here because that was the last generation where Sears was relevant) are delusional about the value of Sears as an Icon. It may never have been as iconic as Sears, but Kmart is bigger American icon to those who grew up in the 80s and 90s.
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The problem is this, Eddie Failed Kmart and Sears by not investing funds back into the business and investing in his hedge fund.. in turn Kmart and Sears stores now are lacking to draw in the next generation.
Kmart isn’t as cheap as Wal-Mart and lacks the high end nostalgia of Target. Kmart/Sears stores are dated, the buyers purchase the same items that don’t sell year after year.. they lack the “wow” factor that the competitors offer. In order for Kmart/Sears to survive they need to rebrand, redesign, and purchase items that consumers want. Retail “brick and mortar” today is about the ability to enter the store and see and feel the item they would like to purchase and leave with it the same day. Unfortunately, The Kmart/Sears customer is a dying generation “literally”
My thoughts to improve “as if I had a say”
Bring back improved and expanded electronics, low gross margin but makes stores a destination for a tech savvy world
Apparel needs to be featured in coordinated collections, consumers don’t have time so mix and match their own outfits, short season goods with a buy it now before its gone mentality
Expand Sporting goods in “outdoor” markets
Place fishing and hunting license areas back into department to increase impulse buy of reels, poles, and equipment
Relocate Pantry near checkouts/front of store..(no one goes to Kmart for milk, they purchase it bc they need it as they pick up other goods)
Run stores based on market and geographical data, and for god sake staff the stores and hold the managers accountable to their sales and P&L
The true delusion is that Kmart or Sears is relevant.
@zlp, I see where Eddie pulled Kmart out of bankruptcy ( they would have been gone had he not). And then i also see in the article that the idea to merge sears and kmart came about when sears was about to buy 50 Kmarts.If not for Eddie, kmart would have been toys r us'ed back in 2003.
@mgw - As an older shopper I agree with you completely. Why a customer would wish to endure the long and tedious checkout process at Sears and Kmart is beyond me. For many years I avoided Walmart for this very reason; even their express lanes were too slow. Now that Walmart has self checkout, I regularly shop there. In and out of the store in a flash without any hassles!
Young people don't have the patience to shop at K-Mart. I don't blame them, the staff cuts have made it to where checking out is a 10+ minute ordeal at minimum. At Walmart or Target, it practically takes me longer to get in and out of the store than it does to grab that item and pay for it. K-Mart does not deliver any convenience.
You all can scream and argue all day long, it’s not going to make a bit of difference. What ever is going to happen, will happen. Btw you are out to lunch if you think for a min that Kmart is wheee young people want to shop. My Kmart store is on life support right now. We are LUCKY if we do 10,000 in a day, I’m sorry but the store is dead and it’s not ever coming back. My condolences for your loss. Please move on now
I am curious if OP is the same person that recently is blasting 2-3 new posts every day about Kmart? It's excessive and annoying.
There are plenty of other Kmart posts to jump into and continue with, why create a whole new discussion when the exact same discussion is happening 3 topics down?
This site is used for information regarding layoffs/store closures. Quit trying to make it a Kmart vs Sears thing, especially since they are owned by the same company.
My .02 cents on it all, if you don't have visually pleasing/interactive displays(a good example is best buy or game stop having a council on display with the latest game booted up), odds are I won't step foot in the facility. Unless I'm looking for something very specific that I know is only available from said place.
I think a large part of what is being missed when I keep pointing out that Kmart is more relevant to Sears and has more potential is that department stores are becoming obsolete in the face of outlet malls while discounters are as relevant as ever. Pointing out that Kmart is not doing as well as other discounters is not relevant to my point that Kmart has more potential because it is in a retail segment that is as relevant today as ever. Mall based middle income department stores are becoming as obsolete the horse and buggy.
The Kmart bankruptcy came about because of a variety of issues, but a store can be a brand valued by customers that is executing poorly, bad cost structure, corruption etc but still be relevant to the customer. Sears did not save Kmart, that's just a fact. Kmart had emerged from bankruptcy and was profitable long before Eddie used it as collateral to buy Sears. Kids today may not now Kmart, but even middle aged people don't know Sears. Why would anyone go to Kmart you ask, for many reasons. No Walmart where they live, cheaper than Walmart, different products than Walmart, and much much larger selection and entirely different categories that Dollar General don't even carry.
@zcd - "Did you forget that Kmart declared bankruptcy and it was Sears that saved it?"
You are as wrong as the day is long! Kmart bought Sears. Get your facts straight. Here is a link to an article about the transaction.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-ap-kmart-sears-merger-story.html
Did you forget that Kmart declared bankruptcy and it was Sears that saved it?
All this rumbling about Kmart being better is silly. All those things you said about Kmart being a discount store and all would have been relevant 15 years ago. Now there is Walmart, Dollar Store, Dollar General, etc. Why would anyone go to Kmart? The last time I stepped inside one, it felt so dated. Kids today don’t know Kmart. And the discount store competition is fierce - It’s too late for Kmart.
Probably true, but at least Kmart's hey day was more recent and they still have everyday relevance in the communities they serve where alternatives aren't available. A lot of the people who grew up with Kmart now have young families of their own and need a lot of the products that Kmart sells on a monthly basis. Unless the washing machine breaks, most people don't need Sears on a regular basis and even then other stores are often offering better. Kmart does still sell products that people regularly buy.
You're speaking the truth for the most part the problem is is that the younger generation of now doesn't know what Kmart is anymore either. Both Sears and Kmart are both relics of a bygone era and unfortunately because of that both of them are pretty much pegged as losers.