Kmart to phase out games department

[Sonikku]

Console games/PC games you name it. Cheapassgamer has reported on it and Kmart employees are reiterating it as well.
https://www.cheapassgamer.com/topic...-clearance-deals-inside-post-your-finds-here/
I guess we can expect cut throat sales pretty quick. The stores are looking so empty and drab these days however I can't help but feel this is the beginning of the end of the chain altogether though.
I guess Sears, Kmart's counterpart has done this already.
http://n4g.com/news/1640160/sears-to-no-longer-sell-games-and-putting-all-games-in-stock-on-sale

 

[sandorski]

KMart still exists?

 

[Fritzo]

I remember KMart being bigger than Walmart. In the 80's, they got a reputation for selling shoddy products and they never quite recovered from that. Target came in and took KMart's market, and Walmart's expansion put the final nail in their coffin.

 

[lxskllr]

I remember KMart being bigger than Walmart. In the 80's, they got a reputation for selling shoddy products and they never quite recovered from that. Target came in and took KMart's market, and Walmart's expansion put the final nail in their coffin.

There was no Walmart here in the 80s. Kmart was the 'premium'(LoL!) discount store. Walmart came here in the early 90s, and shut down the smaller players(Ames, and some other store whose name escapes me), and Kmart soon followed. Target got here in the mid-late 90s.

That doesn't include Monkey Wards, Korvettes, and the various dime stores that used to exist. They went away through no doing of Walmart as near as I can tell.

 

[Fritzo]

There was no Walmart here in the 80s. Kmart was the 'premium'(LoL!) discount store. Walmart came here in the early 90s, and shut down the smaller players(Ames, and some other store whose name escapes me), and Kmart soon followed. Target got here in the mid-late 90s.

That doesn't include Monkey Wards, Korvettes, and the various dime stores that used to exist. They went away through no doing of Walmart as near as I can tell.

Hills was the other player.

Expansion of Walmart: http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

Wards had the same problem as Sears- then never modernized. JC Penney almost fell into that trap too but changed the company around in the nick of time. The only think keeping Sears alive is they're diversified enough to get income from other areas besides retail

 

[Blanky]

For the first time in years I went into my local kmart, kind of as a voyeur, recently. It was worse than I imagined. It makes Walmart look like a 5th avenue boutique. It was horrendously laid out, empty shelves, things that didn't work.

And speaking of games department? Already damn near completely emptied, like they had just failed to restock the shelves. Also, their electronics department had an entire rack dedicated to magazines/books, as if they couldn't find anywhere else to put those PLUS they even had three appliances just sitting there with stickers on them, on the off chance somebody buying a TV wants a dish washer. Like any shit retailer, they also have a policy that they won't price match their own website.

The store is a complete disaster.

22 photos that show kmart is dying: http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-insider-kmart-2013-11 this from 2013. Interestingly, he makes the same note about the electronics department that I found.

 

[lxskllr]

I miss the small dime stores the most. The old school, inner town storefront type shops. The one near me had almost everything needed, and I could walk to it. Quality merchandise(for the most part), at a lowish price(not rock bottom, but cheap enough).

I think something like that could be a profitable endeavor for an enterprising individual(not yet another fuckin' chain). Sell the best examples of merchandise at a decent price, with knowledgeable and helpful employees, and one could make a good living, if not get rich.

 

[John Connor]

I don't even buy shit from Kmart, Walmart or Target. What's that say?

Besides, non of the damn clothes fit me or anything I like! I buy all online.

 

[Blanky]

I miss the small dime stores the most. The old school, inner town storefront type shops. The one near me had almost everything needed, and I could walk to it. Quality merchandise(for the most part), at a lowish price(not rock bottom, but cheap enough).

I think something like that could be a profitable endeavor for an enterprising individual(not yet another fuckin' chain). Sell the best examples of merchandise at a decent price, with knowledgeable and helpful employees, and one could make a good living, if not get rich.

To my continued shock there is actually a small hardware store by me, nestled basically in between home depot and lowes (themselves not terribly far away from each other) that continues to exist. I have never even entered it, but I suppose enough people are to keep it going. There is also another one I've gone into on occasion very close to home depot but it offers far more, for example, plumbing fixtures even than home depot does. A lot of estoteric stuff you cannot get anywhere else. I'm sure regulars are known by name by the staff, and they have a popcorn machine, too, with a constant supply of fresh popcorn.

 

[michal1980]

kmart just needs to phase out.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Why would I:

1) Put on pants
2) Leave the house
3) Go to K-Mart

Just so I could:

1) Buy retail boxed game
2) Pay MSRP
3) Have installation fail because of faulty media
4) Spend hours downloading patches

Walmart will have killed K-Mart, but Steam did this. I fondly remember going to Babbages as a kid, but damn, digital distribution and broadband internet access are freakin' awesome.

 

[Jeffg010]

I miss the small dime stores the most. The old school, inner town storefront type shops. The one near me had almost everything needed, and I could walk to it. Quality merchandise(for the most part), at a lowish price(not rock bottom, but cheap enough).

I think something like that could be a profitable endeavor for an enterprising individual(not yet another fuckin' chain). Sell the best examples of merchandise at a decent price, with knowledgeable and helpful employees, and one could make a good living, if not get rich.

I think dollar general is taking that market space and doing well. It is my go to store for good prices.

 

[Mixolydian]

KMart still exists?

They haven't had KMarts around here in over 15 years. They all went out of business.

 

[disappoint]

For the first time in years I went into my local kmart, kind of as a voyeur, recently. It was worse than I imagined. It makes Walmart look like a 5th avenue boutique. It was horrendously laid out, empty shelves, things that didn't work.

And speaking of games department? Already damn near completely emptied, like they had just failed to restock the shelves. Also, their electronics department had an entire rack dedicated to magazines/books, as if they couldn't find anywhere else to put those PLUS they even had three appliances just sitting there with stickers on them, on the off chance somebody buying a TV wants a dish washer. Like any shit retailer, they also have a policy that they won't price match their own website.

The store is a complete disaster.

22 photos that show kmart is dying: http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-insider-kmart-2013-11 this from 2013. Interestingly, he makes the same note about the electronics department that I found.

These empty shelves are a problem. "If you have no items to place here, why not dissemble the shelf to improve the department’s appearance?" Sozzi asks. "This display looks as if Kmart is liquidating."

Stores often put complementary items next to each other to encourage purchase, but not Kmart. "Here we have luggage and coolers, summer items, shown next to cold whether items in ice melt and Craftsman snowblowers," Sozzi writes.

Never give up Brian Sozzi. Someday you might be able to write an article without glaring mistakes like shaky cam blurry pictures or multiple misspellings.

 

[NoTine42]

Why would I:

1) Put on pants
2) Leave the house
3) Go to K-Mart

Just so I could:

1) Buy retail boxed game
2) Pay MSRP
3) Have installation fail because of faulty media
4) Spend hours downloading patches

Walmart will have killed K-Mart, but Steam did this. I fondly remember going to Babbages as a kid, but damn, digital distribution and broadband internet access are freakin' awesome.

But at Kmart, you could ship your pants
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I03UmJbK0lA

 

[Nograts]

I don't even buy shit from Kmart, Walmart or Target. What's that say?

Besides, non of the damn clothes fit me or anything I like! I buy all online.

You're uber poor and fat?

 

[Mixolydian]

You're uber poor and fat?

This.

 

[notposting]

I remember as a kid in the 80's, that K-Mart had a special breed of slow checkouts.
I remember in 1999, that K-Mart STILL had a special breed of slow checkouts.
I remember last year not being surprised when their checkout was astonishingly slow.

So I was not surprised the other day when my wife came home. She had stopped at K-Mart. They didn't have one of the things she was looking for, of course. The checkout (THE checkout, singular) was stopped. For no reason. Then our oldest son needed to use the potty. So off they went. And back...and still stopped. I nodded knowingly.

 

[Sonikku]

I miss Hills. Seemed like a pretty classy retail store. They had good prices and didn't have the "bargains by the bag full!" mentality and credo Ames would reiterate over the loudspeaker every ten minutes despite being much more expensive. Kind of like how Fox News has Fair and Balanced right in the logo, but deep down you know they're the most skewed of the bunch, or the angry guy that runs into the room screaming he's not gay. Somehow having to declare it just undermines the sentiment.

Walmart is worse, packed like a sardine can of the most grungy customers I've ever seen. Every place I go to shop either feels like an overworked cesspool or a drab barely making it ghetto. But either way, there is no longer any customer service. That's all gone. Neither a rep for aisles. I guess service is a relic of the 90's.

 

[Hugo Drax]

I remember KMart being bigger than Walmart. In the 80's, they got a reputation for selling shoddy products and they never quite recovered from that. Target came in and took KMart's market, and Walmart's expansion put the final nail in their coffin.

Target and Walmart will be the Zayres and Kmart of the future.

In 40 years people will see the same thing happen to them.

 

[brianmanahan]

i miss Ames and Woolworths

 

[lxskllr]

Woolworths

I haven't seen that name in awhile. I looked them up on Wikipedia, and got this...

The chain went out of business in July 1997, when the company decided to focus on the Foot Locker division and renamed itself Venator Group. By 2001, the company focused exclusively on the sporting goods market, changing its name to the present Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE: FL)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Woolworth_Company

I didn't know they were related to footlocker. Sad end for an American icon.

Edit:
Another moldy oldy, GC Murphy...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._C._Murphy

 

[Hugo Drax]

I miss the small dime stores the most. The old school, inner town storefront type shops. The one near me had almost everything needed, and I could walk to it. Quality merchandise(for the most part), at a lowish price(not rock bottom, but cheap enough).

I think something like that could be a profitable endeavor for an enterprising individual(not yet another fuckin' chain). Sell the best examples of merchandise at a decent price, with knowledgeable and helpful employees, and one could make a good living, if not get rich.

Those days are over, the start up costs for a small storefront buisness is a tough hill to climb. Not only that but the big box stores crowd out the small buisness buyer trying to buy inventory to start up a store.

 

[lupi]

went to one about 2 months ago when I got a game controller for about $5 after point discount. walking through the store it seemed several departments had already been shut down.

 

[Ruptga]

I'm not sure that I've ever been in Kmart.