What are you talking about less drama than Walmart? Kmart was the kings of drama! Better basic than target? If you were lucky to find some decent basics at Kmart, it was going to cost you more than Walmart & target! Kmart hadn’t been good since the early 2000’s before they started closing! Look at their website right now & you won’t find half of what you are actually looking for! Ownership is what cause Kmart to be the drama kings & it’s why Kmart is a once was company!
@@GNewcomb-q9v Of course, I am recalling Kmart’s glory days back when I was a kid. My Mom loved to shop there after she retired. But in the last decade or more it has been understocked and understaffed.
Kmart, Sears, Venture, Montgomery Ward, Blockbuster, malls, all gone or almost gone. It’s just not the same shopping like it was growing up. Nice tour. 👍🏻
I was surprised a few years ago to see a wedding registry of gifts this said Montgomery rewards Montgomery wards became an online store that has beautiful incredible things look them up
Must be a pretty easy job. You probably have to help 2-3 customers per week and can spend the rest of the time on your phone. If I lived in the area I would apply!
One of my favorite Aunts worked for K-Mart managing the sporting goods section. What a treat when I'd take my wife and two sons to see her and go to the snack bar and have a hot dog, a cheese pretzel, nachos, soda, and even meals. It was like a family picnic. My wife is now an EX, my sons have moved on and my aunt passed away from brain cancer. And even K-Mart is gone. All I have is the memories.
Well, not for nothing, but I hope your Aunt had a full life. My pops passed away in May and he stole a pair of shoes from Kmart when I was a kid. "Tried them on", put his old shoes back in the box, and walked out the store. Young 90's me was appalled. 😂 One day you're at the Kmart, one day you're resting peacefully forever.
@@TheCybertiger9 I still resent Amazon and other online shopping outlets for the downfall of brick and mortar stores. I appreciated being able to actually see and pick up the item, feel the weight of it, etc. Now I have to dig through reviews so that I don’t have to go through the hassle of returning some temu-esque bullcrap. Not to mention I have to wait for it to be delivered now. Smh.
I miss Kmart. I used to work for them years ago. The company has been going downhill since Eddie took over. We weren’t in great shape before he took over but we were still salvageable but instead he deliberately made it worse. He only wanted the stores for its real estate to sell, lease, or have land developers rebuild something on the land Kmart was on. Now it’s in ruins and out of business. He’s only keeping this store open till all the inventory is depleted more than likely. It’s just a matter of time before this one closes soon. So sad Kmart is out of business 😔
I worked 35 years and once they put food stores in. It started going downhill. Plus the politics. I remember having 3 departments and I did it all. Layouts,filling,ad set ups. We had fun and helped each other out.
A year earlier the hedge fund manager had made an $800 million investment in the debt of bankrupt Kmart that gave him control of the discount ... Venture capitalists scum and something called a bust out look into KB toys mitt romney and a bust out as well. On superstonk
At least their food wasn't expired. My son and I became ill after eating little smokies that were expired over a month. I called them and told them. The next day, I went back and checked . They were still on the shelves, and people were buying them. I went to the front desk and asked for the manager. Showed him the smokies and told him about us being sick. I now check the expiration date on refrigerated or freezer items.
@@terrylovelace9077 Those dates are not expiration dates. They are sell by dates or used by dates which doesn't mean the food is going to be bad for you. If the food is properly stored there's no reason for it to make you sick. However nature is a beast and it doesn't matter if the food is 3 years old, or 2 days old. You can still get sick if there's bacteria in it. Old food or new food. Nature doesn't care how old the food is.
that must be area relative lol i've never seen a walmart with stained ceiling tiles all over, tiles on the floors missing lol, corporate hates those things
Wow, I’m surprised about the tools because didn’t Sears retain the rights to make their own Craftsman tools for a certain period of time after selling them to Stanley?
He sold half of Craftsman to Lowe's. Once ever Sears and Kmart disappear for good in America, Lowe's will have it's full ownership. P.S I thought indoor furniture was the first to go.
We had a little Caesars in ours. I grew up in a small town in the south. Kmart was the hangout spot. Just go wander around soaking up the free AC, get a fountain soda at little Caesars.
Thank you for the nostalgia trip. I lost my local KMart in 2018. The last thing I bought from there was my PlayStation 4. I'll never forget accompanying my grandma to Kmart on the weekends while she waited at the restaurant for one Blue Light Special after another. She really had a knack for getting me excited about it. Songs I heard: No Scrubs- TLC Uptown Girl- Billy Joel
@@thebestchannel5456 Yup. My area of Highland Springs in VA has gone totally crackheadified. Our Kmart went that way and closed a few years ago. Right before that we got OUR Walmart in the neighboring area. It started out OK but turned very quickly. Uggggg. 😮💨
I 😅was born in 1963 and Kmart came to Appleton, Wis. sometime in 1968. I grew up with Kmart- my parents took me shopping there a lot throughout the 1970s. Kmart came my home town of Kimberly, Wis in 1982 and was open for maybe 15 years. Kimberly is a suburb of Appleton. It has been sad to see the decline of Kmart. Although some of the things Kmart sold were sometimes not of the highest quality, Kmart was better at customer service than is Walmart today.
Well, it has the old HVAC diffusers in the ceiling, so it “kinda” feels like Kmart! Shout out to all my East Brunswick, NJ Kmart shoppers! If you remember the days of the true old cafe with burgers and fries in the back of the store… and the old brown floor tiles in the entrance that made your shopping cart rattle like it was about to fall apart, let me know! 🎉🎉🎉😂
@@Mister-Whiskers awesome!!! I remember burgers and fries. It really sucked when they got rid of the true cafe restaurant in back and painted the whole store white and put the little ceasars up front
Not just that but also the last full-size Kmart in the continental US. The one in Miami had to downsize as another tenant was going to take over the lease. There are also 4 other Kmarts in US territories.
It should be noted that this is the last full-sized Kmart in the US. The other one in Florida is located in their former garden center, and it's less than the size of a Dollar General
When I was in highschool in the early 1990s, the popular insult going around my school was "You got your clothes at K-Mart". Ironically, I'm sure some of these same students later on ended up buying their clothes from K-Mart. The one near me where I was growing up in PA looked very dumpy, but the one in Penn Station in NYC looked real nice, no different from Target.
Bridgehampton has a very high poverty level. The workers live out here year round. It is the only store outside of Riverhead for people to go to. Before it was Kmart it was Caldor. A couple of years ago we stopped there and it was bad. Smelled like mold. Then about a year ago it became what you see it now even changed the sign out front. The officials in the area asked Kmart if they were going to close. They got no answer. That store is vital to the workers and people in poverty out there as some don't have cars to go to the closest major retail area in Riverhead.
The expensive luggage sets, big appliances, five hundred dollar patio sets, and La-Z-Boy equivalent furniture is pretty much why Kmart went under. I worked for them for several years and I saw the decline happen firsthand. They basically did away with or downsized everything that made a profit (lawnmowers/trimmers, tools and hardware, toys, video games, men's apparel) and loaded the store with things nobody was goin to Kmart to buy. Our store at one time made so much profit we kept THREE surrounding Kmarts open due to how much we were bringing in, but one by one those stores closed as we lost more and more customers to Walmart because nobody could find the things they needed at Kmart so they stopped coming in at all. It's like they were determined to make each store a mini-Sears without caring that the market just was not there for that.
I miss Kmart! My family and I did so much shopping at the Super Kmart in the county seat, and you could find everything you needed there! A lot of the small items in my holiday light display (candy canes, spiral trees, etc.) are from Kmart (it was one of the first places where you could find LED trees, candy canes, and such) and I still have the house curtains and bedsheets we got there! Sadly ours closed down years ago, and the space is now subdivided-it holds a Grocery Outlet, a Boot Barn, and a Hobby Lobby (which moved from its location in the shopping center _across_ the street). RIP Kmart!
Nicest looking Kmart in awhile, reminds me of the one we used to have in Bloomingdale IL just outside Chicago before it closed in 2017. That one was actually modernized and upgraded (by Kmart standards).
Our last K-Mart in the Louisville Kentucky area closed in 2018. It was at Outer Loop & New Cut Road and was opened in 1970. As far as I know it was never updated. When I was there in 2002 it sure wasn’t. There was an old Winn-Dixie store next to it at that time, likely opened in 1970 as well. Walmart moved in next door and that was the end of both. That is a nice K-Mart. It must feel weird to be able to still walk through one.
Thank you for the video! I was only a kid when Kmart was still a relevant, solid store you could purchase from. Looking at Kmart now, it is honestly sad how it declined so rapidly.
I live about 5 mins away from this KMart in sag harbor and haven’t been in the place in probably 5+ yrs, I’m actually shocked to see how well stocked it is considering most of us around here think it’s basically empty and are waiting for a target or whatever to move in. Thanks for the tour
Great video. I used to work at my local Kmart the last year they were open. The store closed in the spring of 2016. It was my first job in retail and even back in 2015 it felt like a store stuck in 1996. I remember after the holiday season in 2015 they announced the store was closing and I was there for the first month of liquidation. I ended up getting another job down the road. On my hour lunch breaks I would visit my friends who still worked there. It was sad seeing a fully stocked store when I left to just a couple months later being nothing but some empty shelving units. I have mostly good memories from my time there except for the holiday season layaway customers. I still keep in touch with a couple people who I worked with.
It’s the Hamptons. Average price for a home is over 4 million. There are no Walmarts or Targets out there, so if one needs random cheap items for their rental right away….. this all there is.
The Target where I live has really gone down hill. It's beginning to look dirty and the carpet is ripped in several places, it looks worse than any Kmart I've been in.
Mid 80s, I worked summers during college in a Kmart distribution center. We shipped all through the Midwest and east coast. The warehouse was huge then, then the expanded it in the 90s. Now it’s all gone, what a shame.
The Harborcreek Kmart building (east of Erie PA) was just recently demolished. I worked there from Dec 1984 to June of 92. It was built in the late 60's or early 70's and was my family's go-to place to shop when I was a child. The Millcreek location on the west side of Erie PA is still there but empty for years. The East Grandview location within Erie was the first to close when Walmart stated putting the squeeze on their business. When my dad passed in 2020 I found a huge folder of Master Charge slips from stuff my mom bought at Kmart and the Auto Care center for her cars.
My grandmother, who lived in the Wesleyville borough of Erie on Union Ave until she passed in 2016, used to shop at the nearby K-Mart and while she got her goods grandpa would set on the bench up front and scratch some lotto tickets. The manager knew them by name and even attended her funeral service, I think, as did people from many of the local businesses she frequented. It was the last K-Mart I visited. My town used to have a K-Mart once, before I moved here in 2007. It's now a Burlington. I remember as a kid I got my Playmates Star Trek figures at K-Mart. Good times.
@@star-army Wow a friend I knew since my teen years lived on Union. Jimmy Eisert and his younger brother Chris. His dad "Whitey" worked at a shop that I would eventually be on the cleaning crew for, Smith Meter. Last I knew Jim was a security guard for FMC. And my mom lives on Taggert for the past 31 years.
I worked for Kmart for 7.5 years, back in the late 1980's, into the early to mid 1990's. It's so sad to me to see the demise of the company, due to poor management decisions at the corporate office level. Back in the 70s and 80s in south central Kentucky, Kmart was hugely popular. In Bowling Green, KY, we had two Kmart stores. Little by little, you could see them fade away. So sad. Glad I watched this video to remember past events.
I used to work at this location, and it's changed. Where the furniture is at the front, used to be the electronics. And the person who is saying, "When you make a page through the system". was the worst person to work for. She's one of the four assistant managers left there. And I see they still have the blue shirts.
Up here in Canada, our local Kmart closed back in1997. So you could image how excited I was to fine one in Water Town, New York back in 2014. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that they sold men's tall sizes for the same price as regular sizes. Up here in Canada, they use that as an excuse to charge extra . WE MISS KMART : (
I have decent memories of going to my local kmart. It's where I got a copy of Call of Duty Black Ops. The store was decent, but dated. Now, it just sits abandoned, with the Plaza no longer being known as the Kmart Plaza. Now the building sits empty even after years. The Sears store up the road has also been abandoned. Man, what memories.
That's a nice store. I see they're still using RES (Retail Enterprise Suite) for their signage, I was the lead for that at my store in 2008. I served 7 years working at mine as my first job at 16 years old. I had the best co-workers and boss, it was a great start to my working life.
This one reminds me of the Kmart near my house when I lived in Las Vegas. Almost everything I bought from them is gone, now that I think about it. I still have a laundry rack and a little plastic drawer organizer. We had a portable closet for a long time from them, it finally gave up the ghost - man, almost 15 years after we bought it? I hate what they did to that place. I wish bad things on them. Sure, market forces, whatever. But we just can't have nice things, I guess. I'm so tired of fighting like hell to stay in one place.
I went to all the Kmarts near my hometown including the last one in Maryland when they were closing. I bought all the casual pants, dress shirts and Thom McAn shoes in my size. Still wearing them and have some still with the tags on them in reserve.
The only reason i am missing kmart is that it's part of some memories of my childhood. My friends and i would hang out at the Packer stadium on our bike and after i would bike to kmart near by to get a few thing before heading home. That was back when the stadium was just a structure of sheet metal. That whole area doesn't even resemble what it once was. I forget how old i am some times. 😅
I live in Southampton, the adjacent town to Bridgehampton. The reason why this kmart works in this area and is still up and running is because the nearest big box store is about an hour away when you account for summer traffic. If you're coming from as far as Montauk, that would be 2 hours in summer traffic. Beyond that, there's absolutely no where to buy any kind of electronics in the Hamptons after all the Radioshacks went out of business. I used to work for the Radioshack in Bridgehampton that used to be located right next to this kmart and I also worked for the Verizon retailer in the same plaza. These stores do crazy sales numbers in the summer time and I'd often check our sales figures in comparison to the other stores in the same district. I'm old enough to remember when this Kmart first opened. Before that it was a Caldor. When Kmart opened I hated it because it was fancier and bigger than Caldor. I'm sure something like a target is going to open in its place and I'll hate that too because it just reminds me that these big businesses keep getting bigger.
Surreal to see what's left of one of the stores I grew up with (not this one in particular). Stores like Kmart, Sears, Montgomery Ward, ShopKo (for those of us living where they operated)... all to be just a memory. Going to these stores could be more than just shopping, it could be an entire experience.
Thank you for sharing this!! All the memories of all the times walking into Kmart just came flooding back, since my local Kmart had the same departments arranged in almost the same layout as this store. Today my local Kmart has been converted into Target, and while still a decent store, it's not quite the same experience.
Blast from the past here. I haven't been in a Kmart probably since I was growing up in the 90's. My memory of going there was going to Little Ceasers which used to be in every one I think in my area. Then Walmarts started popping up in the late 90's and Kmart was done for.
Ohhh, those old ceiling tiles that is so pre-2000's. And the mirrors on the ceiling do they still use those for security? Yes, they can certainly turn the music down. I worked for Kroger for 25 years and before we moved to a new store, we had those tiles they used to leak and one time I was changing one and it burst, and all the water and tile Pices fell on me.
I tried to buy something at the last Kmart opened in Louisville a few weeks before it closed, just to say that I shopped there one last time. It was a few days before Christmas. There was a long line, only one cashier, and no self-checkout. And the cashier just straight up walked away and didn't come back.
I grew up in a kmart town and I miss it. Things like the cluttered isles and the slightly yellow tint to the lighting you just can't find in a walmart or target.
I've been to this exact store many hundreds of times. I live locally. This is a very working class community. It takes alot of people to keep the East End alive and well. My son likes the toy selections and I like to get my basics here. The managers are good people too.
Besides Kmart going under a lot of the malls on Long Island are dead malls. I was at the mall recently and 90% of the stores were shuttered. All of the kiosks were closed too. I couldn't even get an Auntie Em's pretzel.
I had went to K Mart for so many years that I do miss them. I did know that their prices were higher than Walmart for identical products. For example - Edge shaving cream and Tuff Stuff car upholstery cleaner. The beeping you hear at the exit door is a keypad trouble sounder for the Radionics/Bosch Fire alarm and intrusion system. A leaking roof is one thing to neglect but fire/life safety systems are very important and violates NFPA 72 fire codes. The Fire Marshall could make an order to repair the trouble or face temporary closure of the business.
I really miss K-Mart. From when I was a little and they had the coin operated rides out front, to the basics (that lasted forever) the school supplies, the houswears (variety of designs that no one else had) to the garden and the the Holiday and collectables. They carried things no one else had. Loved them! And it was enjoyable to shop there, wherever I stopped at one. Traveling or local. They didnt have all the agression and drama that WM has.but maybe that drama is just the times we live in now?
man i remember kmart as a kid in late 90s early 2000s i got alot of toys from there since my mom worked in the noble romans or lil ceasers that was in it
The amount of inventory there is insane , it’s like they took all the inventory from the closed Kmarts and dumped into that store , it’s filled like a Kmart from 20 years ago would’ve been
I always liked K-mart the one near me closed 9 years ago. I can't believe there is literally like No One in that Store what ashame doesn't look good at all
I love Target because they have no music or annoying announcements over the PA system - at least at the two Targets that I shop. I hate loud music in public places. I would imagine that this location that you show, the local summer residents send their personal assistants to do the shopping. A little further east and it is the real moneyed classes. Anyone remember when K-Mart had an in store restaurant/grill?
I'm fine with the music. The thing I hate is a song comes on I like. I'm into it and someone talks over the pa system. Usually twice on every single song. Stop telling us John has a phone call on line two. Ugg. I think the workers just find reasons to use it, just because.
@@Tony1771-yj8mc I find it funny that people feel the need to be entertained while shopping. When I shop in a store, which is rare; I get in and get out. and not spend on "stuff" from China that many people pay for on credit. This is how people stay poor.
I miss Kmart, grew up going to the one in East Brunswick, NJ all the time. I remember towards the end before it closed for good I would buy the the store brand mac & cheese. Wasn't bad tbh and I think it was under 1 dollar a box. Hard to believe that was like 8 or 9 years ago already. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
There is still a Kmart in West Kendall Lakes in Miami-Dade County. Its size is 1/4 of what it used to be and when I went inside to purchase some Liquid Plummer at 8:00 p.m. the place was practically desserted.
I worked in the King Kullen in the same shopping center 35 years ago. That KMart was a Grants store in the early 70s, then a Woolco, then Caldor and finally Kmart in 90s.
We had a Kmart attatched to our mall. Used to eat at the K age like every other day and roam mall and it. Worked there few years after high school for about one month when they let me go cause they hired too many ppl, they closed down months later hahaha. I honestly miss Kmarts, and malls in general. Like yea ooohhhhhh digital age and online shopping blah blah. Nothing beats having these store and places growing and getting to roam round in the community and engage with people while doing your errands and such. Times are so different. I’d give so much to go back to being a kid with an allowance and eating at Kmart with my friends and browsing the mall afterwards again. Play in arcade, get a comic at bookstore. Sit in the massaging chairs. Window shop for next weekend. Having fun with friends and meeting ppl. Damn sad these days.
My local Knart was the BIG one & it had a pizzeria when you walked in far left corner I miss that pizza it was so good & the ICE drinks with different flavors man i miss the times when i was a kid i remember everything, all ever see these days is people glued to their phones it's scary.
I miss Kmart but they just didn't ever adapt or evolve. We had Kmart and Walmart. Then Meijer came along and Walmart remodeled, adding a grocery section and a few other building add-ons. Meanwhile Kmart did nothing and were gone within 10-15 years.
I had the same question? I Saw a lot of brands in there but I wasn’t sure if they were Kmart exclusive. I have some of the brands in my video if you want to see….They all seemed to be Kmart brands or so I thought?
My mother worked for K-mart Headquarters in Troy - Michigan for many years. My first job was at K-mart at 15 as a "code 6" Each store had different codes it was not a standard. I ran the register - stocked - Ran electronics and sold cigarettes' lol It was 2003/4 at this time. The stores still look the same.
It's wild to me that there's only two left. It feels like yesterday when Kmart was just as common as Target, Walmart, or Service Merchandise-er.. wait...
I too not only remember Kmart but worked at the Burlington, N J. store in the early '90's. I remember it going full tillt and being mobbed with shoppers on the weekends. So sad that they're just about all gone. Definitely an end to an era.
![Eminem - Temporary (feat. Skylar Grey) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZaK9Wi5ho0o/mqdefault.jpg)
I really miss Kmart. So much less drama than Walmart and better for basics than Target. What a shame.😢
I miss Super Kmart
To me it was always felt so empty. Nobody went there as much anymore by me.
What are you talking about less drama than Walmart? Kmart was the kings of drama! Better basic than target? If you were lucky to find some decent basics at Kmart, it was going to cost you more than Walmart & target! Kmart hadn’t been good since the early 2000’s before they started closing!
Look at their website right now & you won’t find half of what you are actually looking for! Ownership is what cause Kmart to be the drama kings & it’s why Kmart is a once was company!
@@GNewcomb-q9v Of course, I am recalling Kmart’s glory days back when I was a kid. My Mom loved to shop there after she retired. But in the last decade or more it has been understocked and understaffed.
I consider Walmart as a cut-rate version of Kmart! Besides my nickname for Walmart is Arkansas Market!!!
Kmart, Sears, Venture, Montgomery Ward, Blockbuster, malls, all gone or almost gone.
It’s just not the same shopping like it was growing up.
Nice tour. 👍🏻
I was surprised a few years ago to see a wedding registry of gifts this said Montgomery rewards Montgomery wards became an online store that has beautiful incredible things look them up
Don’t forget about brick and mortar Pier 1 Imports!! They were the best, it’s too bad the company folded.
Especially with Bidens economy. Good bye to the Good Ol Days!!
Sports Authority, Bed Bath & Beyond, Circuit City, Comp USA
Here in jersey the malls are going very strong, American Dream mall in particular is very impressive.
Working at that Kmart must be like being a crewmember on the Titanic!
It's terrible! I, Sued them in the early 1990's for Harassment among other things!
@@pipertarin68Was the lawsuit successful?
That's what it felt like the day I started working there in 1995!
@@williamharris8367 Yes!
Must be a pretty easy job. You probably have to help 2-3 customers per week and can spend the rest of the time on your phone. If I lived in the area I would apply!
I had no idea the last time I walked out of a Kmart that I was walking out of a Kmart for the last time.
i did
They seemed to go quick
One of my favorite Aunts worked for K-Mart managing the sporting goods section. What a treat when I'd take my wife and two sons to see her and go to the snack bar and have a hot dog, a cheese pretzel, nachos, soda, and even meals. It was like a family picnic. My wife is now an EX, my sons have moved on and my aunt passed away from brain cancer. And even K-Mart is gone. All I have is the memories.
Consider yourself a very fortunate man! So many people in the world don’t have anything happy to look back on.
Well, not for nothing, but I hope your Aunt had a full life.
My pops passed away in May and he stole a pair of shoes from Kmart when I was a kid.
"Tried them on", put his old shoes back in the box, and walked out the store. Young 90's me was appalled. 😂
One day you're at the Kmart, one day you're resting peacefully forever.
Sorry about your aunt
Ah man I miss the days when you could go to the store and actually find what you wanted
thats why I do most of my shopping on Amazon. SELECTION
@@TheCybertiger9
I still resent Amazon and other online shopping outlets for the downfall of brick and mortar stores. I appreciated being able to actually see and pick up the item, feel the weight of it, etc.
Now I have to dig through reviews so that I don’t have to go through the hassle of returning some temu-esque bullcrap. Not to mention I have to wait for it to be delivered now. Smh.
@@TheCybertiger9 A few hundred different "brands" selling the exact same item isn't a particularly good selection.
Well, that was never at Kmart lol.. Maybe back in the 80s
I miss Kmart. I used to work for them years ago. The company has been going downhill since Eddie took over. We weren’t in great shape before he took over but we were still salvageable but instead he deliberately made it worse. He only wanted the stores for its real estate to sell, lease, or have land developers rebuild something on the land Kmart was on. Now it’s in ruins and out of business. He’s only keeping this store open till all the inventory is depleted more than likely. It’s just a matter of time before this one closes soon. So sad Kmart is out of business 😔
I worked 35 years and once they put food stores in. It started going downhill. Plus the politics. I remember having 3 departments and I did it all. Layouts,filling,ad set ups. We had fun and helped each other out.
A year earlier the hedge fund manager had made an $800 million investment in the debt of bankrupt Kmart that gave him control of the discount ...
Venture capitalists scum and something called a bust out look into KB toys mitt romney and a bust out as well. On superstonk
They're going downhill way before then
hes a vulture capitalist. they literally dont care about anything but their bank accounts
That store is a lot cleaner than any Walmart I've been to. I miss Kmart.
Easy to keep clean when no one is there idk lol
@Albertwhesker-cs9mpyou’re crazy. It’s much easier to keep any store clean that doesn’t have a ton of customers in it.
At least their food wasn't expired. My son and I became ill after eating little smokies that were expired over a month. I called them and told them. The next day, I went back and checked . They were still on the shelves, and people were buying them. I went to the front desk and asked for the manager. Showed him the smokies and told him about us being sick. I now check the expiration date on refrigerated or freezer items.
@@terrylovelace9077 Those dates are not expiration dates. They are sell by dates or used by dates which doesn't mean the food is going to be bad for you. If the food is properly stored there's no reason for it to make you sick. However nature is a beast and it doesn't matter if the food is 3 years old, or 2 days old. You can still get sick if there's bacteria in it. Old food or new food. Nature doesn't care how old the food is.
that must be area relative lol i've never seen a walmart with stained ceiling tiles all over, tiles on the floors missing lol, corporate hates those things
7 year employee here. Electronics, shoes and sporting goods were the first to go. The vendors jumped ship. Next was tools after Eddie sold Craftsman.
Wow, I’m surprised about the tools because didn’t Sears retain the rights to make their own Craftsman tools for a certain period of time after selling them to Stanley?
The store looks neatly stocked and well ordered.
he is a vulture capitalitst
I was also an employee for 7 years and I recently came across my 5 year pin. I was fired in 92 over something really stupid that was not my fault.
He sold half of Craftsman to Lowe's. Once ever Sears and Kmart disappear for good in America, Lowe's will have it's full ownership.
P.S I thought indoor furniture was the first to go.
When I was a little girl in the 80s, Kmart was actually an anchor store in our local mall, like you'd see a Macys, JCP, or Sears.
It was an anchor at a local mall where I'm from as well. It had a little Caesars in it too
That is a spotless store. I would be shopping there just for its cleanliness.
I miss the old K-Mart. I don't know if they all did, but ours had a cool little restaurant in it.
We did at my store. We loved their subs. Worked 35 years and have been to 6 different stores in Ohio.
We had a little Caesars in ours. I grew up in a small town in the south. Kmart was the hangout spot. Just go wander around soaking up the free AC, get a fountain soda at little Caesars.
Never thought I’d be nostalgic over ceiling air vents but here I am…
Same here literally! I always loved hearing those in the Kmart my town had😔
Thank you for the nostalgia trip. I lost my local KMart in 2018. The last thing I bought from there was my PlayStation 4. I'll never forget accompanying my grandma to Kmart on the weekends while she waited at the restaurant for one Blue Light Special after another. She really had a knack for getting me excited about it.
Songs I heard:
No Scrubs- TLC
Uptown Girl- Billy Joel
Maybe it was the calming music you put in, or maybe this was actually one of the most pleasant Kmart videos I've seen. I enjoyed the walkthrough!
The main thing missing is customers. That is what our local KMart looked like for years before it closed.
They’re at the point where potential customers assume it’s closed like all the others.
People would rather go to crackhead heaven known as Wal-Mart, sad to say 😢
@@thebestchannel5456 Yup. My area of Highland Springs in VA has gone totally crackheadified. Our Kmart went that way and closed a few years ago. Right before that we got OUR Walmart in the neighboring area. It started out OK but turned very quickly. Uggggg. 😮💨
@@thebestchannel5456 Hate wal-mart takes way too long to get anything there.
Oh man I'm old to remember that Kmart had a lotta of stores back in the late 80s, 90s and 00s. ❤️
I 😅was born in 1963 and Kmart came to Appleton, Wis. sometime in 1968. I grew up with Kmart- my parents took me shopping there a lot throughout the 1970s. Kmart came my home town of Kimberly, Wis in 1982 and was open for maybe 15 years. Kimberly is a suburb of Appleton.
It has been sad to see the decline of Kmart. Although some of the things Kmart sold were sometimes not of the highest quality, Kmart was better at customer service than is Walmart today.
@@JamieWoods-go1cv My experience with Walmart is that they no longer have customer service...
I often refer to Walmart as white trash warehouse.
I remember going to Kmart for school clothes and school supplies in the seventies.
@@DavidRoot-jp9gbHey, I resemble that comment. Kmart was okay.
Well, it has the old HVAC diffusers in the ceiling, so it “kinda” feels like Kmart!
Shout out to all my East Brunswick, NJ Kmart shoppers! If you remember the days of the true old cafe with burgers and fries in the back of the store… and the old brown floor tiles in the entrance that made your shopping cart rattle like it was about to fall apart, let me know! 🎉🎉🎉😂
The light fixtures and storefront are all wrong though. ;)
@@happycube it’s sooooo NOT Kmart! 🤣🤣🤣
Was a mechanic at the EB Kmart in 1986-87👍
My go to was the potato knish and a white cherry slushy.
@@Mister-Whiskers awesome!!! I remember burgers and fries. It really sucked when they got rid of the true cafe restaurant in back and painted the whole store white and put the little ceasars up front
It opened as a Grants back in 1973. Existed as Woolco and Caldor beyond that.
Not just that but also the last full-size Kmart in the continental US. The one in Miami had to downsize as another tenant was going to take over the lease. There are also 4 other Kmarts in US territories.
It should be noted that this is the last full-sized Kmart in the US. The other one in Florida is located in their former garden center, and it's less than the size of a Dollar General
Yeah, that's a mini kmart, plus the staff was rude
Thats a nice Kmart im over 50 lot of my clothes as a kid came from there remember the blue light special
It is very well stocked.
And none of those pesky shoppers.
@@jim165670You tried
I still got my 1970's KMART boxfan & its still going strong & built like a tank compared to new modern ones that fail after a few years
When I was in highschool in the early 1990s, the popular insult going around my school was "You got your clothes at K-Mart". Ironically, I'm sure some of these same students later on ended up buying their clothes from K-Mart. The one near me where I was growing up in PA looked very dumpy, but the one in Penn Station in NYC looked real nice, no different from Target.
The one that was at penn station was huge like 3 to 4 floors and so was that one near down town aster place.
Oh, boy! That poster flip through took me back! Definitely Kmart! Great trip down memory lane!
Bridgehampton has a very high poverty level. The workers live out here year round. It is the only store outside of Riverhead for people to go to. Before it was Kmart it was Caldor. A couple of years ago we stopped there and it was bad. Smelled like mold. Then about a year ago it became what you see it now even changed the sign out front. The officials in the area asked Kmart if they were going to close. They got no answer. That store is vital to the workers and people in poverty out there as some don't have cars to go to the closest major retail area in Riverhead.
Ahhh! That helps close the gap. Thanks!
That Kmart looks really nice the Aisles are very neat and fronted from what I can tell
I live near there and literally bought stuff at that K-Mart last week!
The expensive luggage sets, big appliances, five hundred dollar patio sets, and La-Z-Boy equivalent furniture is pretty much why Kmart went under. I worked for them for several years and I saw the decline happen firsthand. They basically did away with or downsized everything that made a profit (lawnmowers/trimmers, tools and hardware, toys, video games, men's apparel) and loaded the store with things nobody was goin to Kmart to buy. Our store at one time made so much profit we kept THREE surrounding Kmarts open due to how much we were bringing in, but one by one those stores closed as we lost more and more customers to Walmart because nobody could find the things they needed at Kmart so they stopped coming in at all. It's like they were determined to make each store a mini-Sears without caring that the market just was not there for that.
Back in the 70's and 80's, Kmart was my mother's favorite store. We used to go in there all the time. It was sad they declined so rapidly
I miss Kmart! My family and I did so much shopping at the Super Kmart in the county seat, and you could find everything you needed there! A lot of the small items in my holiday light display (candy canes, spiral trees, etc.) are from Kmart (it was one of the first places where you could find LED trees, candy canes, and such) and I still have the house curtains and bedsheets we got there! Sadly ours closed down years ago, and the space is now subdivided-it holds a Grocery Outlet, a Boot Barn, and a Hobby Lobby (which moved from its location in the shopping center _across_ the street).
RIP Kmart!
That poster section looks like it hasn't been updated since 2011 😂 also the lady at the end sounds like Janine from Ghostbusters
I always loved K-mart. I frankly did not know there was one left. It almost makes me want to drive from MA to NJ. Thanks for the tour.
Nicest looking Kmart in awhile, reminds me of the one we used to have in Bloomingdale IL just outside Chicago before it closed in 2017. That one was actually modernized and upgraded (by Kmart standards).
Our last K-Mart in the Louisville Kentucky area closed in 2018. It was at Outer Loop & New Cut Road and was opened in 1970. As far as I know it was never updated. When I was there in 2002 it sure wasn’t. There was an old Winn-Dixie store next to it at that time, likely opened in 1970 as well. Walmart moved in next door and that was the end of both. That is a nice K-Mart. It must feel weird to be able to still walk through one.
Respect brother. Thanks for this.
oh man, watching this takes me back to my childhood in maybe the late 90s. walking to Kmart with my mom that was like 3 miles away to shop.
The Kmart in Miami is only a quarter of the size it used to be. The other three quarter became At Home retail store.
RIP K Mart. I had many nice times with you & my late grandfather. XXOO
I actually love that Kmart! I’ve travelled there twice just to see it lol. I’m afraid we will soon be doing a video on its closing. 😢 nice video also!
Thank you for the video! I was only a kid when Kmart was still a relevant, solid store you could purchase from. Looking at Kmart now, it is honestly sad how it declined so rapidly.
Almost like going back in time. ❤
I live about 5 mins away from this KMart in sag harbor and haven’t been in the place in probably 5+ yrs, I’m actually shocked to see how well stocked it is considering most of us around here think it’s basically empty and are waiting for a target or whatever to move in. Thanks for the tour
Great video. I used to work at my local Kmart the last year they were open. The store closed in the spring of 2016. It was my first job in retail and even back in 2015 it felt like a store stuck in 1996. I remember after the holiday season in 2015 they announced the store was closing and I was there for the first month of liquidation. I ended up getting another job down the road. On my hour lunch breaks I would visit my friends who still worked there. It was sad seeing a fully stocked store when I left to just a couple months later being nothing but some empty shelving units. I have mostly good memories from my time there except for the holiday season layaway customers. I still keep in touch with a couple people who I worked with.
Damn, that K-mart looks 100% neater than our Target store does.
It’s the Hamptons. Average price for a home is over 4 million. There are no Walmarts or Targets out there, so if one needs random cheap items for their rental right away….. this all there is.
The Target where I live has really gone down hill. It's beginning to look dirty and the carpet is ripped in several places, it looks worse than any Kmart I've been in.
Mid 80s, I worked summers during college in a Kmart distribution center. We shipped all through the Midwest and east coast. The warehouse was huge then, then the expanded it in the 90s. Now it’s all gone, what a shame.
I actually LIKED K-mart... I could usually find what I needed, it was affordable, and you didn't feel lost in the store.
The Harborcreek Kmart building (east of Erie PA) was just recently demolished. I worked there from Dec 1984 to June of 92. It was built in the late 60's or early 70's and was my family's go-to place to shop when I was a child. The Millcreek location on the west side of Erie PA is still there but empty for years. The East Grandview location within Erie was the first to close when Walmart stated putting the squeeze on their business. When my dad passed in 2020 I found a huge folder of Master Charge slips from stuff my mom bought at Kmart and the Auto Care center for her cars.
My grandmother, who lived in the Wesleyville borough of Erie on Union Ave until she passed in 2016, used to shop at the nearby K-Mart and while she got her goods grandpa would set on the bench up front and scratch some lotto tickets. The manager knew them by name and even attended her funeral service, I think, as did people from many of the local businesses she frequented. It was the last K-Mart I visited. My town used to have a K-Mart once, before I moved here in 2007. It's now a Burlington. I remember as a kid I got my Playmates Star Trek figures at K-Mart. Good times.
@@star-army Wow a friend I knew since my teen years lived on Union. Jimmy Eisert and his younger brother Chris. His dad "Whitey" worked at a shop that I would eventually be on the cleaning crew for, Smith Meter. Last I knew Jim was a security guard for FMC. And my mom lives on Taggert for the past 31 years.
I worked for Kmart for 7.5 years, back in the late 1980's, into the early to mid 1990's. It's so sad to me to see the demise of the company, due to poor management decisions at the corporate office level. Back in the 70s and 80s in south central Kentucky, Kmart was hugely popular. In Bowling Green, KY, we had two Kmart stores. Little by little, you could see them fade away. So sad. Glad I watched this video to remember past events.
CEO greed and not keeping up with the times led to the downfall.
I used to work at this location, and it's changed. Where the furniture is at the front, used to be the electronics. And the person who is saying, "When you make a page through the system". was the worst person to work for. She's one of the four assistant managers left there. And I see they still have the blue shirts.
I love hearing the strong New York accent at the end! The loud, forceful way of speaking is so different from the suburban midwest.
Up here in Canada, our local Kmart closed back in1997. So you could image how excited I was to fine one in Water Town, New York back in 2014. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that they sold men's tall sizes for the same price as regular sizes. Up here in Canada, they use that as an excuse to charge extra . WE MISS KMART : (
It seems clean and well stocked
I have decent memories of going to my local kmart. It's where I got a copy of Call of Duty Black Ops. The store was decent, but dated. Now, it just sits abandoned, with the Plaza no longer being known as the Kmart Plaza. Now the building sits empty even after years. The Sears store up the road has also been abandoned. Man, what memories.
That's a nice store. I see they're still using RES (Retail Enterprise Suite) for their signage, I was the lead for that at my store in 2008. I served 7 years working at mine as my first job at 16 years old. I had the best co-workers and boss, it was a great start to my working life.
This one reminds me of the Kmart near my house when I lived in Las Vegas. Almost everything I bought from them is gone, now that I think about it. I still have a laundry rack and a little plastic drawer organizer. We had a portable closet for a long time from them, it finally gave up the ghost - man, almost 15 years after we bought it? I hate what they did to that place. I wish bad things on them. Sure, market forces, whatever. But we just can't have nice things, I guess. I'm so tired of fighting like hell to stay in one place.
I went to all the Kmarts near my hometown including the last one in Maryland when they were closing. I bought all the casual pants, dress shirts and Thom McAn shoes in my size. Still wearing them and have some still with the tags on them in reserve.
The only reason i am missing kmart is that it's part of some memories of my childhood. My friends and i would hang out at the Packer stadium on our bike and after i would bike to kmart near by to get a few thing before heading home. That was back when the stadium was just a structure of sheet metal. That whole area doesn't even resemble what it once was. I forget how old i am some times. 😅
Green Bay, Wisconsin? Any thoughts on Prange Way or Shopko?
I remember when I lost all of my Kmart stock ... thanks, Martha Stewart! I used to love that store.
I lived near one in Waynesville, NC and then Covid killed it. I used to brag that I shop at Kmart but no one thought it was cool😢
Thanks for the explore.. my Mom worked for K Mart in the 80's.. she really loved it... If not for K Mart, there would be no Walmart...
We had a nice Super K in Fairbanks Alaska, I still remember smelling the Little Cesar’s Pizza as you enter the store.
I live in Southampton, the adjacent town to Bridgehampton. The reason why this kmart works in this area and is still up and running is because the nearest big box store is about an hour away when you account for summer traffic. If you're coming from as far as Montauk, that would be 2 hours in summer traffic. Beyond that, there's absolutely no where to buy any kind of electronics in the Hamptons after all the Radioshacks went out of business. I used to work for the Radioshack in Bridgehampton that used to be located right next to this kmart and I also worked for the Verizon retailer in the same plaza. These stores do crazy sales numbers in the summer time and I'd often check our sales figures in comparison to the other stores in the same district.
I'm old enough to remember when this Kmart first opened. Before that it was a Caldor. When Kmart opened I hated it because it was fancier and bigger than Caldor. I'm sure something like a target is going to open in its place and I'll hate that too because it just reminds me that these big businesses keep getting bigger.
Wow and that Kmart is organized beautiful
I was in a k-mart a little over 8 years ago, it had nothing but sales, and I saw more employees than customers. Fastest shopping trip I ever.
Surreal to see what's left of one of the stores I grew up with (not this one in particular). Stores like Kmart, Sears, Montgomery Ward, ShopKo (for those of us living where they operated)... all to be just a memory. Going to these stores could be more than just shopping, it could be an entire experience.
Thank you for sharing this!! All the memories of all the times walking into Kmart just came flooding back, since my local Kmart had the same departments arranged in almost the same layout as this store. Today my local Kmart has been converted into Target, and while still a decent store, it's not quite the same experience.
Blast from the past here. I haven't been in a Kmart probably since I was growing up in the 90's. My memory of going there was going to Little Ceasers which used to be in every one I think in my area. Then Walmarts started popping up in the late 90's and Kmart was done for.
My surgery required me to wear those. Unpleasant but the alternative was more grim.
Ohhh, those old ceiling tiles that is so pre-2000's. And the mirrors on the ceiling do they still use those for security? Yes, they can certainly turn the music down. I worked for Kroger for 25 years and before we moved to a new store, we had those tiles they used to leak and one time I was changing one and it burst, and all the water and tile Pices fell on me.
I tried to buy something at the last Kmart opened in Louisville a few weeks before it closed, just to say that I shopped there one last time. It was a few days before Christmas. There was a long line, only one cashier, and no self-checkout. And the cashier just straight up walked away and didn't come back.
Man I was getting all the feels wishing I could visit since it's almost a time capsule
I grew up in a kmart town and I miss it. Things like the cluttered isles and the slightly yellow tint to the lighting you just can't find in a walmart or target.
K Mart was a big part of my childhood in Northern KY,had the little restaurant inside it,The last time I was in the one back Gome was in 06
We miss Kmart. Kmart and Sears 😢😢oh and Woolworths. Bur Kmart will always have a special place in our hearts ❤️🥰🙏😭
I've been to this exact store many hundreds of times. I live locally. This is a very working class community. It takes alot of people to keep the East End alive and well. My son likes the toy selections and I like to get my basics here. The managers are good people too.
Besides Kmart going under a lot of the malls on Long Island are dead malls. I was at the mall recently and 90% of the stores were shuttered. All of the kiosks were closed too. I couldn't even get an Auntie Em's pretzel.
We haven't had a Kamart in the Dnever read for almost a decade! Cool to see. Pretty well stocked for a dying store.
I had went to K Mart for so many years that I do miss them. I did know that their prices were higher than Walmart for identical products. For example - Edge shaving cream and Tuff Stuff car upholstery cleaner. The beeping you hear at the exit door is a keypad trouble sounder for the Radionics/Bosch Fire alarm and intrusion system. A leaking roof is one thing to neglect but fire/life safety systems are very important and violates NFPA 72 fire codes. The Fire Marshall could make an order to repair the trouble or face temporary closure of the business.
I really miss K-Mart. From when I was a little and they had the coin operated rides out front, to the basics (that lasted forever) the school supplies, the houswears (variety of designs that no one else had) to the garden and the the Holiday and collectables. They carried things no one else had. Loved them! And it was enjoyable to shop there, wherever I stopped at one. Traveling or local. They didnt have all the agression and drama that WM has.but maybe that drama is just the times we live in now?
man i remember kmart as a kid in late 90s early 2000s i got alot of toys from there since my mom worked in the noble romans or lil ceasers that was in it
The amount of inventory there is insane , it’s like they took all the inventory from the closed Kmarts and dumped into that store , it’s filled like a Kmart from 20 years ago would’ve been
Thank you for the great video!!.I worked for Kmart in the early to late 80's in Ithaca NY. Good memories!!
I always liked K-mart the one near me closed 9 years ago. I can't believe there is literally like No One in that Store what ashame doesn't look good at all
That's probably the nicest looking Kmart I've ever seen. There was one near Amityville.
I love Target because they have no music or annoying announcements over the PA system - at least at the two Targets that I shop. I hate loud music in public places. I would imagine that this location that you show, the local summer residents send their personal assistants to do the shopping. A little further east and it is the real moneyed classes. Anyone remember when K-Mart had an in store restaurant/grill?
Target promotes the sexualization of children. I dont shop there anymore.
Yes, and a deli too. I loved their subs. Part of their secret was they made them the night before so the flavors would intensify overnight.
I'm fine with the music. The thing I hate is a song comes on I like. I'm into it and someone talks over the pa system. Usually twice on every single song. Stop telling us John has a phone call on line two. Ugg. I think the workers just find reasons to use it, just because.
Target sucks. I didn't mind the music or announcements either at Kmart. Sears I never liked either.
@@Tony1771-yj8mc I find it funny that people feel the need to be entertained while shopping. When I shop in a store, which is rare; I get in and get out. and not spend on "stuff" from China that many people pay for on credit. This is how people stay poor.
I miss Kmart, grew up going to the one in East Brunswick, NJ all the time. I remember towards the end before it closed for good I would buy the the store brand mac & cheese. Wasn't bad tbh and I think it was under 1 dollar a box. Hard to believe that was like 8 or 9 years ago already. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
There is still a Kmart in West Kendall Lakes in Miami-Dade County. Its size is 1/4 of what it used to be and when I went inside to purchase some Liquid Plummer at 8:00 p.m. the place was practically desserted.
I worked in the King Kullen in the same shopping center 35 years ago. That KMart was a Grants store in the early 70s, then a Woolco, then Caldor and finally Kmart in 90s.
We had a Kmart attatched to our mall. Used to eat at the K age like every other day and roam mall and it. Worked there few years after high school for about one month when they let me go cause they hired too many ppl, they closed down months later hahaha. I honestly miss Kmarts, and malls in general. Like yea ooohhhhhh digital age and online shopping blah blah. Nothing beats having these store and places growing and getting to roam round in the community and engage with people while doing your errands and such. Times are so different. I’d give so much to go back to being a kid with an allowance and eating at Kmart with my friends and browsing the mall afterwards again. Play in arcade, get a comic at bookstore. Sit in the massaging chairs. Window shop for next weekend. Having fun with friends and meeting ppl. Damn sad these days.
Growing up in a city where I went, frequently, to a Super K, this makes me kind of sad. The memories will never be demolished.
The KMart here in Cromwell, Connecticut closed in 2017. I remember shopping as a kid in the early 2010s. So many memories
My local Knart was the BIG one & it had a pizzeria when you walked in far left corner
I miss that pizza it was so good & the ICE drinks with different flavors man i miss the times when i was a kid i remember everything, all ever see these days is people glued to their phones it's scary.
Here in Australia we still have K Mart, my husband works at the local store, he has been working there for nearly 30 years.
That’s such a nice one. Ours was also really nice and then it went out in 2019.
I miss Kmart but they just didn't ever adapt or evolve. We had Kmart and Walmart. Then Meijer came along and Walmart remodeled, adding a grocery section and a few other building add-ons. Meanwhile Kmart did nothing and were gone within 10-15 years.
Surprised there is even a distribution system intact if there's only two stores a 1000 miles apart. Any Kmart branded products still in the store?
I had the same question? I Saw a lot of brands in there but I wasn’t sure if they were Kmart exclusive. I have some of the brands in my video if you want to see….They all seemed to be Kmart brands or so I thought?
My mother worked for K-mart Headquarters in Troy - Michigan for many years.
My first job was at K-mart at 15 as a "code 6" Each store had different codes it was not a standard.
I ran the register - stocked - Ran electronics and sold cigarettes' lol
It was 2003/4 at this time. The stores still look the same.
It's wild to me that there's only two left. It feels like yesterday when Kmart was just as common as Target, Walmart, or Service Merchandise-er.. wait...
There is a single K-Mart left on St. Thomas Island. It is bi-level and full of products. I made sure to go at least once while I was there.
I too not only remember Kmart but worked at the Burlington, N J. store in the early '90's. I remember it going full tillt and being mobbed with shoppers on the weekends. So sad that they're just about all gone. Definitely an end to an era.