Kmart 9348 Norridge, IL Grand Opening 1998 - PEAK KMART!! Floyd Hall Era
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- OK Kmart fanatics, I found my copy of a VHS tape that was recorded in late 1998 when Kmart 9348 in Norridge, IL opened for business. This location was a former Venture store, located roughly at Irving Park & Harlem, across from the HIP mall. This store replaced the Harwood Heights store up north a little on Harlem Ave. This was one of 25 Venture stores in Chicagoland where Kmart purchased the leases and opened new stores.
I was Hardlines Manager at this store and worked prior to opening to set the store up. The setup was approximately 3-4 months and required all sorts of work including fixture assembly, building permits to receive freight, stocking of shelves, hiring of new associates, and lots of Troy, Michigan home office visits. There were also lots of typical issues but the final resulting store was beautiful.
I was in my 20's at the time and didn't have a wife or kids. It was a fun time and my store manager was great. I will likely never have an experience like this again in my lifetime as it was very unique. I remember a lot about this experience -- especially running a night crew for approximately 3 weeks up until the ribbon cutting ceremony.
So, enjoy this time travel back to 1998 when Kmart was still king. THIS IS PEAK KMART. Store 9348 was a $37MM yearly sales store and in the top 25 company-wide best performers for 1999. Check out the signage, Pantry, and well-stocked shelves. This store was a flagship location (and still is today, as it is open for business and still is crazy busy). It had every bell and whistle possible including Kmart Solutions -- a Kiosk walk up ordering system (see my other RUclips for the looping DVD I rescued from the trash in 1999), computer based training, a portrait studio, full K Café, customer call boxes throughout the store, advanced RMU inventory guns, and a digital prerecorded announcement system for in-house advertisements. You will not find a Kmart like this one ever again. The sales floor and stockrooms are immaculate, and there were maybe 80-100 employees working that day.
Let me know if you have questions in the comments and I will try to respond.
And, I am the guy in the blue suit at the beginning and in a couple of shots within the first few minutes.
I love how everyone is still excited to be on camera. This is adorable.
Some of these people didn’t want to be on camera
@@Name-cy8ym That's because back then people had no concept of online videos. No such thing as high speed internet or RUclips. Videos like this would only be seen by a handful of people (in their view) at most. Nowadays people don't want to be recorded by strangers for fear of being turned into a meme seen by millions of people online. We are way more paranoid because of the internet.
There were also people back then who didn't wanna be on camera. And would put their hands up over their face. That's not a new thing. Though the internet and social media just heightened that of course.
Of coruse it was limited on the people who would see this
Kathy wasn’t feeling it
What I wouldn't give to walk down a department store in the '90s again. The logos were different, the products were different, and the overall culture was different.
Maybe one day...in another life.
I understand what you mean completely. I wish that I could just go back to the year 2000. The people were different, the stores were different, the companies themselves get like they cared a lot more. Just the whole atmosphere of the world felt better. I wish so bad to go back lol. I would if I could right now.
This might sound nerdy, but I occasionally check out VR experiences built around stores like K Mart from back in the 90s. It sure brings back memories.
@@Jeremy_Watson Where can you do that?
@@sal2975 I think it was actually in VR chat, it's not perfect looking but it scratches that itch lol
@@sal2975 I'll look around again though because I thought there was another K Mart in another experience I was messing around in.
1998 doesn't seem that long ago at all, yet it's amazing that new K-mart stores were actually still opening back then. How refreshing it is to see these people who are happy and excited and actually seem to enjoy working there, unlike many stores today who hire people who obviously hate their job. It makes it all the more sad to learn that this store recently closed. :( Thanks for this great footage, btw! The late 90's were some of the last of the truly good times, imho.
And sobering to know that only 3 Kmarts exist (by the time I’m commenting). Goodbye Kmart.
They were different times, GREAT TIMES, the people were different, friendships were real, interaction with people was awesome, relationships were the best, for me the best two decades ever, wish i could go back.........the 2000s weren't too bad, but everything after 2010 has been horrible and terrible.
@@Arcane1604 Couldn't agree with you any more! I would give anything to go back to the 90's, especially the late 90's (1997-1999), which were some of the best years of my life. Times were better, simpler, and people were certainly friendlier, as well, and actually seemed to care more about one another. I noticed things going downhill quickly after 2003 or so, but yeah, the 2010's is when it truly went for the worse.
@@jscountrygirl85_326 i got to live the best of the 80s and 90s, I miss everything about those times, even going to the mall and spend the entire day with friends, going to blockbuster, I even miss school, that’s how much I miss those times.
@@Arcane1604 I really miss going to school, too! Again, I'd give anything to still be a middle school student in the late 90's. I also miss doing other things I did back then, such as my youth bowling league and going to the movies with my parents just about every week. And yes, I was and still am totally a mall rat, as well! I loved going to the arcades back in the 90's, especially. For me, online shopping has absolutely NOTHING on actually going out to the mall and getting to see other people!
Sad news this kmart has closed... 1998-2019
I thought it was 1989-2019
and theirs a other k mart shop still open
@@williamgray3236 In Warren Mi
@@m42037 It's sadly gone now. Only 4 left.
@@mickandme1 The obsurdity of life, everything is so short
It’s amazing how things used to be and how people were so different not that long ago. I miss it, I really do.
Blame technology and social media, death of humanity.
@@slsl5243It because people don't know to do things in moderation,
People we less worried about psychopaths and mass murderers back then.
I was very surprised this Kmart closed. The store was always clean and had a lot of customers.
Me too.. Such a shame
@@kmartradio Shame? Kmart has been dead since the 80's! All their stores are stuck in the 70's anyway.
@@pika62221 but they always had good prices
@@kmartradio Have you ever shipped your pants?
From what I experienced growing up in the early early 2000s was that Illinois probably had some of the best Kmart stores. In Peoria we had the green Kmart which was really nice at the time and had everything! And all of the Kmarts had Little Caesars in them too!
So it DID play in Peoria
Fellow former Peoria resident here. What happened to K's Merchandise?
Watching this video definitely took me back to the prime and good old days of Kmart. I currently live approximately 10 min away from this Kmart shown in the video since we first moved into the area in 1997. I was born in 1996 so my memory of this Kmart is quite slim, but I do remember in the mid 2000s how popular and well kept Kmart was just like how Target is today. Especially being a kid where they had the hottest toys and electronics was like you were in a dream. Sadly they closed this store in 2018-2019 I believe. Now it’s currently a Amazon Fresh store since they opened it in 2021. *Fun fact* Originally the location of this Kmart was a originally a drive in movie theater in the late 1970s and 1980s hence why it has a huge parking lot, then it became Venture years after that, then it became Kmart years after that, and now currently it became a Amazon Fresh store years after that. Wow! The evolution is crazy! 🙌🏼
Rare VHS footage inside of 90s retail. I wish there were more videos like this.
Very rare footage that us K-Mart fanatics love seeing! Absolutely awesome, thanks for uploading. Needs archiving for sure!
Is there some archive website I can see the inside of stores like KMart and Walmart Late 90s early 2000s?
Especially the toy section
@@Nick-zn1vj that's a good question. I'm sure if you dig enough, you'll find something.
What a sad shame that in 2021, nostalgia has become remembering people working hard, giving a damn, and helping others.
Kmart is now identified with with the word “failure”.What a colossal fall! Once they were the largest chain in the country, and now they’re down to a handful of stores.
Yet those behind Walmart still don't suffer from the consequences of their actions.
Sad if all the stores could have stayed that nice. They would not been closing
I miss K-Mart. This is melancholy for me to watch. The only remaining store in my area is a disaster. How the mighty have fallen. It's good to see that you are showing the days when the company was flourishing and healthy.
tak178 I know it's not so much the outdated appearance of the stores but the fact they don't keep them up anymore they're usually dirty and they lack merchandize the store looked like somewhere I would want to shop and really nice!
Blame Sears
@@goddess_hylia_ blame Ed
4 years later today. Is it still there?
Blame Floyd Hall, Charles Conaway, and James Adamson….the closing waves starting in 2002, 2005, and never stopped
Wow, I would never have had a grand tour like this in my wildest Kmart dreams! Thanks!
When people had pride in their work and were *mostly* treated like humans by management. What a beautiful store. Store opening and corporate walkthroughs with a motivated team and clean full displays at a high performing location is what being a retail person is all about.
this is great!!! the final kmart in ohio is about to begin liquidations, and will be gone, it opened in 1980, and I shopped in there many, MANY times as a kid, getting toys and taking them to grandmas house. I will miss the memories of once a great store
I think you were being sarcastic but if you aren't why did you say this is great
@@justarandomhandlewithnomeaning He meant this video is great...
@@blooop9693 oh now I understand XD
It is a beautiful store. Sad to think how downhill the chain overall has gone downhill.
I'm seeing more and more of these nostalgia videos surfacing all of a sudden this year on RUclips/video sites on the Internet. Has the world really gotten so bad that re-remind people of what culture really means? I feel for this next generation.
The digital age(and Walmart) has a lot to do with the downfall of these retail stores, people are too obsessed with digital convenience nowadays. Pretty soon grocery stores will be the next to go and pretty much everything will be internet driven, the rise of the machine!
I would not refer to Kmart as much of a cultural icon...it’s just a store. A business with the sole purpose of making money, just like any other business.
@@austinwillcut4919 until drone delivery or automated delivery systems become common I don't think the grocery store is going anywhere
@@gunfuego Yeah but they'll become common a lot sooner than you think.
I think retail nostalgia has become more of a thing, particularly with millennials and Gen X, because this way of life represented a nice part of our childhoods and younger years, and something that's slowly disappearing. Sure, they're just stores but maybe the world has gotten so toxic and crazy, that remembering these nice, nostalgic little memories bring a bit of enjoyment to people. I see people do the same with malls, how they represented fun parts of our childhoods, a representation of a commerce and style of shopping that's become increasingly outdated. Baby boomers and older generations have done similar things, reminisce about parts of their childhoods and adult years that since disappeared, I know my baby boomer family have done their fair share of reminiscing.
I remember Kmart’s food court had an ice cream called Superman (I’m sure it exists somewhere) but it was my only reason to go to Kmart.
I looked it up it's kinda popular icecreamsource.com/cedar-crest-super-madness-superman-1-squround/
I'm not crying. You are because of the memories.
Take me back to these times please 🙏
If Kmart looked like this today they would actually make money it brings back a lot of memories of the Kmarts in my area when I was a kid
JustDane ! Kmarts do look like this today, exactly like this... that is the problem!
obcRadio not the one around here it hasn't been updated since the sixties and it's practically falling down plus it has no Cafe so this would be an improvement!
obcRadio I been to that Kmart look almost the same up til they closed
I love this so much. thank you for sharing. The Kmart in my hometown still has that M&V movies and videos graphic on the wall!
I don't know why, but i love the sound of his shoes clicking on the floor
You've been ASMR'd
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Same lol it's very relaxing
I really miss our Kmart that closed down in 2018 ,but now there's a Hobby Lobby, Ulta , A shoe store , Harbor Freight in the old building! 😘
Surprising this one ended up on the cut list. RIP.
A clean and straightened KMart. wow.
I was at a K-Mart opening in Norfolk, Virginia around 1997. It was one of those Big K-Marts. It was kinda a big deal! There was a lady there hired to play the piano and take requests, and I just remember the feeling of excitement in the air considering that no one had seen a K-Mart selling fresh foods before. I'm guessing it was supposed to rival the super Wal-Marts that were beginning to pop up all across the nation, which were stores that were still novelties to shoppers like my family. And now, Wal-Mart marches on with K-Mart in general, just a distant memory of Gen X and older millennials...interesting footage. I love retail history stuff like this.
I worked at this kmart location from 2000 to 2003. Many good memory.
Yeah the people there seemed pretty cool
A lot of great memories at Kmart I miss my store in Michigan
You seem like a cool employee/manager. I love people who are into vlogging.
This is the best looking Kmart I’ve ever seen lol.
Thats because it was new lol
So sad that this Kmart is now gone. My family used to love shopping here. And right around the time the store closed my friend was an LP officer here. I hope something similar opens at this location soon!
I miss Kmart I would love to go walk in one again they looked so happy back then and now Kmart is almost extinct was my favorite store
Thank you so much for documenting this store and giving us all a little glimpse into the past.
That store was immaculate!
Great store we love Kmart even today
I was in my early 20s around this time & have tons of memories of good 'ole Kmart. Def miss them
Ellicott City Thhey're still around
The giant screen right as you walk immediately made me remember the smell of Little Caesar's.
I loved getting the nachos and icees every time we would go to kmart.😊
Beautiful store.. wish i can travel back in time
I miss kmart. Big K, super kmart. All the marts
Nice little trip down memory lane....ty for this 👍🏾
Happier days ..sad how it all would end.
My childhood Kmart opened in 1981 and closed in December 2014 leaving no Kmart's in the county. I've not been to a Kmart since then. While Kmart is struggling these days, I understand the one in this video is still doing well after 20 years of business.
Former Venture, and Venture knew how to pick outstanding areas when they originally built them in the 70's.
I miss that Kmart a it’s the street from the Harlem Irving park plaza and Kmart in general my friend worked there for 2 months in July 2018 to September 2018 then one month i believe it started the process of liquidation
My parents and I used to come to this Kmart all the time. We lived two minutes from here. Just sad that it’s closed now. It’s always sad when a very good store closes. It’s unbelievable how everything is all about the internet nowadays.
This video is a time capsule. Very cool.
The 1980's was probably the peak for Kmart. Walmart came along big in the early 1990's. I remember the KMART cafeteria looking and smelling so good. Our family couldn't afford it though.....so never had a go at it.
I wish the electronics dept got captured a little bit better, would have been great to see what videogames and cds were on the shelf. The Kmart in my town Grand Opened in 1995 and the company destroyed the store in 2005 by turning it into a Sears.
Man, I miss the heck out of that tv kiosk in the front. I always loved looking at that thing. Man the changes that store has gone through, it's quite sad seeing it in the state it is today.
non of the people in this would have imagined that over 50k people will see this footage 24 years later. just weird to think about
Back when Kmart wasn't depressing.
When I was a kid, I used to shoplift at the Kmart in Brickyard Mall. I also used to shoplift at this Kmart when Inwas still a Venture. By the time it became a Kmart, I didn't shoplift anymore.
That's awesome someone documented this! The stores fully stocked and Immaculate.
Ahh, brighter days.
Fun video! Although, I would say 1998 was the starting point when my local Kmart went downhill. They switched from a regular Kmart store to "BigK" but, ironically, it wasn't bigger it actually downsized. They got rid of the cafeteria and deli. Departments for each section got smaller. The electronics was almost non-existent. Then it just went downhill from there and in November of 2017, our BigK closed for good. Still it sits abandoned with windows and doors boarded up. For me, it was the early 90s when our Kmart was at its peak. I missed that old Kmart.
Kmart went downhill in the 1980's! They're all stuck in the 1970's anyway.
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I would totally shop that K-Mart. I miss the good old days.
Thank you so much for sharing, on 1/4/18 the Kmart I got my first job at (cudahy, CA) was placed on the store closing list. I'm devastated, I haven't worked in retail since 2001 but it was definitely a life experience and makes me appreciate Kmart associates and all retail workforce in general. Young folks now don't understand the impact of seeing these retail giants fail but when they do all our pockets will feel it. Retail financial health is a leg we stand on and the negative trickle effect will be terrible 💔
Found out from the accounting standpoint, November 1, 1998 was the first official day of record for all the converted Venture stores, despite soft openings before that. Makes sense, you include any prior sales as part of the next month.
It's a shame that this store is slowly disappearing! I miss kmart,ames,hills,James way, zayre's, murphy's etc. Those stores were awesome!!! Malls are also becoming non-existent as well!!! It's a damn shame!!!!!!
This is the result of feminism.
@@thystaff742 This is the result because the big banksters pull all of the strings. Politicians are all paid pawns and would sellout their own mothers. They can all get bent.
Wonderful! I miss these days...
When people interacted with each other and now people are not friendly
The other day I was looking through photos and found a old Kmart March book and I had a hard attack, love to see this, thanks
That store is just beautiful. Just completely beautiful. I sort of wish we had at least one museum type instance of a mall that contained things like a pristine Kmart, as well as other stores no longer around playing muzak. People would ruin it though. Maybe we can get a really nice virtual one someday.
I would love it if they ever created such a place! That's such a cool idea, and I'd be there for sure, especially if they also had Ames in that museum, as well. There are so many places from the 80's and 90's no longer around that I wish I could still visit.
I Really Miss the old Kmarts
I remember I was lucky to call the last kmarts
Target is basically what K-Mart once was. I love seeing this video. Thank you for sharing.
Damn i wanted to see crisp n64 stuff on sale
I remember I was lucky to visit the parking lot of the last kmarts
I miss Kmart sooo much.
My grandma used to take me to Kmart 2-3 times a week when I was little, and this was back in 2000-2004.
I just want to go back and dig through the clothing departments 😢
Now THIS is a store we have to visit!
Better do it soon because it's closing
Look at those prices, I am going back to 1998 to do my shopping now!
Sadly this one closed in December 2018 looking back at some of these old Kmart videos makes me miss my Kmart store in Minot ND it closed in July 2020
Wow when Kmart actually had an electronics section 😁
My oh my.. If this dude could just see 20 years into the future.. RIP KMART, so sad..
Andy Tichenor I Been to this Kmart up till it closed it looks almost the same way it looked when this was filmed says allot
Crazy I work there now😁
Sorry it's closing. :(
I worked at a kmart in the early 90's Our stock rooms were the opposite of this! lol I ran the garden center and loved it.
I love watching these old Retail VHS tapes, great classic stuff!
I live by this Kmart I should do a video of it now inside.
Yes please do. I bet it is so different now comparied to 1998.
Donald Myers it’s uploaded on my channel now if you wanna see it.
Do a side by side
How crazy. I see this comment a year later and you've recently uploaded something a few hrs ago kmart related 😂
Hell of an upload!
That's what she said....
They were all so excited and proud… the store is probably closed now 🥺😢
Man. I would have loved to be there for this.
It used to be said that if you can't find an item at K-mart, they don't make it. K-Mart carried everything. Any item you needed would be found at K-mart or Sears.
I miss Kmart so much
January 5, 1999. Just a few days after the New Years Even Blizzard in the Chicago area! This Kmart was right down the street from one of my favorite Italian beef joints Mr. Beef and Pizza on Harlem near Irving Park. Sadly while Mr. B and P is still around it was sold and the new owners have apparently ruined it.
OMG, Mark...thank you so much for posting! I loved Kmart when I was growing up! My favorite Kmart was Carroll, Iowa (1976-2017). It died way too young because of end of lease...that store made money!!! Please contact me. I would like to chat more with you.
not as young as some of these converted Ventures! Some lasted 1998-2002!
Hey Mark. I was in this store very recently and I will say it looks nothing like it did 20 years ago. But it is I believe in fairly good condition for a K Mart. I even remember the Venture here! Sad to see the demise of this once giant, but it happens to the best sometimes.
everyone was just so much more... classy? what the heck. Employees and people just seemed nicer back then. Granted their boss was filming them but like???
cellphones ruined everyone
Post 9/11
Cellphones
Millennials
Supremacy from Feminists/LGBTQ and some guys
Social Media
More corruption
So much stuff happens these days, I'm surprised we haven't hit WW3
They got paid a living wage
David Esparza I wanted to do more research on it, but yeah I definitely think that after 9/11 people have changed in a bitter way. Not everyone, but that seems like a factor
@@DavidEsparza2143 has nothing to do with that
Oh to live the best years of your life before covid....
I miss these days.
This setup was VERY similar to the Fairview Heights, Illinois store (9332). Another former Venture made into a Kmart. Both had similar features, and similar things in similar spots. Venture picked some really good locations, but too bad they tried to grow faster than they could, they did themselves in growing too fast in the late-90's. However, thanks to Floyd Hall, it was Kmart's benefit.
For all of us that dont want Kmart to permanently go out of business, we could help the company by ordering stuff online on their website. Right now would be the perfect time to shop online on their site since most retail stores are in the same boat.
Wow. 20 years ago.
Weird other direction math...
20 years back from then is 1978. Which is the beginning of my first Kmart memories
I always went to the Big Kmart 30 minutes form the city I live in, but it sadly closed in 2015. Ours was a smaller one than this one so it never had a food court, but I distinctly remember how polite everyone was and how happy the store felt, until summer of 2015 when it started closing. Everything felt off after that. I miss it a lot
I came here to see a Kmart that hasn't been trashed. Amazing.
I am really surprised they opened any new stores this late. I had worked at one in GA the summer of 92 and it was practically out of business at that point.
Wish our Kmart was still here
The guy that shows up at 3:28 I remember him I worked at this store from 2000 to 2003. He seems always happy and in a good mood I remember. Most the people in this store stayed over 20 years at the same store.