@@kenyaouko7388just imagine being say 30s or 40s and have more than 10yrs working for them and boom shutting down and now having to start over somewhere else. Also it would feel weird working there when you know your store is close to shutting down
I agree that this KMart has a “sterile” vibe to it. I worked at a KMart back in the late 80s-early 90s. There were 1-2 people working in every dept, and if the registers got busy they called your employee number to help out. I also remember that they paid us - get this- in CASH! and thanked you for the good job that you were doing. I miss the days when customer service actually meant something. Good luck finding that nowadays.
Me too in the 70s-early 80s. Id forgotten about being paid in cash. Also the departments like men/womens clothing, shoes, infants, jewelery, automotive, sporting goods, and electronics had their own manager that hired their own employees.
We as customers have to take some of the blame. The way we “voted” with our dollars made it clear to Walmart, Target, and other stores that the absolute lowest price was more important that paying for a sufficient number of employees to offer “old fashioned/proper” customer service (or having the product made domestically).
Haha.. right?! Those days are long gone. The managers office was located in the back of the store. They paid us in cash so we’d be more likely to buy stuff before we left. More $$ in their pockets.
My mom worked at Kmart and my dad came in to shop and that’s where they met each other and he asked her out. Thank God for Kmart or I wouldn’t be alive.!! love you, Kmart!❤😊
This is the reason why i thank sears because both my parents work at same one here in TN and my dad always be telling me stories of what sears was like and as far as i know of i never step foot in one but thanks for making me a person sears
I remember shopping there in NC in 2013-2014 and I haven't been in any since. They had a really good selection of clothes and shoes, for really good prices. Sometimes better than Walmart.
I loved Kmart! I have in my home now, still in use, Martha Stewart bedding, towels, throw rugs, blow dryer, chest freezer, Craftsman tools, and a Craftsman lawnmower. Kenmore washer and dryer that is over 25 years old and never needed repairs. The products they sold were quality.. They had a layaway program for Christmas presents. They were wonderful and seeing this show makes me miss them more. I met my husband in that store 45 years ago. Blue light special raincoat for $2.00 lasted 2 Generations. 😢
Martha Stewart was the beginning of the end… my dad was at our local Kmart’s former distribution center for many years and after that it went downhill… Sure there were other factors…. I grew up with a negative opinion about her that I can’t shake off. 😅🤷🏻
Have an 80 series washer and dryer. Washer has the rinse option, heavy duty cycle up to 16 minutes, ultra rinse system, prewash and soak, and auto temp control which still works! Dryer is king size with variable cycle signal volume and 4 temperature settings (not including air dry). Both bought in late 2003 from Kmart in Redwood City, CA. Both have only had mostly minor repairs, dryer blew a heating element, 2 sets of rollers, like 6 light bulbs, and a door switch and needed 3 lint cleanings, washer blew 2 motor couplers and a lid switch.
@@Planeandaquariumgeek I had the Sears repair man out once about 10 years ago just because I thought I should. He cleaned it up a little bit, but said they were perfectly fine. when this set finally gives up the ghost I’m gonna buy speed queen. I don’t want fancy. I am blind and I can’t read all the fancy dials and crap. They put on the new ones anyway. Speed queens are expensive, but they’re basic and they will last forever. But I’m still talking real nice to my present washer and dryer and hope to get some more years out of them.
Has a North Korea dystopic feel: they set up the store to look good for patrons but the whole time you're thinking, "Why is this place open and what is its purpose?"
It’s immaculate because it’s dead. lol. It’s not a good sign in this case. I’m sure there are barely any employees left. Those are always the first to go when times are tight.
@@monkeyz240 Came here to say the same. Every store has the potential to be immaculate when no one shops there anymore and the employees have plenty of time on their hands to clean and straighten because they don't have to constantly help customers. Unfortunately they failed to stay relevant when Walmart and Target came onto the scene. Should've remodeled their stores, improved their merchandise quality and modernized the overall experience etc. In 2017 it almost felt like this store was still frozen in time in the 1970's. 👌
It's a dead store that gets few shipments of new products. If he was able to flim to the stock room, it is most likely empty, and all they have is on the floor. Stores that have a lot of shoppers are normally a mess because it's hard to keep up.. and this store is clean because it has no customers.
Most people don’t remember but I remember going into Kmart as a kid with my Mom & in the back they had a big cafeteria where you could get all kinds of stuff I remember getting the ham subs that had shredded lettuce in it. Also they layaway & no one had that back then.
Kmart started selling Craftsman and Kenmore when they purchased Sears on November 17, 2004. Products that were built to last. My first job was at Kmart in 1984 and 1985. Yes, I also ran blue light specials. Yes, we were paid in cash! I loved their cafeteria and they had the best patio furniture. I’ve also been locked in that same Kmart in Des Plaines, Illinois! Sad to see them all go when this store closes in October.
Wow the repeated/same items is reminding me of a video game where you’re really not supposed to be stopping to see any of the backdrops so they just fill it with the same textures to reduce memory space. Uncanny.
In a post to Reddit at 7:52:12PM EDT on Saturday, September 21, 2024, Fleabitten, signs were hanging off the ceiling indicating liquidation is now underway at this KMart. The store will be closed permanently by Sunday, October 20, 2024. Therefore, the Mainland U.S. will have no more full KMart stores in 1 month from the writing of this message.
Yes, l saw that too earlier it's sad I miss K mart you've got to always find good stuff in there. I'd like the big and tall section. I can always find clues for myself as I'm a tall guy.
Oh no, it finally happened? I live on Long Island and make it my mission to hit up this Kmart a few times a year. I was just there last week (a few days after this video) and it was still chugging along.This store definitely hasn't turned a profit in years, but for whatever reason, has been constantly maintained. Like that Lands End display that Fleabitten mentioned was put up maybe in the last year or so. Its probably an old display from another store, but it still means that upkeep is happening. They were still getting stock in, and someone was fixing the shelves. For a zombie store, it has blown my mind that this store never went into pure disarray.
You know the company is in hot water financially when they become an attention whore and start creating controversial commercials to draw attention to themselves! 🤣🤣🤣 Remember the Christmas commercial that aired in like August??
Wow this Kmart is beautiful although not in the way it used to be to be in the 90’s but it’s apparent the employees take pride to make the shelves look neat.
Back in the mid 2000's I was living in the Las Vegas area and work for a company that assembled products for Kmart. We did furniture displays, gas grills, bicycles and exercise equipment. Thanks for posting this it brought back some memories.
Back in the 90’s, my grandmother was a greeter for K-Mart, and she is 87 now, and still talks about her beloved K-mart! She will still shout out, Welcome to K-mart occasionally!
The only reason it looks like this is because there are basically no customers messing everything up. When you see a store that's a mess it's typically because there aren't enough employees to keep up with the customers messing things up.
@@shavonnestacia2865 Not sure what the location has to do with how clean/neat the store is? 100% it's so clean/neat because there are no customers in there messing things up. I know from experience. I worked in retail for 10 years. I very highly doubt this store has a ton of staff to keep things constantly clean/neat. They're likely operating with a skeleton crew. I'd have to watch again to be sure, but I don't think I saw a single employee anywhere in this video. Stores that do really well are constantly asked to cut back on payroll (meaning cut employee hours), the exceptions usually being the holiday season and *maybe* during inventory. A company like Sears/Kmart that's going under certainly isn't going to have well-staffed stores. The last time I was in a Sears I walked through the entire store and saw ONE employee in the entire store. That employee was running a register. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this Kmart was the same.
My boyfriend is a Kresge, related to S.S Kresge who founded Kmart. Super cool to learn about his family history, its sad to see how Kmarts are fading away.
You should ask them how the agreement for that other company in Australia happened to use the name Kmart, so many people think it's the same company as North America. I know the agreement to use the name overseas went way back and it's been a completely separate company for many decades.
Just got an alert on my phone that this KMart is scheduled to be closed for good on October 20th. Glad you got to visit before the end. RIP Blue Light Specials.
@@catterdays2034 hilarious, right?! it was on my old phone. something called SmartNews. I didn't even sign up, just came with an update and it would randomly alert me to strange things like that. Just so wild that that alert popped up a week after I watched this video.
There are camera bubbles everywhere as well. With so few shoppers and employees, I bet loss prevention is able to watch every single one of them, itching for someone to pick up a product and not put it back exactly as it was.
Only reason it's so perfect is because there aren't a bunch of customers in there messing things up. If they had a "normal" amount of customers it wouldn't be so perfect.
Closing time must be hectic. Sorry Kmart shoppers, but it is now closing time. Please bring your purchases to checkout at this time. We will reopen tomorrow morning at 9 AM for your continued shopping enjoyment. Hello. Tap, tap, tap. Is this mic working?
Update: its now closing..... you went there 11 days before the announed closure. The closure to be set on this last full kmart is October 20th. R.i.p KMART.
Hi, I remember when a small farm field in Des Plaines, Illinois sold for $997,000.00 and it was to become a K-Mart and it did. Many happy memories of shopping there with the Blue Light Specials. People would almost run to whatever department it was. I remember my Grandpa buying me a 45 RPM record there of The Beatles "Hello Goodbye" and He got such a kick out of the title. I think it cost $0.88.
What a great video! It makes me sad to see what has become of retail now. This store is trying desperately to put their best foot forward. Stocking your shelves with one or two items to make it look full...☹ But at least they take pride in the appearance of this store. The lack of people is also such a shame. I remember back in the day, you could go in and find a bustling store. Although I'm not much into being around a lot of people these days, a busy store is the sign of success. I hope this one can make it somehow. Thank you for filming it for posterity. ❤
I was just here 3 weeks ago with my sister. Flipped out when I saw this video in my recommended videos and thought to myself “wonder if this random UA-camr will talk about the $50 packs of Bounty” and then sure enough 10 minutes into the video you did LMAO. Easily earned a like and subscribe!!
@@jesalf9604 Yeah, sounds about right. Unfortunately, though people can't just rely online all the time. It's gonna bite them in the behind. I'm already having issues with it. When I? Order things online. You don't come in there like they're supposed to.
I used to enjoy KMART. My mom worked for Sears part time close to 30 yrs. Very sad to see what's happened to these once thriving stores. I don't shop on line I like to touch and see what I'm purchasing. The good old days will never be the same. Wish we could go back...Happy I was a part of it.
Thanks to trump...and his full out of Control Covid Pandemic...that forced the nations stores to fully shut down...and made it dangerous or deadly to go shopping...people started using online shopping in masses and discovered and loved the convince of having their products delivered to their front doors...killed the stores that had financial problems even before Covid...and now some are just hooked on online shopping....thank You trump
Thank you for posting this video! My wife and I miss our Kmart store here in Greeneville TN. We looked forward to seeing their Christmas Trees and items displayed every year. We would also use the layaway for our children's birthdays, back to school, and Christmas. I also remember shopping with my Mom and looking for action figures like Transformers and GI Joe plus video games, Hot Wheels, and more as a kid. Thanks again for taking me back in time!
I may be old but I really miss the days of going to the store, Kmart's, Montgomery Wards, Woolworths and many others. I wish people didn't make online shopping the juggernaut it is. We gave up a lot in the name of convenience. Won't be long until we can't even go into a store to see a product or look at it before making a purchase. I wish we could go back to the way it was.
I would shop at this Kmart if I could. I like nice quiet stores and this looks very nice and clean compared to what I remember ours were before they closed 10ish years ago.
This store survives because it has an effective monopoly on discount retailing in the area. Walmart and Target are in Riverhead, a drive that can be well over an hour at times of heavy traffic, and there would be insurmountable community opposition to building ones in or near Bridgehampton.
Yeah, I agree. They can probably charge those prices due to no competition in the area and the fact that it is a generally wealthy area. However, it's hard to still call it a "discount retailer" with those prices.
There was a Kmart on Metropolitan Ave in Queens, NY that closed a few years ago. It was AMAZING, like stepping into the 90s. Neon lights on the walls, their jewelry section was something only my grandma would wear but so cute, Joe Boxer clothes, the baby clothes and room decor were so cheesy and outdated but that was the charm. I used to go there just to walk around. Nothing better than the 90s.
When my Mom was alive, after she got home from the garment factory ( she made men's suits) we all would get in the car and head to Kmart. My favorite was the Icee drink that they sold right in the store and they had a restaurant in the middle of the store. She loved reading Harlequin Romance Books. Kmart was stocked full of everything. And Ktel was their music brand back in my childhood years. They actually had music contracts with several famous musicians and bands like the Oakridge Boy's. Also when they had real Blue Light Specials, a siren would go off over the loud speaker and the guy would announce it over the loud speaker. And everyone would literally run to that department where the sale was happening.
I had to Google this store. They claim to be a discount store now. However, 27 dollars for a gallon size bottle of detergent for 27 dollars, is not a discounted price.
I just read this morning that it’s closing on 10/20/24, leaving Miami as the only US store, and it’s not even a full size store. It’s been downsized to the garden shop.
It’s sad to think there are no more Kmarts in the US now. I loved going there so much as a kid, and even up till my teens before they closed. My favorite thing to look at there were the action figures and DVDs. In the few years before they closed, their action figures were priced higher than anywhere else, but they always had the ones I couldn’t find at Toysrus or Walmart in plenty. I look back at shopping there with my grandma fondly.
This reminds me so much of the Kmart in the early 1990s but it has like the ceilings from the early 1980s. The lighting looks a lot like the Kmart we used to have in my community back in like 1982 but it has that 1991 still there. I guess Kmart radio no longer exist because you would hear the music and the constant reminders over the intercom. That was an interesting feature of Kmart I miss. I also miss theK café. Yeah, It’s on life-support right now. I don’t see anybody rushing to the stores for any of the stuff. What time of day did you go? Thank you for giving us a glimpse of this relic. RIP Kmart ❤
Wow, thats the cleanest K Mart I've ever seen. Growing up, we had the "dirty" K Mart, and the "not as dirty" K Mart. We had the same for the 2 Caldors. We also had a Ames, but that was always trashy.
No wonder it's so well-stocked! Everything is so expensive! It's so clean and tidy. The interior feels like a set for a movie or maybe a simulated store that an alien created.
Having worked in retail, I would put money on this store serving a purpose in Kmart/Sears e-commerce operations if I were a betting man. The reason for the excess inventory is that this is likely a hub store that fulfills online orders across the country/world, in addition to serving in-person customers. A lot of retailers do this, especially auto parts stores. That’s probably what keeps the store in business; it makes more sense to the company to keep that store alive than have a secured fulfillment center to serve the purpose.
I miss K-Mart and Sears, the retail world just hasn't been the same without them around. I used their layaway program to get so many items. My first HDTV for instance. Took me 3 months to get that thing from them, a 40" Sony Bravia that had an amazing picture and lasted me from 2009 - 2016 when I sadly lost it in a housefire. I also remember getting consoles, handhelds, etc. I even bought two of my friends an HDTV as a wedding gift using the program. They still have that TV today. I also remember before that, when Little Caesar's pizza was a presence within. Can't count how many times I bought whole pizzas on the way to work and they were always delicious and filling. I miss those days, thank you for taking a tour and reminding us how things used to be. It hasn't been the same since their disappearance.
Walgreens sales tactic, purposely list something at the wrong price so that the shelf stays full. We used to do it all the time when I worked there.. which might explain the $48 paper towels.
So true and notice how Walmart and Target have always spent millions on store development, renovations and technology unlike Kmart and Sears ( continental United States ) that nearly all looked like they had never been modernized. ( I happen to live near a Walmart prototype store so the dang place is either being renovated or getting approval to start lol )
It was all self-inflicted. They failed to grasp the data revolution in the 90s while Walmart embraced it to know what was selling, where inventory was, etc. Kmart never had any idea where inventory was or what was selling. Walmart leveraged data to offer lower prices on things people actually wanted. Kmart had no answer for it and never did figure it out. Even this store reeks of having no idea what people actually want to buy or the prices they will pay.
"I didn't know they still made them" is the theme of the store. Are they piping in Ambient unintelligible talking noise? It sounds like for a store thats mostly empty there is a lot of background noise. But if I listen to it closely it sounds like a looping "busy area" noise machine. Especially as I keep hearing the same few distinctive things every 15 -30 seconds or so. If you notice the shelves are only 2-3 items deep on almost all items, leaving the back half of all the shelves empty. They are purposely trying to fill every inch of real estate. Product deals are done based upon height and linear feet of display room. Seeing 6 feet of Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo means, 50 ft of Puffs, endcaps dedicated to low value items like bar soap and cotton rounds... They either just signing insane 'as much space as you want' deals; or they are skipping all that and just telling employees to keep filling every inch.
As a former retail employee I cannot help but be impressed by the facing (zoning) of all the items. The aisles look mostly immaculate… in any store with actual customers, for example, the tissue aisle couldn’t even get half zoned before people started messing it up again.
This is the cleanest and neatest Kmart I’ve ever seen. I currently live in PA and have family on LI. I definitely have to go to the Kmart next time I’m there!
🤯 mind-blowing here, like for real. I thought every Kmart stores had closed down. One of my favorite cologne, gravity for men to buy during the holiday shopping. This is great to see thanks so much.
I miss the Kmart of the 80s and 90s. The smell of popcorn and hotdogs as soon as you walk in. They were the big box bargain stores of that era. Sadly, Walmart took alot of competition out. Kmart can't compete with Walmart. Walmart buys in serious bulk and gets the items they have at a serious discount. On top of that, they only make a small percentage over cost counting on selling quantity over quality. That Kamart probably has some serious overhead as well being in that area.
I love how clean it is! I work in retail and it's always the masses who destroy stores, so it's kind of a blessing that there isn't any horrible humans mucking up the place. Hopefully they have a healthy online shopping market for curbside pickups to make up for the lack of foot traffic.
used to love going there in the 90's ... yeah sometimes no good deals but other times i got alot of stuff (I still have some shirts packed away with labels still on them... better quality then what is sold now) I think it was when i moved to FL and went to almost any Kmart the QUALITY (not saying it was great merch in the first place) REALLY went down hill ...combine that with stuff in this video even back then ... say 2* times the PRICE on lower quality merch ... that is when i stopped going
It's a sad day to hear the last full size Kmart in the states closing next month The only store that will be left is the garden center size store in Miami Florida ( I can't believe that's the last Kmart)😢
Still will be a handful of stores(4) in the US Virgin Islands and Guam, but it is sad that the last full size Kmart in the main 48 US states will close by October 20. That seems like a quick timeline to close. Thought it would last at least till November for its closing sale period, but sadly it won't be for that long. Yes I am aware there also is another Kmart near Miami, but it's a downsized store.
Well...now that this store is liquidating, this should explain the extremely high prices on a lot of that merchandise you showcased throughout this video. I've never been to this location but have followed their store on social media and I'm kinda mad they're giving up on this location...it had soooooo much potential to be a "flagship" location used to promote the brand but they didn't even try. Bringing that Lands End merchandise back was a good start but they didn't even give it time or try anything else.
Not so odd when you consider people there have maids, and house keepers. Some of them live in housekeepers who live in the houses year round when owners aren't there. Also the maids probably go there for cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper and other essentials.
The higher prices marked on the shelves are on purpose so when the store has a liquidation / going out of business sale they can state half off and actually get fair market value that a CVS or Walmart would charge and still profit
Also HUGE props on management of that store. They went from being one of a hundred plus locations with weekly plan a grams and corporate dictating how shelves and and caps should reflect that weekly’s ad. The management of that one store made their limited amount of inventory and spread it out to look more plentiful although they have to keep know its a losing battle and soon time would dictate the stores closure as they would be unable to get vendors to replenish their shelves as creditors were owed back money and supplying the chain any longer
Its so surreal to watch the death of retail. When I was a kid even in the early 2000s stores and malls were packed with people and I'm sure that was just a shade of what those places were like in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
It's sad, no other way about it. I was the same as you. Used to go to the mall with my mom every weekend growing up until the mid 2000s. Now? I haven't walked around a mall in almost a decade.
Retailers still a thing in places where people have money. There were a lot of malls built in the rust belt when there were factories there. With all the factories gone and poverty setting in the malls disappeared.
I got the vibe during your tour it was going to close. I lived by the last Illinois Kmart and they got less and less new merchandise from 2018 until closing in April 2020. Some things they had too much of, some sizes clothes too much of, etc. I got a pair of shoes during the closing sale and still have them.
The Moths in the aisle pet food likely burrowed into the bags at 16:06 . Often the trucks that deliver them don't clean out in time for the next load, and the moths can wait in corners and burrow into the seams and lay eggs inside the bags, or burrow through the tough material sometimes. Other times, from the warehouses they're stored in. An unfortunate issue with dry pet foods at stores.
Those little moths are pantry moths aka Indian meal Moths or Flour Moths. We got them in my house once before and they were a pain to get rid of. From my understanding they mostly get introduced into people's home's through dry dog and cat food, which I'm pretty sure is where we got them from.
Just happened to be watching the news this morning and learned that today, 10/20/2024, that this last full size Kmart in the US was closing today. A few are left in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands and a small drugstore size one in Miami. I saw on ABC news a few years ago a short mention about this store and it prompted me to research it. Turned out that it held on for a while due to being one a few low cost retailers left in one of the wealthiest areas of the United States so that made me glad. Couldn't last though 😢.
The K Mart I visited in Texarkana in 2016 was dark and creepy like this one. Very dead looking store. It's no wonder they are out of business now. But the store looks very clean and zoned compared to Walmart. Thanks Tom.
My mom worked at K Mart & I used to spend everyday there after school reading magazines, browsing the toys, & getting ice cream from the food court. Will always miss it.
Great video! Thanks for doing this one. Most of those prices are way too much- at least for most of us. The men's casual short-sleeve shirts were a good price. I wonder if those are grain moths which would indicate food spoilage somewhere. This place looks frozen in time with those iconic Kmart circular AC/heating vents and tiles flooring.
Since this is near the Hamptons, many staple items may be much more expensive because the affluent/high property tax district. Regarding the huge inventory, since this is one of only 2 Kmart stores remaining in the continental USA, this location may be acting both as a store and also as a warehouse. Kmart has online ordering on their website. So this may be acting as a distribution center as well for sending out items purchased online. Thanks for filming! I was surprised any still exist. I was surprised a comment below mentioned hundreds of Kmart remain outside the USA, especially in Australia.
All their laundry detergent and their toilet paper/paper towels is Proctor and Gamble. They are probably the only folks who will do business with them. The prices on the tide is absolutely crazy expensive 😂
The sticker shock is hilarious: welcome to the Hamptons. It's a tourist trap, they use zoning laws to keep out big box competitors (KMart snuck in probably to supply the service class), and the wealthiest people in the world summer there so you're lucky to only pay twice regular retail!
As much as I appreciate the flashback of 1 of my childhood stores, your negativity is not helping.. Many people still enjoy online shopping at Kmart and not from their marketplace.. If this Kmart is using the layout with multiple items of the same product it could also be due to their online orders and fulfillment.. You are also acting as if the prices are outrageous but you are literally in Bridgehampton.. Also just because you may not have heard of certain brands that does not mean others haven’t or that they are low quality.. Sunny fitness equipment is actually popular.. I know many people who own their equipment including myself.. I own a rowing machine.. Those lawn chairs may have seen like a lot but again you are in the Hamptons and that is what people buy.. They also buy clothing with Hamptons on it.. So before being so negative maybe consider where you are first.. Sure maybe some things may be a bit high in price but if individuals like yourself continue to be negative then we will see another big store close.. No one in the Hamptons is wearing Lee jeans.. 7 jeans yes.. Bass yes..
@@bklyngrl017 come on now are you really trying to justify a 12-pack of paper towels for almost $50.00? I work at Target and even our prices aren't that high. I can understand jacking up the prices for designer brand items but for household items like paper towels there is absolutely no justification.
The reason why the store appears dark even though the lights are on is because of the floor; everywhere there is dark carpet the light is absorbed by the carpet, where as the areas with white vct reflect the light back on the ceiling.
Also, I think a few of the lights are either burned out, or turned off to save money (since there are no display items on the floor in that area). I see a few dark squares on the ceiling.
In the 2-3 years before closing its 31 stores in 9 states in February 2021, the retail store shelves of Fry’s Electronics appeared increasingly barren. At least the skeleton crew at this last Kmart are keeping the shelves looking as full as possible by keeping everything they have on display. Also, everything is neat and orderly. Thanks for documenting the sad end of a former American retail giant.
Wow... this is a huge store. It is sad to see stores closing. I grew up in the 70s, and I've already seen hundreds of stores and restaurants' closings...sad.
I used to work at a Kmart in Fountain, CO, back in 1999-2000. I worked in the electronics department. It was awesome, because I bought my 1st PS2 from there w/Street Fighter EX3, and my White Westinghouse 5-disc stereo CD changer from there. Even though it was only a seasonal job, I enjoyed my time working there.
2:16 I distinctly remember those massive oversized HVAC vents in certain Ames locations as well, particularly my hometown Ames that used to be in Enfield CT (now currently a Dollar Tree and sadly no longer sporting those huge vents).
The round vents simply aren't as common anymore because they juxtapose too much against square design ceiling tiles and rooms. You will occasionally see the mounted on a sheetrock ceiling in older homes usually smaller of course. My college student union which was built in the '70s actually had these types of vents as well on the ceiling.
Here is the thing once a business goes down hill they dont have the buying power of kroger or walmart etc. They cant get as much volume to get stuff cheaper so it ends up raising prices which in turn you lose customers and eventually your in kmarts shoes one couple stores left.
I don’t know why but those giant ceiling vents always creeped me out, probably because they remind me of the giant drains in the pools that the water park we used to go to when I was kid had
I miss you kmart already I came here before & during its last few days😢 They had everything Man please come back I got the old pa announcement recording on my phone haha I remember they had a entire shelf of hot wheels cars and i stayed for a hour searching for which car i wanted😅 I loved their bathroom
This is insane. I remember going to Kmart stores as a kid. They shut down around the time I was 12 or 13. I really miss Kmart. :( Heck, I miss the old "90s" look of stores like how Walmart used to look, too.
🤣🤣🤣 That's what happens when no one less than 98 years old works at the store. That's how our local store ended anyway. No employee less than 198 years old and they were only there because they didn't view the store as an ancient relic but as nostalgia from days gone by.
Our Kmart in Cleveland,Mississippi in the 80’s had a sporting goods department with guns and ammo, a music section with vinyl, 8 track, cassettes and finally cds and a wall of car audio equipment, speakers, amps, stereos, etc…. Trek was the tennis shoe everyone wore back then, toy section was crap back then also but we had a Gibsons department store also and my mom got my toys there! Awesome time to grow up!(70’s-80’s)🙏🏻🇺🇸💯🤙🏻
I just read in an article that this Kmart is set to close on October 20th. Good thing you made it!
No!!!! 😭
That's a shame. I wish they would keep one open as a museum of the past. Kmart/Sears are done.
@@kenyaouko7388just imagine being say 30s or 40s and have more than 10yrs working for them and boom shutting down and now having to start over somewhere else. Also it would feel weird working there when you know your store is close to shutting down
I worked for Kmart for 1.5 years, mid 80s it was decent, cashier, toys, & stockroom pricing. I'm 67
........... NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree that this KMart has a “sterile” vibe to it. I worked at a KMart back in the late 80s-early 90s. There were 1-2 people working in every dept, and if the registers got busy they called your employee number to help out. I also remember that they paid us - get this- in CASH! and thanked you for the good job that you were doing. I miss the days when customer service actually meant something. Good luck finding that nowadays.
Me too in the 70s-early 80s. Id forgotten about being paid in cash. Also the departments like men/womens clothing, shoes, infants, jewelery, automotive, sporting goods, and electronics had their own manager that hired their own employees.
We as customers have to take some of the blame. The way we “voted” with our dollars made it clear to Walmart, Target, and other stores that the absolute lowest price was more important that paying for a sufficient number of employees to offer “old fashioned/proper” customer service (or having the product made domestically).
@@kathym2084 Cash? What’s that? 😂🤣
Haha.. right?! Those days are long gone. The managers office was located in the back of the store. They paid us in cash so we’d be more likely to buy stuff before we left. More $$ in their pockets.
Yes, I remember that, too. Back in the days when customer service was their number one priority.
My mom worked at Kmart and my dad came in to shop and that’s where they met each other and he asked her out. Thank God for Kmart or I wouldn’t be alive.!! love you, Kmart!❤😊
does that make you a blue light special ?
Bruhhhhhhh😂😂😂😂@@VicVanity
This is the reason why i thank sears because both my parents work at same one here in TN and my dad always be telling me stories of what sears was like and as far as i know of i never step foot in one but thanks for making me a person sears
Cool.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Glad you filmed it. This may be the last store before it closes up but it's sad
The new generation like Gen Z don't shop Kmart. It's very sad. The store is so empty. They need customers.
and with those prices, it will be closed soon...
They have a couple more like in Yonkers and Newburgh.
@@raptor2264 It’s closing on 10/20/24. Liquidation has already started.
I remember shopping there in NC in 2013-2014 and I haven't been in any since. They had a really good selection of clothes and shoes, for really good prices. Sometimes better than Walmart.
This reminds me of old PS2 games when programmers would repeat textures inside stores to save memory
Yep. Like a glitch
I loved Kmart! I have in my home now, still in use, Martha Stewart bedding, towels, throw rugs, blow dryer, chest freezer, Craftsman tools, and a Craftsman lawnmower. Kenmore washer and dryer that is over 25 years old and never needed repairs. The products they sold were quality.. They had a layaway program for Christmas presents. They were wonderful and seeing this show makes me miss them more. I met my husband in that store 45 years ago. Blue light special raincoat for $2.00 lasted 2 Generations. 😢
This is the Kmart and Woolworth I grew up in the 1980's and 1990's. My childhood. My happiness.
Hailcorporate
Excuse me, the Martha Stewart collection was a chic CLASSIC!! I also got my Caboodles from the Kmart on 34th in Manhattan in 2002. Iconic store!
Um excuse me. Craftsman and Kenmore = Sears
Martha Stewart was the beginning of the end… my dad was at our local Kmart’s former distribution center for many years and after that it went downhill… Sure there were other factors…. I grew up with a negative opinion about her that I can’t shake off. 😅🤷🏻
I have a Kenmore washer and dryer. Bought them 30 years ago and they’re still going strong.
Me too. The new ones cost twice as much and last 1/4 as long
Have an 80 series washer and dryer. Washer has the rinse option, heavy duty cycle up to 16 minutes, ultra rinse system, prewash and soak, and auto temp control which still works! Dryer is king size with variable cycle signal volume and 4 temperature settings (not including air dry). Both bought in late 2003 from Kmart in Redwood City, CA. Both have only had mostly minor repairs, dryer blew a heating element, 2 sets of rollers, like 6 light bulbs, and a door switch and needed 3 lint cleanings, washer blew 2 motor couplers and a lid switch.
@@Planeandaquariumgeek I had the Sears repair man out once about 10 years ago just because I thought I should. He cleaned it up a little bit, but said they were perfectly fine. when this set finally gives up the ghost I’m gonna buy speed queen. I don’t want fancy. I am blind and I can’t read all the fancy dials and crap. They put on the new ones anyway. Speed queens are expensive, but they’re basic and they will last forever. But I’m still talking real nice to my present washer and dryer and hope to get some more years out of them.
@@nogames8982 yep, I’d recommend getting the dryer vent duct cleaned and inside the dryer. It really made a difference with our dryer.
My kenmore Freezer has got to be 40 years old still running
My fondest memories of Kmart is the long plastic bag full of popcorn and a cherry ICEE.
I also loved getting a slice of little Caesars back when it wasn't 90percent grease.
Has a North Korea dystopic feel: they set up the store to look good for patrons but the whole time you're thinking, "Why is this place open and what is its purpose?"
I was thinking the same thing!
It’s a privileged store for the privileged people or so that’s what they call their front facing shops for foreign tourists
@@AnotherTruthIt's true, foreign tourists and privileged locals of the government. You can find such tours on UA-cam and it's creepy.
You’d know because? You’ve been?
The North Korea presentation can’t be put any more accurate than that. The whole store is some sort of holgram
Holy crap, this place is immaculate!!!😲 The managers and employees here do a phenomenal job, and deserve a huge raise!
If Kmart can afford to give raises
It’s immaculate because it’s dead. lol. It’s not a good sign in this case. I’m sure there are barely any employees left. Those are always the first to go when times are tight.
@@monkeyz240 Came here to say the same. Every store has the potential to be immaculate when no one shops there anymore and the employees have plenty of time on their hands to clean and straighten because they don't have to constantly help customers. Unfortunately they failed to stay relevant when Walmart and Target came onto the scene. Should've remodeled their stores, improved their merchandise quality and modernized the overall experience etc. In 2017 it almost felt like this store was still frozen in time in the 1970's. 👌
It's a dead store that gets few shipments of new products. If he was able to flim to the stock room, it is most likely empty, and all they have is on the floor.
Stores that have a lot of shoppers are normally a mess because it's hard to keep up.. and this store is clean because it has no customers.
Yeah I don’t think too many people are buting the $50 paper towels. You think it’s immaculate but it’s full of moths and dust.
Most people don’t remember but I remember going into Kmart as a kid with my Mom & in the back they had a big cafeteria where you could get all kinds of stuff I remember getting the ham subs that had shredded lettuce in it. Also they layaway & no one had that back then.
Me too! I actually miss it; so many good memories.
The Eatery
I swear to this day they had the best taco salad.
Loved the ham and cheese subs!!❤
And mixing all the soda flavors in one
Kmart started selling Craftsman and Kenmore when they purchased Sears on November 17, 2004. Products that were built to last. My first job was at Kmart in 1984 and 1985. Yes, I also ran blue light specials. Yes, we were paid in cash! I loved their cafeteria and they had the best patio furniture. I’ve also been locked in that same Kmart in Des Plaines, Illinois! Sad to see them all go when this store closes in October.
Aren’t there still 10 more stores left? I just looked it up.
I remember when Martha Stewart, Kathy Ireland, and Jaclyn Smith had their brand products and clothes in KMart. I thought I was in heaven.
Loved Jaclyn smith and Kmart brand clothes. Great sales. I did all my shopping there. Great garden center. Nothing compares.
All my Mom’s clothes were from Jaclyn Smith!
@@donnamclaughlin9215i loved k gro fertilizer
I still have her black wallet with the kiss lock 🔐💕
They used to have guns and ammo, too until Rosie O'Donnell destroyed the brand.
Wow the repeated/same items is reminding me of a video game where you’re really not supposed to be stopping to see any of the backdrops so they just fill it with the same textures to reduce memory space. Uncanny.
In a post to Reddit at 7:52:12PM EDT on Saturday, September 21, 2024, Fleabitten, signs were hanging off the ceiling indicating liquidation is now underway at this KMart. The store will be closed permanently by Sunday, October 20, 2024. Therefore, the Mainland U.S. will have no more full KMart stores in 1 month from the writing of this message.
Sad😢
Yes, l saw that too earlier it's sad I miss K mart you've got to always find good stuff in there. I'd like the big and tall section. I can always find clues for myself as I'm a tall guy.
Oh no, it finally happened? I live on Long Island and make it my mission to hit up this Kmart a few times a year. I was just there last week (a few days after this video) and it was still chugging along.This store definitely hasn't turned a profit in years, but for whatever reason, has been constantly maintained. Like that Lands End display that Fleabitten mentioned was put up maybe in the last year or so. Its probably an old display from another store, but it still means that upkeep is happening. They were still getting stock in, and someone was fixing the shelves. For a zombie store, it has blown my mind that this store never went into pure disarray.
😢 From a MD gal.
I miss those blue light specials!!
I just shipped my pants !! Possibly the best k-mart commercial ever made.
You know the company is in hot water financially when they become an attention whore and start creating controversial commercials to draw attention to themselves! 🤣🤣🤣
Remember the Christmas commercial that aired in like August??
Wow this Kmart is beautiful although not in the way it used to be to be in the 90’s but it’s apparent the employees take pride to make the shelves look neat.
Well also stay that neat cause not busy store and big store and little amount of people shopping
@@Awesomewolfpic Especially the toys section...and the kids bikes sections...the kids would have messed those sections big time.
@claudelandi510 yea kids would mess those aisles up
It's not that it's just that the employees have tons of time.
@@krislarsen6546 it’s more there are no customers to mess it up
Back in the mid 2000's I was living in the Las Vegas area and work for a company that assembled products for Kmart. We did furniture displays, gas grills, bicycles and exercise equipment. Thanks for posting this it brought back some memories.
Back in the 90’s, my grandmother was a greeter for K-Mart, and she is 87 now, and still talks about her beloved K-mart! She will still shout out, Welcome to K-mart occasionally!
Wish all stores looked this clean and well stocked
The only reason it looks like this is because there are basically no customers messing everything up. When you see a store that's a mess it's typically because there aren't enough employees to keep up with the customers messing things up.
Bizarre how no customers in aisles. When was this filmed? 1000am 1100am week day?
This is the cleanest, Neatest KMart I have ever seen. You also have to consider the area where it is located.
@@shavonnestacia2865 Not sure what the location has to do with how clean/neat the store is? 100% it's so clean/neat because there are no customers in there messing things up. I know from experience. I worked in retail for 10 years. I very highly doubt this store has a ton of staff to keep things constantly clean/neat. They're likely operating with a skeleton crew. I'd have to watch again to be sure, but I don't think I saw a single employee anywhere in this video. Stores that do really well are constantly asked to cut back on payroll (meaning cut employee hours), the exceptions usually being the holiday season and *maybe* during inventory. A company like Sears/Kmart that's going under certainly isn't going to have well-staffed stores. The last time I was in a Sears I walked through the entire store and saw ONE employee in the entire store. That employee was running a register. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this Kmart was the same.
@@scot30 It's by the Hamptons
My boyfriend is a Kresge, related to S.S Kresge who founded Kmart. Super cool to learn about his family history, its sad to see how Kmarts are fading away.
You should ask them how the agreement for that other company in Australia happened to use the name Kmart, so many people think it's the same company as North America. I know the agreement to use the name overseas went way back and it's been a completely separate company for many decades.
Marry him
I love the fact it’s well stocked and you don’t need to run around town looking for certain items cause they only have 1 or 2
Kmart was not only a victim of the changing time, but also it's own bad decisions.
There is a book out there called the S.S. Kresge Story written by his son Stanley
Sad to see this. I remember the glory days of the late 70s / early 80s
"Service is needed in layaway........Service is needed in layaway....."
Thissssss hahhahahha
I used to push the service buttons in all the departments and run away before someone came. 😂
I remember this like yesterday!!
I miss layaway.
Just got an alert on my phone that this KMart is scheduled to be closed for good on October 20th.
Glad you got to visit before the end. RIP Blue Light Specials.
lol where do you even sign up for alerts like that
@@catterdays2034 hilarious, right?! it was on my old phone. something called SmartNews. I didn't even sign up, just came with an update and it would randomly alert me to strange things like that. Just so wild that that alert popped up a week after I watched this video.
It’s sucks to see that this store is now closing
The shelves are so full it is eerie looking. The shelves are perfectly fronted. I felt like an alarm would go off if you touched something.
There are camera bubbles everywhere as well. With so few shoppers and employees, I bet loss prevention is able to watch every single one of them, itching for someone to pick up a product and not put it back exactly as it was.
Only reason it's so perfect is because there aren't a bunch of customers in there messing things up. If they had a "normal" amount of customers it wouldn't be so perfect.
Closing time must be hectic. Sorry Kmart shoppers, but it is now closing time. Please bring your purchases to checkout at this time. We will reopen tomorrow morning at 9 AM for your continued shopping enjoyment. Hello. Tap, tap, tap. Is this mic working?
@7heRedBaronwoah
Update: its now closing.....
you went there 11 days before the announed closure.
The closure to be set on this last full kmart is October 20th.
R.i.p KMART.
Love the back ground sound, the illusive crowds. Clever clever Kmart
Hi, I remember when a small farm field in Des Plaines, Illinois sold for $997,000.00 and it was to become a K-Mart and it did. Many happy memories of shopping there with the Blue Light Specials. People would almost run to whatever department it was. I remember my Grandpa buying me a 45 RPM record there of The Beatles "Hello Goodbye" and He got such a kick out of the title. I think it cost $0.88.
What a great video! It makes me sad to see what has become of retail now. This store is trying desperately to put their best foot forward. Stocking your shelves with one or two items to make it look full...☹ But at least they take pride in the appearance of this store. The lack of people is also such a shame. I remember back in the day, you could go in and find a bustling store. Although I'm not much into being around a lot of people these days, a busy store is the sign of success. I hope this one can make it somehow. Thank you for filming it for posterity. ❤
And this is the most well stocked store I’ve seen since before the pandemic lol
All the Kmarts that closed sent their stuff there.
I was just here 3 weeks ago with my sister. Flipped out when I saw this video in my recommended videos and thought to myself “wonder if this random UA-camr will talk about the $50 packs of Bounty” and then sure enough 10 minutes into the video you did LMAO. Easily earned a like and subscribe!!
Well, sadly, they're gonna be gone. This one is.
Closing too.
@@Dashiell777 that's probably why all the stores are closing because they couldn't keep up with the competitors price
@@jesalf9604 Yeah, sounds about right. Unfortunately, though people can't just rely online all the time. It's gonna bite them in the behind. I'm already having issues with it. When I?
Order things online. You don't come in there like they're supposed to.
I used to enjoy KMART. My mom worked for Sears part time close to 30 yrs. Very sad to see what's happened to these once thriving stores. I don't shop on line I like to touch and see what I'm purchasing. The good old days will never be the same. Wish we could go back...Happy I was a part of it.
"we didnt know we were making memories, we were just having fun"
Sears was an AWESOME company to work for!! I worked at two different locations back in the 80's.
Thanks to trump...and his full out of Control Covid Pandemic...that forced the nations stores to fully shut down...and made it dangerous or deadly to go shopping...people started using online shopping in masses and discovered and loved the convince of having their products delivered to their front doors...killed the stores that had financial problems even before Covid...and now some are just hooked on online shopping....thank You trump
Same here
Sears was the best family department store to go to during the weekend😢😢
Thank you for posting this video! My wife and I miss our Kmart store here in Greeneville TN. We looked forward to seeing their Christmas Trees and items displayed every year. We would also use the layaway for our children's birthdays, back to school, and Christmas. I also remember shopping with my Mom and looking for action figures like Transformers and GI Joe plus video games, Hot Wheels, and more as a kid. Thanks again for taking me back in time!
I may be old but I really miss the days of going to the store, Kmart's, Montgomery Wards, Woolworths and many others. I wish people didn't make online shopping the juggernaut it is. We gave up a lot in the name of convenience. Won't be long until we can't even go into a store to see a product or look at it before making a purchase. I wish we could go back to the way it was.
Quite doing it then. I still do most my shopping in person.
People have a compulsion to comparison shop for a better deal, I don’t think this store was taking coupons but not completely sure about it
Yes! I miss Sears, the clothes were so nice
@lorrainebendjy9935same here😢😢
I would shop at this Kmart if I could. I like nice quiet stores and this looks very nice and clean compared to what I remember ours were before they closed 10ish years ago.
Those prices don't make it worth it for me. I miss being able to shop at Walmart at 2am when it was mostly empty.
This store survives because it has an effective monopoly on discount retailing in the area. Walmart and Target are in Riverhead, a drive that can be well over an hour at times of heavy traffic, and there would be insurmountable community opposition to building ones in or near Bridgehampton.
Yeah, I agree. They can probably charge those prices due to no competition in the area and the fact that it is a generally wealthy area. However, it's hard to still call it a "discount retailer" with those prices.
Eastern Long Island is insane
Good to know but they are still empty
Yes it's the only area that's still kind of rural ! @@schneemann-fy6gi
a monopoly and yet nobody is there lol
There was a Kmart on Metropolitan Ave in Queens, NY that closed a few years ago. It was AMAZING, like stepping into the 90s. Neon lights on the walls, their jewelry section was something only my grandma would wear but so cute, Joe Boxer clothes, the baby clothes and room decor were so cheesy and outdated but that was the charm. I used to go there just to walk around. Nothing better than the 90s.
Were there even 5 customers in that ENTIRE store? Absolutely unbelievable. The amount of excess inventory is astounding.
Buy some flatulence
Why buy what you can get for free?
I don't think the store is open to make a profit, I think it's to generate a loss for ESL Investments. It's why the prices are insane.
When my Mom was alive, after she got home from the garment factory ( she made men's suits) we all would get in the car and head to Kmart. My favorite was the Icee drink that they sold right in the store and they had a restaurant in the middle of the store. She loved reading Harlequin Romance Books. Kmart was stocked full of everything. And Ktel was their music brand back in my childhood years. They actually had music contracts with several famous musicians and bands like the Oakridge Boy's. Also when they had real Blue Light Specials, a siren would go off over the loud speaker and the guy would announce it over the loud speaker. And everyone would literally run to that department where the sale was happening.
I had to Google this store. They claim to be a discount store now. However, 27 dollars for a gallon size bottle of detergent for 27 dollars, is not a discounted price.
The Icee machine was my fav ❤
I just read this morning that it’s closing on 10/20/24, leaving Miami as the only US store, and it’s not even a full size store. It’s been downsized to the garden shop.
It’s sad to think there are no more Kmarts in the US now. I loved going there so much as a kid, and even up till my teens before they closed. My favorite thing to look at there were the action figures and DVDs. In the few years before they closed, their action figures were priced higher than anywhere else, but they always had the ones I couldn’t find at Toysrus or Walmart in plenty. I look back at shopping there with my grandma fondly.
This reminds me so much of the Kmart in the early 1990s but it has like the ceilings from the early 1980s. The lighting looks a lot like the Kmart we used to have in my community back in like 1982 but it has that 1991 still there. I guess Kmart radio no longer exist because you would hear the music and the constant reminders over the intercom. That was an interesting feature of Kmart I miss. I also miss theK café.
Yeah, It’s on life-support right now. I don’t see anybody rushing to the stores for any of the stuff. What time of day did you go?
Thank you for giving us a glimpse of this relic.
RIP Kmart ❤
Wow, thats the cleanest K Mart I've ever seen. Growing up, we had the "dirty" K Mart, and the "not as dirty" K Mart. We had the same for the 2 Caldors. We also had a Ames, but that was always trashy.
No wonder it's so well-stocked! Everything is so expensive! It's so clean and tidy. The interior feels like a set for a movie or maybe a simulated store that an alien created.
Ever seen the movie Career Opportunities? This feels like the Kmart version of that.
It was very clean and well stocked. And there was a old recording too.
Having worked in retail, I would put money on this store serving a purpose in Kmart/Sears e-commerce operations if I were a betting man. The reason for the excess inventory is that this is likely a hub store that fulfills online orders across the country/world, in addition to serving in-person customers. A lot of retailers do this, especially auto parts stores. That’s probably what keeps the store in business; it makes more sense to the company to keep that store alive than have a secured fulfillment center to serve the purpose.
Plus it's in New York which is a much higher volume market than many rural areas of the US where the population density just isn't there...🤔
My first retail job was at a Kmart.
First time viewer.
Now subscriber.
I miss K-Mart and Sears, the retail world just hasn't been the same without them around. I used their layaway program to get so many items. My first HDTV for instance.
Took me 3 months to get that thing from them, a 40" Sony Bravia that had an amazing picture and lasted me from 2009 - 2016 when I sadly lost it in a housefire.
I also remember getting consoles, handhelds, etc. I even bought two of my friends an HDTV as a wedding gift using the program. They still have that TV today.
I also remember before that, when Little Caesar's pizza was a presence within. Can't count how many times I bought whole pizzas on the way to work and they were always delicious and filling.
I miss those days, thank you for taking a tour and reminding us how things used to be. It hasn't been the same since their disappearance.
Thanks Tom, and Keep em Rolling!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!
@@fleabittenadventures No problem!
Walgreens sales tactic, purposely list something at the wrong price so that the shelf stays full. We used to do it all the time when I worked there.. which might explain the $48 paper towels.
“This place isn't scheduled to close anytime soon”
Well, that aged poorly.
October 20th 😐😐😐
@@InterestingThings2024Official every Kmart and Sears have been scheduled to close for the last 25 years. The longest liquidation in history.
This is such an awsome video, taken just days before the liquidation sales started! I’m so sad it’s actually closing though
The store looks MUCH better than I thought it would.But wow,the prices seem high.
Thank you! Love the video. My Mom worked for Kmart for 15 years.
Kmart, Walmart & Target all opened 62 years ago in 1962. It's sad how Kmart failed.
So true and notice how Walmart and Target have always spent millions on store development, renovations and technology unlike Kmart and Sears ( continental United States ) that nearly all looked like they had never been modernized.
( I happen to live near a Walmart prototype store so the dang place is either being renovated or getting approval to start lol )
It was all self-inflicted. They failed to grasp the data revolution in the 90s while Walmart embraced it to know what was selling, where inventory was, etc. Kmart never had any idea where inventory was or what was selling. Walmart leveraged data to offer lower prices on things people actually wanted. Kmart had no answer for it and never did figure it out. Even this store reeks of having no idea what people actually want to buy or the prices they will pay.
"I didn't know they still made them" is the theme of the store.
Are they piping in Ambient unintelligible talking noise? It sounds like for a store thats mostly empty there is a lot of background noise. But if I listen to it closely it sounds like a looping "busy area" noise machine. Especially as I keep hearing the same few distinctive things every 15 -30 seconds or so.
If you notice the shelves are only 2-3 items deep on almost all items, leaving the back half of all the shelves empty. They are purposely trying to fill every inch of real estate. Product deals are done based upon height and linear feet of display room. Seeing 6 feet of Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo means, 50 ft of Puffs, endcaps dedicated to low value items like bar soap and cotton rounds... They either just signing insane 'as much space as you want' deals; or they are skipping all that and just telling employees to keep filling every inch.
As a former retail employee I cannot help but be impressed by the facing (zoning) of all the items. The aisles look mostly immaculate… in any store with actual customers, for example, the tissue aisle couldn’t even get half zoned before people started messing it up again.
No shoppers/$50 paper towels
This is the cleanest and neatest Kmart I’ve ever seen. I currently live in PA and have family on LI. I definitely have to go to the Kmart next time I’m there!
I read in an above comment that this store is closing forever on 10/20/24. So I hope you get there soon.
I was just thinking, every corporate store should preserve one store for historical purposes. Like a museum that you can still shop at.
🤯 mind-blowing here, like for real. I thought every Kmart stores had closed down. One of my favorite cologne, gravity for men to buy during the holiday shopping. This is great to see thanks so much.
I miss the Kmart of the 80s and 90s. The smell of popcorn and hotdogs as soon as you walk in. They were the big box bargain stores of that era. Sadly, Walmart took alot of competition out. Kmart can't compete with Walmart. Walmart buys in serious bulk and gets the items they have at a serious discount. On top of that, they only make a small percentage over cost counting on selling quantity over quality. That Kamart probably has some serious overhead as well being in that area.
I love how clean it is! I work in retail and it's always the masses who destroy stores, so it's kind of a blessing that there isn't any horrible humans mucking up the place. Hopefully they have a healthy online shopping market for curbside pickups to make up for the lack of foot traffic.
in the 90's kmart was always so busy. By 2005 you could see that they wasn't going to survive much more longer after that, ours closed in 2007.
used to love going there in the 90's ... yeah sometimes no good deals but other times i got alot of stuff (I still have some shirts packed away with labels still on them... better quality then what is sold now)
I think it was when i moved to FL and went to almost any Kmart the QUALITY (not saying it was great merch in the first place) REALLY went down hill ...combine that with stuff in this video even back then ... say 2* times the PRICE on lower quality merch ... that is when i stopped going
This is the cleanest Kmart I've ever seen, lol. Ours was trash, but dang, I miss it!
It's a sad day to hear the last full size Kmart in the states closing next month The only store that will be left is the garden center size store in Miami Florida ( I can't believe that's the last Kmart)😢
Still will be a handful of stores(4) in the US Virgin Islands and Guam, but it is sad that the last full size Kmart in the main 48 US states will close by October 20. That seems like a quick timeline to close. Thought it would last at least till November for its closing sale period, but sadly it won't be for that long.
Yes I am aware there also is another Kmart near Miami, but it's a downsized store.
😢😢😢
That miami store is more like a Rite Aid
Well...now that this store is liquidating, this should explain the extremely high prices on a lot of that merchandise you showcased throughout this video. I've never been to this location but have followed their store on social media and I'm kinda mad they're giving up on this location...it had soooooo much potential to be a "flagship" location used to promote the brand but they didn't even try. Bringing that Lands End merchandise back was a good start but they didn't even give it time or try anything else.
It's bizarre to me that a wealthy area like the Hamptons would still have a Kmart, of all stores.
Yes, it does seem out of place.
Not so odd when you consider people there have maids, and house keepers. Some of them live in housekeepers who live in the houses year round when owners aren't there. Also the maids probably go there for cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper and other essentials.
That's y the stuff Is expensive then, it's n a wealthy area of New York.
The higher prices marked on the shelves are on purpose so when the store has a liquidation / going out of business sale they can state half off and actually get fair market value that a CVS or Walmart would charge and still profit
Also HUGE props on management of that store. They went from being one of a hundred plus locations with weekly plan a grams and corporate dictating how shelves and and caps should reflect that weekly’s ad. The management of that one store made their limited amount of inventory and spread it out to look more plentiful although they have to keep know its a losing battle and soon time would dictate the stores closure as they would be unable to get vendors to replenish their shelves as creditors were owed back money and supplying the chain any longer
Its so surreal to watch the death of retail. When I was a kid even in the early 2000s stores and malls were packed with people and I'm sure that was just a shade of what those places were like in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
It's sad, no other way about it. I was the same as you. Used to go to the mall with my mom every weekend growing up until the mid 2000s. Now? I haven't walked around a mall in almost a decade.
I agree! Thanks for watching!
I guess it depends on the area. Malls and stores in Texas are still packed year round.
Retailers still a thing in places where people have money. There were a lot of malls built in the rust belt when there were factories there. With all the factories gone and poverty setting in the malls disappeared.
@@Perfidious_Hollow Walnart and Amazon killed everything..
I got the vibe during your tour it was going to close. I lived by the last Illinois Kmart and they got less and less new merchandise from 2018 until closing in April 2020. Some things they had too much of, some sizes clothes too much of, etc. I got a pair of shoes during the closing sale and still have them.
The Moths in the aisle pet food likely burrowed into the bags at 16:06 . Often the trucks that deliver them don't clean out in time for the next load, and the moths can wait in corners and burrow into the seams and lay eggs inside the bags, or burrow through the tough material sometimes. Other times, from the warehouses they're stored in. An unfortunate issue with dry pet foods at stores.
Gross. I had no idea.
Those little moths are pantry moths aka Indian meal Moths or Flour Moths. We got them in my house once before and they were a pain to get rid of. From my understanding they mostly get introduced into people's home's through dry dog and cat food, which I'm pretty sure is where we got them from.
They can infest any dry food, human or animal
@@skree_fpv436 It can happen through poorly handled bulk flour too and I echo your sentiment. Once you get Pantry Moths they are the BIGGEST pests.
I actually remember back in the 80s when going to K-Mart was a family outing.
I miss Kmart. Been gone for several years up here. They tore it down last year and put up senior citizen apartments in the old spot.
Dang😞
This is a gem video should be archived someplace because this store is closed now
Just happened to be watching the news this morning and learned that today, 10/20/2024, that this last full size Kmart in the US was closing today. A few are left in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands and a small drugstore size one in Miami. I saw on ABC news a few years ago a short mention about this store and it prompted me to research it. Turned out that it held on for a while due to being one a few low cost retailers left in one of the wealthiest areas of the United States so that made me glad. Couldn't last though 😢.
😢😢😢🫂🫂🫂🫂🙏🏻
As soon as i heard it was closing
I cried and was angry and went to this store one last final time😢
You can tell the lack of people flow by how is all perfectly aligned.
The K Mart I visited in Texarkana in 2016 was dark and creepy like this one. Very dead looking store. It's no wonder they are out of business now. But the store looks very clean and zoned compared to Walmart. Thanks Tom.
It's easy to keep clean when there are no customers to get it all dirty! Ha ha! Thanks for watching.
Oh wow i visited Texarkana after the eclipse
Wow the store was immaculate. Even the back area near the restrooms.
Kinda eerie nothing out of place. I miss KMart days
lov❤ With love and care I hope it stays open forever
Fingers crossed.
My mom worked at K Mart & I used to spend everyday there after school
reading magazines, browsing the toys, & getting ice cream from the food court. Will always miss it.
Great video! Thanks for doing this one. Most of those prices are way too much- at least for most of us. The men's casual short-sleeve shirts were a good price. I wonder if those are grain moths which would indicate food spoilage somewhere. This place looks frozen in time with those iconic Kmart circular AC/heating vents and tiles flooring.
love your videos. i find them surprisingly relaxing. thank you for putting them out ❤there
Thanks! I'm glad you like them!
Since this is near the Hamptons, many staple items may be much more expensive because the affluent/high property tax district. Regarding the huge inventory, since this is one of only 2 Kmart stores remaining in the continental USA, this location may be acting both as a store and also as a warehouse. Kmart has online ordering on their website. So this may be acting as a distribution center as well for sending out items purchased online. Thanks for filming! I was surprised any still exist. I was surprised a comment below mentioned hundreds of Kmart remain outside the USA, especially in Australia.
There are but those ones aren't the same
Such great memories back to school shopping and just going shopping with my mom. Sucks it’s gone.
All their laundry detergent and their toilet paper/paper towels is Proctor and Gamble. They are probably the only folks who will do business with them.
The prices on the tide is absolutely crazy expensive 😂
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's 2-3 times more expensive than my local Walmart.
I miss Kmart so much Thank you for sharing
The sticker shock is hilarious: welcome to the Hamptons. It's a tourist trap, they use zoning laws to keep out big box competitors (KMart snuck in probably to supply the service class), and the wealthiest people in the world summer there so you're lucky to only pay twice regular retail!
Guess I can't afford to live there.
@@fleabittenadventures The average home price was $3.1 million last year, so most of us can't.
As much as I appreciate the flashback of 1 of my childhood stores, your negativity is not helping.. Many people still enjoy online shopping at Kmart and not from their marketplace.. If this Kmart is using the layout with multiple items of the same product it could also be due to their online orders and fulfillment.. You are also acting as if the prices are outrageous but you are literally in Bridgehampton..
Also just because you may not have heard of certain brands that does not mean others haven’t or that they are low quality.. Sunny fitness equipment is actually popular.. I know many people who own their equipment including myself.. I own a rowing machine..
Those lawn chairs may have seen like a lot but again you are in the Hamptons and that is what people buy.. They also buy clothing with Hamptons on it.. So before being so negative maybe consider where you are first.. Sure maybe some things may be a bit high in price but if individuals like yourself continue to be negative then we will see another big store close.. No one in the Hamptons is wearing Lee jeans.. 7 jeans yes.. Bass yes..
@@bklyngrl017 come on now are you really trying to justify a 12-pack of paper towels for almost $50.00? I work at Target and even our prices aren't that high. I can understand jacking up the prices for designer brand items but for household items like paper towels there is absolutely no justification.
Thank you for your video, haven't seen K mart in years here in Richmond VA.❤
The reason why the store appears dark even though the lights are on is because of the floor; everywhere there is dark carpet the light is absorbed by the carpet, where as the areas with white vct reflect the light back on the ceiling.
That's what my spouse was thinking too, makes sense but also poor lighting plan...or lack of any plan.
I didn't even think of that. Makes sense.
Also, I think a few of the lights are either burned out, or turned off to save money (since there are no display items on the floor in that area). I see a few dark squares on the ceiling.
Ohh thats why
In the 2-3 years before closing its 31 stores in 9 states in February 2021, the retail store shelves of Fry’s Electronics appeared increasingly barren.
At least the skeleton crew at this last Kmart are keeping the shelves looking as full as possible by keeping everything they have on display. Also, everything is neat and orderly.
Thanks for documenting the sad end of a former American retail giant.
Wow... this is a huge store.
It is sad to see stores closing. I grew up in the 70s, and I've already seen hundreds of stores and restaurants' closings...sad.
I used to work at a Kmart in Fountain, CO, back in 1999-2000. I worked in the electronics department. It was awesome, because I bought my 1st PS2 from there w/Street Fighter EX3, and my White Westinghouse 5-disc stereo CD changer from there. Even though it was only a seasonal job, I enjoyed my time working there.
2:16 I distinctly remember those massive oversized HVAC vents in certain Ames locations as well, particularly my hometown Ames that used to be in Enfield CT (now currently a Dollar Tree and sadly no longer sporting those huge vents).
The round vents simply aren't as common anymore because they juxtapose too much against square design ceiling tiles and rooms. You will occasionally see the mounted on a sheetrock ceiling in older homes usually smaller of course. My college student union which was built in the '70s actually had these types of vents as well on the ceiling.
Here is the thing once a business goes down hill they dont have the buying power of kroger or walmart etc. They cant get as much volume to get stuff cheaper so it ends up raising prices which in turn you lose customers and eventually your in kmarts shoes one couple stores left.
I don’t know why but those giant ceiling vents always creeped me out, probably because they remind me of the giant drains in the pools that the water park we used to go to when I was kid had
I miss you kmart already
I came here before & during its last few days😢
They had everything
Man please come back
I got the old pa announcement recording on my phone haha
I remember they had a entire shelf of hot wheels cars and i stayed for a hour searching for which car i wanted😅
I loved their bathroom
This is insane. I remember going to Kmart stores as a kid. They shut down around the time I was 12 or 13. I really miss Kmart. :( Heck, I miss the old "90s" look of stores like how Walmart used to look, too.
Used to make fun of the fact we had a K-car and going to K-Mart....the K-car in that time era was made by Chrysler.
Great video. Man, I really miss the food counter in a Super K Mart.
All the clothes is like you walked into a very old person's closet, but they own the store and only stock clothes that they would wear.
🤣🤣🤣
That's what happens when no one less than 98 years old works at the store. That's how our local store ended anyway. No employee less than 198 years old and they were only there because they didn't view the store as an ancient relic but as nostalgia from days gone by.
Our Kmart in Cleveland,Mississippi in the 80’s had a sporting goods department with guns and ammo, a music section with vinyl, 8 track, cassettes and finally cds and a wall of car audio equipment, speakers, amps, stereos, etc…. Trek was the tennis shoe everyone wore back then, toy section was crap back then also but we had a Gibsons department store also and my mom got my toys there! Awesome time to grow up!(70’s-80’s)🙏🏻🇺🇸💯🤙🏻
I used to sell guns at Kmart. Mostly rifles and shotguns-- Remington, Mossburg, amd Savage. I also sold hunting licenses.