Here is a previously lost article. These photos were accidentally moved to a different folder on my computer, and recently found. Check out my previous article of the store from 2015.
These photos were taken in the final days of the Elmwood Center Kmart. This was a Kmart that I had visited multiple times while I lived in the area. The old store will be torn down for a large scale residential development in the coming months. After this store closed on March 26, 2017, there were 2 stores left in Metairie that both closed in 2019. Sears is down to just one large department store in Baton Rouge in the entire state of Louisiana as of the publishing of this article.
The store looks really awesome with the sun and clouds the way they were in this shot.
The store was in the final 15 days of business on my visit.
Huge areas of the store were clearing out like the former pharmacy area pictured here.
And the former Sears mattress and appliance department.
And the former Garden Shop.
And of course the electronics department, which had been significantly downsized when I visited in 2015.
These 2 slightly different views show just how expansive the electronics department was at one time.
Getting to see this massive store like this, was both sad and awesome. Thankfully I was able to see the store in its prime before it was renovated into the Big Kmart. It still had the classic 1970's style interior and original sign at that time.
Now lets take a look at some of the fixtures they had to offer.
I wish that I had gotten a part of that electronics sign. This is the only Kmart I ever saw with this design.
Not much left here.
Nearly every Kmart I visited had this sign. I am guessing these were put up around the Big Kmart remodel era.
I always liked these type of product description signs that were in several departments across the store. The hardware and automotive departments were full of them.
Now we can see some of what was left at this point in the sale. Over 50% of what was left was clothes. The inventory was pushing towards the front of the store at this point.
The front of the store with the checkouts on the right.
The infamous Thank you for shopping Kmart sign.
Here is the main entrance to the store.
Back to the nearly empty pharmacy area.
A classic blood pressure monitor.
The view from the pharmacy to the electronics department in the back.
The empty coolers were still on.
A wide view of the former pharmacy.
A still working price scanner. These were becoming a rare site in Kmart stores in the final years they were in Louisiana. Notice the Super Kmart logo in addition to the Big Kmart logo.
Lots of random items to pick through in this part of the store.
I wondered if this still worked.
A peek into the dark former layaway area. As you can see, the door was wide open to look into.
This is the inside of that open door, this is the first time I had taken a peek into the back of a Kmart store.
Here are a few more random shots to conclude this tour.
These aisle markers were fairly new. The grocery aisles in the New Orleans area Kmart stores all had these up until the end.
