# When will Kmart go completely out of business? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2016, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929 "2016-10-18T08:06:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/81 "2017-03-23T13:09:16Z")
I saw a blurb on the side of a web page the other day regarding Jaclyn Smith doing some new commercials for Kmart. She started doing those in 1985! It has to be soul-sucking to still have your name and image attached to this company. You just take the money and have a good scrub afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/82 "2017-03-23T13:50:24Z")
Sears and Kmart are ridiculously incomptent. I tried to order a pair of pants from them online, and it became a comedy of errors. First they sent me a pair that was defective, so I sent it back. The replacement they sent me was the wrong type of pants.(Ordered dress pants, got jeans) So I sent that back, and they tried to send me another replacement. They and UPS both claimed it was delivered, but it never arrived. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/83 "2017-03-23T14:39:02Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Sears and Kmart are ridiculously incomptent. I tried to order a pair of pants from them online, and it became a comedy of errors. First they sent me a pair that was defective, so I sent it back. The replacement they sent me was the wrong type of pants.(Ordered dress pants, got jeans) So I sent that back, and they tried to send me another replacement. They and UPS both claimed it was delivered, but it never arrived. #shipmypants fail. If they can get access to merchandise and have an amazing Christmas season they may see 2018. It depends on if they can get enough merchandise to get through the holidays. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/84 "2017-03-23T16:35:16Z")
I shopped at Kmart a couple weeks ago. Store looked nice. Plenty of stock on the shelves. I asked an employee to help me find an item. I dread seeing Kmart go under. I guess that will force me to shop at Target. I absolutely refuse to face the crowds at Walmart. Finding a parking space at Walmart is a nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/85 "2017-03-23T16:43:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I absolutely refuse to face the crowds at Walmart. Finding a parking space at Walmart is a nightmare. I rarely have a problem with this. Of course, my favorite time to shop at WalMart is 6am on a Sunday morning. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/86 "2017-03-23T17:21:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I shopped at Kmart a couple weeks ago. Store looked nice. Plenty of stock on the shelves. I asked an employee to help me find an item. > > I dread seeing Kmart go under. I guess that will force me to shop at Target. I absolutely refuse to face the crowds at Walmart. Finding a parking space at Walmart is a nightmare. David Attenborough, in a murmuring voice: “Behold, one of the last known loyal Kmart customers in the wild. His habitat nearly gone, his preferred diet of Blue Light Specials depleted, his future looks bleak, indeed.” ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/87 "2017-03-23T17:41:40Z")
> [@lel](#): > > It depends on if they can get enough merchandise to get through the holidays. I’m not sure they can get enough merchandise to get through to the holidays. Both my local Sears have really gone downhill on stock in the last year or so. They’ve spread stuff out to try to disguise it, but it’s readily apparent that both the variety and quantity of stock on hand has diminished greatly. And I don’t understand what selling off their brands gains them in the long run. Sears has spent a century building a solid reputation for Craftsman, Kenmore, etc., and selling those names gets them only some more cash to burn through and costs them in the long run. I think it’s an admittance that there is no long run. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/88 "2017-03-23T18:34:20Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > And I don’t understand what selling off their brands gains them in the long run. Sears has spent a century building a solid reputation for Craftsman, Kenmore, etc., and selling those names gets them only some more cash to burn through and costs them in the long run. I think it’s an admittance that there is no long run. I think it’s similar to the strategy of [selling off real estate](https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/04/07/sears-starts-cashing-in-on-its-real-estate.aspx), which they’ve been doing for several years. It seems like they’re looking for any way to keep cash coming in. At this point, I can’t believe that anyone in upper management at Sears Holdings truly believes that, if they are able to ride things out just a bit longer, they can turn it around; I have to believe that it’s in an attempt to defy gravity and keep things solvent for as long as possible, to generate some sort of return for their investors (and salaries for top management). ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/89 "2017-03-23T18:42:46Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’m not sure they can get enough merchandise to get through to the holidays. Both my local Sears have really gone downhill on stock in the last year or so. They’ve spread stuff out to try to disguise it, but it’s readily apparent that both the variety and quantity of stock on hand has diminished greatly. > > And I don’t understand what selling off their brands gains them in the long run. Sears has spent a century building a solid reputation for Craftsman, Kenmore, etc., and selling those names gets them only some more cash to burn through and costs them in the long run. I think it’s an admittance that there is no long run. They are going to try to sell off assets one way or another. And the assets include real estate as well as valuable brand names like Craftsman and Kenmore. The brand names are certainly worth more while Sears is still operating, with no inactive period. Even though Sears is weak, they are still around - stores are open, weekly ads in the paper, etc. - and people are still seeing the Kenmore and Craftsman names. If they close down operations, it wouldn’t be too long until the brand names were thought of as defunct. Granted, all of this should probably happen sooner rather than later, and I suspect the brand names were worth more five years ago than they are now. I don’t think there is a long run, but the owners and managers will try to maximize the value of whatever they have. The real estate has long been viewed as valuable, though I’d say the bloom is off the rose there, too, as department stores are struggling in most markets. I can’t see that K-Mart has much going for it on any level, unless they can sell the Blue Light Special name. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/90 "2017-03-23T19:35:32Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I just popped into a Kmart the other day for a quick whatever it was. Man, I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s just soul sucking being in there. I feel terrible for anyone who has to work there. I worked there for three months before I gave in to managerial incompetence. Only job I ever no-call/no-showed for. And I handled telemarketing credit insurance and resubscribing AOL broadband subscribers for over a year before realizing my soul had blackened more than a steak left on the grill for a week. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/91 "2017-03-24T11:57:12Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > I worked there for three months before I gave in to managerial incompetence. Only job I ever no-call/no-showed for. Years ago the three women working at the local Kmart doing nighttime restocking quit. They had worked the night clocks were turned back, and the manager insisted on paying according to the time clock, shorting them an hour. They eventually got paid for that hour, but they did not return to work. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/92 "2017-03-26T00:04:17Z")
Does anyone else remember the free dial-up internet craze of the early to mid 00s where in exchange for using their own browser with ads all over the edges of the screen you basically got dial-up for free? So many places offered it including K-Mart and for about a month I used it (think it was literally called “The Blue Light Special”) It was completely terrible,not because of the ads but because it was actually 28k internet in a world where 56k was the norm and they never adjusted the ads to fit this so half your actual already limited download speed was spent downloading the .Jpegs for their shitty ads. ---
**Author:** ![Mrdeals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Mrdeals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrdeals)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/93 "2017-03-26T02:25:25Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Hmmm, I wonder how hard it would be to break off additional stores from the existing stores. If they downsize their footprint I could see them surviving as a Dollar Store-style place that also has some clothes. This would work in spaces where they are significantly closer to a lot of people than other big box stores, since they’d be more convenient (like my erstwhile location.) According to the Kmart wiki entry, they tried this a couple decades ago, with disastrous results. If you look at all of Kmart failed ventures it is amazing they lasted through the 80s. Corporate had some serious balls and too much money. They made a go at many different things but never seemed to pan out. I think Kmart will continue at least 10 more years, carving out a niche in underserved areas. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/94 "2017-03-26T03:49:37Z")
You know, one nice thing about online retail is that you only have to maintain the parts the customer can see. Amazon probably has many dingy warehouses, but the customer doesn’t see those. They just see the actual pages - which do need to be maintained and kept feeling “modern”. That’s one reason for the failure of online retailers who don’t make their online page/order forms feel like whatever the latest trend is. And of course, Amazon’s total owned square footage has got to be a lot less than Kmart, yet they do more business than them. Radio shack has lost it’s reason to exist because everything you see at Radioshack and then a whole lot more, you can get from Amazon, ebay, or Mouser for a fraction of the cost. Mouser where I am at delivers the very next day. There’s a fee for that, but you can dig deep and get a huge variety of electronic components that radio shack doesn’t have, nor do any stores have. It seems like the future is going to be that everything will close except for : General bulk goods retail, like Walmart or grocery stores Places offering unique experiences in person, like maybe VR arcades or something. (not sure how well those have done) Places selling services where you can’t get them shipped (wedding cake shops, etc) or you must check in person for sizes and appearances (some clothing stores) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/95 "2017-03-26T04:29:03Z")
How valuable is Kmart’s real estate, really? Brick and mortar retail doesn’t seem to be doing so hot even as people are spending more money, and at least in my area you don’t tend to find Kmart at top-dollar locations. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/96 "2017-03-26T16:37:19Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > It seems like the future is going to be that everything will close except for : > > General bulk goods retail, like Walmart or grocery stores > > Places offering unique experiences in person, like maybe VR arcades or something. (not sure how well those have done) > > Places selling services where you can’t get them shipped (wedding cake shops, etc) or you must check in person for sizes and appearances (some clothing stores) There is also immediate delivery. That gets very pricy for online (and the current offerings are usually losing money on it). ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/97 "2017-03-26T17:11:13Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > There is also immediate delivery. That gets very pricy for online (and the current offerings are usually losing money on it). Depends on what you are talking about. For something like specialty tools or a specific brand of headphones or a specific type of RAM or something, it doesn’t make sense to have that stuff sitting nearby most people. There just aren’t consistent enough sales to justify an immediate delivery store or warehouse. Want a logitech mouse, a specific model, and for a reasonable price? Fry’s may have it, but nobody else in town well, and it’s going to be half that price online. Even large appliances are often cheaper online, despite the huge shipping costs, because you don’t have to pay a salesman. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/98 "2017-03-26T17:16:50Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > How valuable is Kmart’s real estate, really? Brick and mortar retail doesn’t seem to be doing so hot even as people are spending more money, and at least in my area you don’t tend to find Kmart at top-dollar locations. That’s a good question, and one that no doubt varies from town to town. I know of K-Marts in good locations. I know one that was torn down to make way for a new Lowe’s, and another that will almost certainly be redeveloped. But, I think the timing on many of them would have been better ten or so years ago, before new Town Center and Power Center shopping centers sprung up nearby in most markets. Even if the K-Marts are in decent locations, many (most?) markets are simply overbuilt when it comes to retail space, and there is less appetite for building new stores and centers. But you also have the situations where K-Mart is leasing a big building under a 30- or even 40-year lease, and might only be paying $3-$6 per square foot. If someone else wants to come in and assume the remainder of the lease, they can get space for a very affordable rent. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/99 "2017-03-26T17:22:11Z")
Or KMart can sublease the existing building to a new tenant at the prevailing rate and profit from the difference. I think Sears stores might have better real estate, given that many of them are in downtown areas. But I think that Sears Holding already sold off the real estate. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929/100 "2017-03-26T17:56:00Z")
I would be very sad if Radio Shack ever shut down. Being able to buy individual electronic components like transistors and resistors is important to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-kmart-go-completely-out-of-business/768929.md?page=6)