Only THREE Kmart Stores Left in the ENTIRE US - Let’s Explore One | Westwood, NJ *Closed 9/30/23*
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- In today's adventure, we're in Westwood, New Jersey to explore one of the last 3 Kmart proper stores still in operation in the lower 48 of the US. At one point, Kmart operated over 2,000 stores, but today it's down to just 3. Join me as we take a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Follow me on instagram: ian_martin_exploration
00:00 Intro
00:42 Walkthrough of Store
08:41 Outro
I worked at Kmart back in the summer of 07 as an overnight stocker before I went back to school here in my hometown in Wisconsin. Honestly even then it was a place where dreams went to die lol. The whole upstairs was full of clothing hangers and was used as storage. What was once the Oil Change center was called "Penske" by the employees, and you guessed it, it was used to store even more crap. The store has long since closed I just thought I would share a little bit of my own story. I enjoy your videos Ian, very interesting!
I forgot that they had a full service AUTO CENTER attached to the store. I may have bought a set of car tires from them...but the entire place smelled like wet (and moldy) road salt.
It’s over. Just call it quits! It’s very sad to see these stores like this. Dark empty and run down. Imagine being a employee who has worked there for maybe 20-30 years and you have watched your store turn into crap. Very sad situation!
Imagine being a manager who has to still maintain a staff, and if you can even hire someone who wants to work for what...a month...6 months.... or ???.
@@gobbletegook I'm a broke 27 year old and I actually wouldn't mind working in a dying Kmart until the day it shuts down because it's a low-stress environment with very few customers to deal with. This would be a chill place to work for people with social anxiety.
@@Galidorquest Well see, they have at least one employee! Good deal for both
The one in Guam is thriving
I miss Kmart to be honest. Reminds me of when my mom would take us school shopping since it was closer to us than a Walmart and was somewhat cheap.
I was a loyal Kmart shopper fir many years. Clearly the store is dying but the people who are working there are at least trying to make it presentable; somebody is taking some pride in their work. The parts that are open it seems the isles are clean and the shelves are maintained. I go yo some Targets that are open but always look trashed. RIP Kmart.
There’s nothing wrong with the items in this store. If I was there I’d pull a shirt off the rack and purchase it.🤎
'Clearly the store, is dying'?? Wouldn't dead, be more appropriate??
I’m pretty sure even the slowest Kmart in the world can afford to fire a slacking employee and replace them with a better one since they are probably only getting like $13 per hour.
This is a newer version of a Kmart but it really isn’t that great and the way there stores look is just one of many problems that Kmart here in the US has
Growing up there was a department store my grandma went to in the 1950’s, and I remember it being like this. She thought it was depressing because she remembered it’s hey day. Little did I ever imagine that I would get the same feelings, many times, Sears, Montgomery Wards, Western Auto …
The last time I ever saw a Ward's was 2000...
@@Galidorquest I seen some in Mexicali Mexico
As far as I know, Western Auto is now Advance Auto Parts. If I am wrong, my apologies
I used to go to this store many years ago (around 20 years ago) since I worked closeby. It used to be one of the busiest Kmarts because around there there really isn’t a dept store that’s even close to it since it’s slightly farther away from the interstate (i87 is the closest to it). There were actually quite a lot of Kmarts in NJ back in the day and I went to pretty much all of them. Glad to see this one still stands. I’ll take a visit sometime in the coming weeks. Thanks for sharing.
In the 70s we could go to KMart to buy ammunition and hunt blue light specials. I still remember the aqua colored vests the store employees wore.
Ah, those were the days.
'Ammunition' in Kmart?!... Wow, those were simpler times for sure.
@@Galidorquest I remember that they used to have a gun counter with Rifles on the wall behind it. No joke.
Been enjoying your videos a lot. This Kmart store is so clean (for it's age) with wide roomy aisles.
I wish Walmart would be more like this store, instead of the insanely crowded narrow isles Walmart is known for.
Nice job on the story!
it's only from the 80's, it's not like those built in the 60's.
Yeah I’d rather have Kmart than Walmart or Target
Thank you for the video and walk down memory lane. I remember so well when Kmart and Target were the "Big Two" for discount shopping back in the day. For me it's gut wrenching. I enjoyed going to Kmart very much, I truly enjoyed Kmart over Walmart. Now all we have are memories of a once great retailer that defined the way we shopped.
Anyone remember “S.S. Kresge?”
I do.
Nothing lasts forever. 😐
It’s pretty obvious this particular store is going to close down sometime in the near future. However, if a customer asks a store employee if the store is closing down, they will tell you no. I live in California, where we had a chain called Fry’s Electronics. It was an electronics superstore that sold everything from computers/components, audio video equipment to office supplies. Towards the end, you could walk through the store and see rows and rows of empty shelving. Then they started closing off sections of the retail floor area and consolidating merchandise so it looked like they had plenty of product. If you asked an employee if they were closing down, the employees were instructed to say no, and that they were changing vendors and products and the shelves would once again be full of merchandise. Then one day out of the blue, all the stores in the chain closed down without any notice. They didn’t bother having a going out of business sale because all merchandise at that time was sold on consignment. Back in the day, these stores were always busy and it was hard to find a parking space!
I was just at this store the other day. I live in the area. So depressing but there are items that are at least worthy of checking out. Such as coats & kids toys. Plus it’s clean.
My grandparents used to take me to Kmart when he younger. I always felt joy whenever I picked out a toy or candy. That Kmart was only 15 minute away and is next to the ShopRite we go to frequently. It closed down in 2017, and it still sits abandoned with not store replacing it. It even has a working pay phone right in front of it.
The Australian owned Kmart operation is still going strong in Australia and NZ. They paid $100 million to the US operation in 2017 to be able to continue using the brand name.
Has nothing to do with the US chain.
@@BandiPower That's what I said. But they had to pay the 100 million to be able to continue using the "Kmart" brand name as it was owned by the US company.
@@cosmichappening1712The stores in NZ (at least) are identical to what we have here in the States. Or had mostly. So it's practically the same thing. Just under different management.
I think Kmart is doing better outside of the us than inside it
Way to go Eddie.
I remember the posters holders as well also the layaway
Great Job Eddie Lampert
The last three will bite the dust in 2023, way to go Eddie
Some people say he was more interested in the rellisate side more than the store side
@@railroadskater2896 sounds like you are saying no one cares
@@railroadskater2896 I speak just fine you just want to bully me
Don't worry go to Australia Kmart is thriving there
@@ThatBoi64 yes that true I always wanted to shop at Kmart in Australia
I know where all the KMarts are. In Australia, they’re everywhere.
Want them back ? lol
Regards and big smiles
Aussie girl
❤️🙃🦘👍🙃
Kmart in Australia is unrelated because they were sold off in the 90s, Kmart in the US had over 2000 stores at its peak and was the second largest store in the US behind Walmart and way over Target but, in the 90s they started closing stores and made bad and silly decisions instead of updating their stores and just years later on January 22, 2002, they filed for bankruptcy making it one of the largest big-box stores to ever file for bankruptcy which also started the bankruptcy closing wave started with 300 stores for closure and so on, they were also sued by Target for making false dare-to-compare prices which Target sold slightly cheaper. In 2004 they merged with another large department store (Sears) which the whole corporation will be rebranded to Sears Holdings Corp and will continue to operate under the Sears and Kmart names. They failed and winded down over the years and didn’t spend money on updating their stores and later in 2018 the corporate filed for Bankruptcy making it Kmarts second bankruptcy wave including more closures, currently there are only 3 stores in the continental US and 5 others in the US territories and sadly cannot compare to the 2000 stores they used to have. Competition was a big problem for Kmart because they were stuck in the middle between Walmart and Target, they didn’t offer low prices and large selection like Walmart and weren’t as trendy and top product like Target. Target currently is the second largest discount store (even though it’s a department store) we’re Kmart once was they also tried to be similar to competition during 2016, they brought a small grocery concept called K-fresh which offered a small price section, meat, baked goods, a lot of pantry items, and more frozen food units whereas Target brought in a grocery concept back in 2009 called P-fresh (for ‘Prototype Fresh part of the P09 remodel) which was almost the exact same but of course Target won in the end
And yes that is a lot of info
Good find...and this video brings back memories of what once was. This is another store demise that boggles the mind. I am old enough to remember the small neighborhood KRESGE stores along shopping streets in MILWAUKEE growing up. And to think that from those dinky little stores they would grow to having over 2400 supercenters, and then loose them all within about 5 years. Although I never shopped there that much, I still remember that they had a food court with fairly decent pizza and sub sandwiches (you could get subs 3 for $1 with tomatoes sliced so thin you could read a newspaper through them), all of which we washed down with a blue ICEE that was not available anywhere else in town (we did not have 7-11's). And they were so cash heavy that they would afford the brands of JACYLN SMITH, MARTHA STEWART, and TY PENNINGTON. They were building this gigantic new SUPER K-MART here around 2003 or so, that went unfinished and never opened--sitting vacant with no windows--the first hint that they were having money problems and filed for bankruptcy the 1st time. So why they bought out SEARS (for BILLIONS) is another head scratcher. They were having money problems...but still over extended themselves? Go figure. Thanx for posting it IAN.
Eddie Lampert gained a majority ownership (control) of K-mart during that first bankruptcy, by buying up K-mart's debt for pennies on the dollar (because they were in bankruptcy). From what I read, he gained control of K-mart for less than a billion dollars investment on his part. When K-mart exited that first bankruptcy, they had a rich cash flow and a strong balance sheet, because they had discharged most of their liabilities through bankruptcy court. Sears was already a deeply troubled company, so Sears management / board of directors decided to sell the whole company to "Fast Eddie". (To put it in layman terms, Sears management couldn't figure out how to "fix" the company so they threw up their hands and said "F" it, let's take the money and run!) Lampert used that strong cash flow to purchase Sears, instead of investing that money into improving the K-mart stores.
I remember back in 2004 / 5 when that merger was happening, it didn't seem to make sense to many analysts. I remember reading numerous articles to the effect that Lampert only wanted Sears (and K-mart) for the real estate and trademarks like Kenmore, Craftsman, etc. The prevailing theory at the time seemed to be that Lampert would keep the stores open as long as they were cash-flow positive and slowly sell off the real estate and other tangible assets of the company, there was never any intention to run Sears OR K-mart for the long term. . . . . once these corporate raider types take over your company, it's "game-over".
This KMart looks really clean and is sad to see what's happening to our country with everything closing down. We got to a point where we reached the very height of having it all, then boom, its all closing down so fast. The music sounds so gloomy and looking at all of the discount signage. This does bring back memories of walking home after school, I used to walk to the Kmart and grab a slurpee after. I miss those days. Truly sad to see what's happening everywhere you look now.
They most likely replaced most employees with a closing employees. The back wall have shelves or racks against them. In my county we had at one time 4 K- Mart Stores. Now none. Just like all the Sears are gone. Also ; Ames were the first to leave. It's funny we had more stores and companies while growing up. Now the population is growing. We have less stores and companies. Isn't that odd?
With due respect, not odd at all. That's what a free-market economy does. Decades ago, there were dozens (if not hundreds) of regional and local chains, as well as many stand-alone mom-and-pop stores. As time goes on, the better run companies become larger and financially stronger and eventually out-compete the smaller (and/or less efficiently run) stores. The larger companies gain economies of scale and over time either buy out the smaller chains or run them out of business. This effect can be seen in almost any mature industry.
@@irefusetoaskmydoctorifyour6401 You will find out there won't any stores to replace the closed ones. With less stores it easier to control supplies and the where they are going.
When a kid it was great. They even sold sub sandwiches.
I really think that this KMart is on its way out. I’m curious to see what the Long Island and Miami store look like
no better the last time I saw them they had tarps with the name kmart on the outside instead of actual signs
Thank you for taking time to share this. Even though it’s sad to watch…I’m grateful to be able to watch it anytime.
Thank you
I live near the Westwood Kmart. It's never busy, but the staff are always nice.
Great video man! I am honestly still in shock that 3 are even still open. I expected these to go away a while ago at this point.
I honestly thought they were already gone entirely, so I jumped quickly to get one of them documented in some capacity before they all go under. Thanks for watching and supporting!
Wow😯thought Kmart was ALL gone.Thanks for the look~see.👍
I live 10 minutes from this Kmart, it honestly it gets the job done for what it does. Not really any complaints from me
The Kmart in Vegas burned down on 1/14/2023
It really did have that 80’s and 90’s vibes stepping back in time.
OMG! What a gem!!! Thanks for that walk down memory lane. Sad to see it in that shape but I still enjoyed the trip. I just subscribed. I worked at the North Plainfield K-Mart when I was a teenager. I'm 55 now and there is a Costco there. Thanks again!
It's amazing! Every store that I've scene, looks like a time warp into the late 1970's early 80's! At this point, they should just brand themselves as a retro 1970's store and just go with this. Have all the employees uniforms and hair like this style.
I worked at KM DC in Corsicana, TX. All I can say is that if they ran the stores the way they ran the DC then they deserved “Fast Eddie”.
I really like ur videos because I love old nostalgic buildings and other things like that so i subscribed and i'm gonna watch more of your videos!! keep up the good work man!!
Used to shop here, still go in from time to time just to see how it is. Nothings changed. I heard what’s out is what’s out and once they are out of stock of everything, they are done. I think this is it for Westwood K-Mart. They keep shrinking it. NJ still got a Sears and that’s in Newport Centre, Jersey City if anyones interested
Bridgehampton Is the location on Long Island
I remember going to kresgrees when I was 10 with my father and how fascinated I was by the hot air popcorn machine at the deli-style counter.
It was located in Wheaton Plaza in MD.
When wheaton Plaza was also 10 years old and open to the air with that look that stores are trying to replicate in the affluent neighborhoods.
Never understood their obsession with sales. Everything was always on sale but not really on sale. It'd say 75% off but that was after they raised the price 75%. I think they went broke making all of those sale signs. Haha.
I used to go to a bar in Westwood called The Library.
Of course that was in 1977.
Well here I am watching Kmart videos. My life is really exciting
Looks surprisingly clean.
I used to work at a regional retail chain in the late 1980s/1990 (The Fair). I think what happened is that bigger chains were able to get stuff at a cheaper prices shipped from overseas by ordering more stuff. Stores are selling the same stuff so why bother going to a smaller chain when a bigger chain has a better price? Price trumps everything.
I miss the K-Mart stores!!😭😭
Great video!! I miss Kmart...was my favorite store!! New Subscriber!!!🌷😃
It’s a shame that Kmart had come to this. In Fairbanks Alaska we had a nice Super K and it was one of the top Performing Stores, unfortunately it was closed along with the other Kmarts in Alaska around the time Kmart declared Bankruptcy. One of the reasons Kmart gave for closing their Alaska Stores was the high cost of shipping stuff to Alaska. The building now is being used for people to pay to store their vehicles during the winter.
I really miss Kmart that was my favor store in ames I wish it would come back in sell out walmart
I remember the one we had in town that closed down years ago. It was turned to a Rose's. I do miss the good old Kmart sometimes. I remember walking through as a kid
Reminds me of when I was a kid and I would go to the wig section and try on wigs and make faces in the mirror while my mom shopped. They used to have a restaurant, super salty yellow popcorn and Slush Puppies. I remember the blue light too!
It's so 89-90s, I love it lol
2:36 Old Kmart Cafe
My local Kmart before it closed in 2017 removed the cafe long before it actually went bankrupt.
There was a cafe that served burgers, hot dogs, and fries were the black tile and baby furniture is now located 30 years ago!🥨🍔🍟🌭There was another cafe that served fast pizza 🍕20 years ago! That shopping center opened in the fall of 1982 and just celebrated 40 years there!
Thanks for posting this. Sad to see Kmart go. A lot of memories of my Mom and Dad taking my brother and I there. At the time you recorded this, what was left in the DVD/video game aisles? My guess would be that people bought up most of that pretty fast if it was on sale.
I worked for Kmart on charleston wv. When we stopped getting stuff like soda and candy it's because the company did not pay the vendors. It was a few months later we were told we were closing. But not paying vendors is why they don't have stuff.
ohh man i miss Kmart so much it reminds me of my childhood
To those who argue Guam or the Virgin Islands, get real, you need either a boat or a plane to get to those, you're not going to easily drive there like you can the final 3 in the continental US.
We had two in our town, plus a couple of Kresges. A Sears and Montgomery Ward too. Now just Target and Walmart.
Sad that Kmart has come to this but such an excellent video of the current situation. Thanks so much.
I worked briefly at this very store in the winter of 1988, in high school. Even back then, it was losing money. One day the district manager showed up and was complaining that the store had lost $500,000 for the previous year. The Harmons next to Kmart is now closed as well.
Me and my family always went to Kmart after we went out to dinner on fridays back in the 80s/early 90s. That was the one in Vineland, NJ which is now a Gabe's. There was a Kmart in Glassboro NJ back around 2017, I don't know when it closed though. Ours in Vineland had a token arcade and me and my dad would get a slushie in the cafeteria while my mom browsed the store. Good times.
I remember walking to kmart in Kentucky with my friends when we were eight and nine years old , it even had a big restaurant in it , we would hang out and have a blast . I went in to a k mart a few years ago here in Vegas , before it closed, and , like you said, it was like going back in time even the smell was exactly the same everything was exactly as I remembered it back in the mid 70s in Kentucky , that kmart in Kentucky held on until 2018 about the same time the one here in Vegas closed.
Great video thanks! K mart was a store similar to the Family Bargain Center I remember as a kid in the early to mid sixties.. Our Big K (name change for a bit at least) store was always jam packed with deals if you took the time to look.. It was inevitable but sorry to see our store close after so many years.. huge discounts selling everything including the store's shelving and hardware.. Whittled down to a small section of sale items leaving a vast empty area realizing how big that store was. Sad day for K Mart shoppers
That store is immaculate...:)
You might think that this store looks a bit sparse in terms of inventory, but look for the two recent videos of the last KMart and Sears stores in south Florida. This store is packed with merchandise by comparison.
Outside the mainland, there is one other KMart on the US island territory of Guam. Navy friends of mine who are stationed there say it's thriving locally as well as from tourists. Of course that's to be expected when there aren't much options for retail shopping on a tiny island.
They were still an affordable establishment when Walmart was available. I grew up poor but, there were just certain grocery items that my mother would go to Kmart for.
Blocked off door used to lead to a gardening area with plants and stuff. I remember buying some of my favorite Gameboy games in that very store. At one point they even served halfway decent food there too. Man oh man.
2:28 this is where the cafe was.
This Kmart with Christmas decorations reminds me going Christmas shopping there as a kid 😢
Always liked going to k mart as a kid. The one in my hometown had like an eatery in it you could buy popcorn and slushees and what not.
Eddy Lambert the CEO of Sears holding bought them out of bankruptcy in 2019
he wasn't done killing the company yet
A walk back in time. We had one in Alaska late 90’s and it eerily looks the same here
I wrote the comment before u said it 😂 my bad
Make one of them a museum.
I remember back in the 80s going to Kmart they used to have a more of a cafeteria like area to enjoy refreshments like a hot dog or nachos a slurpee or coka cola
That’s one of the neatest Kmarts I’ve seen
Seeing the HVAC fixtures on the ceiling; they are the same as the Kmart I worked at in 1979 in Colorado
If we had one I would shop there. They have great deals!
As a kid was go Xmas shopping at Kmart. If we were good we would eat at the restaurant in the store. They had the best mashed potatoes and gravy. Also can't forget the Blue Light Specials.
The KM in my childhood hometown is done as well. It’s sad. Sears, Woolworth’s, record stores, drug stores with soda fountains; a culture is dying. Guess I’m getting old.
Hello were us the one in Long Island ? I live in Suffolk and I don’t know if any even in Nassau . Thanks 😊
I remember my mom chasing that blue light special 😂 . So sad that all of these type of stores are no more 😢
Nothing for nothing it looked clean and organized.
What is keeping Kmart and Sears open?
Look what we have now
No drinks or candy?? Because they'd likely be expired. I'm willing to bet a lot of their stuff is old stock. Last time I set foot in Kmart was 3 years ago. Once I bought some wiper blades, big mistake. They were already dry-rotted and fell apart in short order.
I miss my super kmart.
Ours is now hobby lobby, I miss our Kmart
Salisbury NC had a KMart that closed in spring of 2018. I visited in late 2017 and it looked like a time capsule from 2004. It's sad that the last 3 will probably all be gone by 2030.
Looks like they consolidated to a few stores because hey a large company going out of business slowly will take time .. and wow I remember going to Kmart as a child best nostalgia experience every time oh let’s not forget the cafeteria!!!! Moms extra cash got us some lunch 🎉🎉 lol
You forgot one.. Big Kmart, Fajardo Puerto Rico! At least in 2011 when I was last in PR, it was not only going strong, it was THEE store to shop at next to Walmart!
1:47 I wouldn't be surprised if the three remaining K Mart stores have going out of business sales before the end of this June.
They say this every year, lol it’s been low on stock since 2020. I think they will make it a few more years
3:05 Back in the day they would have had signage hanging from the ceiling all throughout the store making what would be a otherwise bland store look a lot more lively and give it character. Stores have done away with that mostly because it is difficult for employees to change and has to be changed frequently.
Wow that's sure a lot. 😯
At 7:32 on the left i thought that was an employee hiding out lol 😂
Kmart was all that & more before Walmart came & took them down
Before Walmart came to town there was Woolco, Zare, & Pic N Save . All these were very close together not not always in the same location
Kmart once had blue light specials. Once the store was busy an announcement was made come to the blue light for today's special sale.
Each time was a different department & you would never know when they would announce this.
It would always create a great deal of excitement as everyone would run to see what was on sale.
It's sad to see all the older stores go. 💙🤔😭
It looks like they are closing down as muchandise sells down.
💙💙💙😭😭😭🤔😭😭😭
Not as bad as I thought it would be.
They have lots of clothes but not the big automotive, sports and toy department the used to have. Both my parents shopped in KMart and I'd go along for the ride.
How I miss Kmart!
Kmart in Phoenixville, PA always had the best cheapest Christmas decorations
Our store in Hagerstown MD had a great display of Christmas items.
It was a good store when it opened. Unfortunately after the first couple of years,understaffing was a problem. Then the reason we stopped shopping there was lack of inventory. Everything I went in there to buy was out of stock. It was clean and convenient for a good couple of years. Now like so many KMarts in the area. It is now a storage place.
Kmart did the holidays right. Always had a huge selection for every holiday at cheap prices.
This makes me very sad
In the 70's and 80's my Mom would take us school shopping and we would put clothes on lay away. As the weeks ticked by we would get so excited as we paid the bill down..till finally we could the clothes and other goodies home!!