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.
It is sad to see pictures of another closed Kmart, especially one that was operating normally during a previous visit your photographed, but it is good that you were able to chronicle this store one last time. It's also good that you were able to find the photos.
ReplyDeleteThis store had many of the features we usually think of when we think of a vintage Kmart: the big HVAC vents, the modified mansard slice facade, the low ceiling, the narrow strip lights, and the 1980s blood pressure monitors. It's sad to see this store go especially when it's one you shopped at a lot. I still think about the vintage Kmart near me that closed way back in 1997!
It's interesting to see some of those CDs that were in your 2015 images still on sale late in the liquidation sale in 2017. I guess those were slow movers even at steep discounts. Oh well, I guess we know why modern Kmarts don't have them. This store still had a fairly large vintage media selection in 2015 with VHS, VHS-C, and audio cassettes all in stock.
That red "call for help" box may have still worked as it's actually fairly new for a Kmart store. Some store still have vintage "call for help" buttons from the 1990s. I've seen that electronics department signage before at other Kmarts (most of which are now closed), but I guess it was/is pretty rare for this region.
It's funny to see that lawn chair sitting in the middle of an empty part of the store. I wonder who was lounging there, lol. It also always amazes me to see how dirty the areas under the shelves are.
I have not heard a lot of Kmart news in recent times, but there has been a lot of Sears news. I'm sure you've seen the stories about SHOS wanting to liquidate all Sears Hometown stores. That is the bulk of all SHOS stores. Lampart does not want this and has offered to buy back the shares. It would be great if Sears can merge back with SHOS, but we'll see what comes of that.
Sears seems to be trying yet another small format store. This one is called Sears Home & Life and will have appliances, mattresses, and home services. In other words, it seems pretty similar to the small format stores Sears was opening before bankruptcy and it also seems similar to the franchised Sears Appliance & Mattresses format SHOS has. Still, one of these stores will be opening in Lafayette so at least Sears is regaining some presence in a state they've mostly left.
I see that Sears has some plans on expanding the use of the DieHard name to some new products like garden tools and such. That's probably a good idea with their use of the Craftsman name being somewhat limited now and even more in the future. Hopefully Lampert will actually hang onto those brands now instead of threatening to sell them like he did before bankruptcy. I think the DieHard name could work on all kinds of products so it is a good idea to expand the use of the name.
This Kmart store was exactly what we think of when we hear of a vintage store. This store was fairly large like the Kmart in McAllen that I visited.
DeleteThere is still a lot of Sears news these days. It seems like a lot of people did not get the best deal out of Sears staying in business. Fast Eddie has a lot of money so he will be targeted.
The one thing I have not hear about is what the plan is for Sears. I know they want smaller stores, but are they going to keep inventory low? It seems like the store inventory continues to shrink in the locations I have been to recently. Maybe they are going to downsize all of their stores.
There has been a lot of Sears news lately. Although I don’t think there has been a list of store closures, it does seem like a handful of stores are in the process of closing right now. The most prominent closing is the Oakbrook Center Sears in the Chicago area. That was a store that was recently subdivided and downsized. The new downsized store looked very modern for a Sears, but it did not last very long. I don’t think it even lasted a year before the closure announcement. Also, I saw that the Hot Springs Mall Sears in Arkansas is closing. I’ve actually been to that mall, but it was around 25 years ago so I can’t say I have any fond memories of the Sears there. I do have a souvenir coffee mug from that mall though that they gave to visitors who stopped at the information desk.
DeleteThere are a number of lawsuits regarding Lampert and the bankruptcy. I suppose those lawsuits are to be expected. The bankruptcy has caused problems for many former employees and such. I can’t blame them for being mad at Lampert, but I don’t know if they’ll be able to recoup anything. It’s just a sad part about bankruptcy.
I recently visited the Mall of the Mainland Sears. I can’t really say that the store seemed any less stocked than it did around Christmastime. If anything, it’s probably better stocked than it was at this time last year. Perhaps they were able to get some additional stock from stores which closed during/before the bankruptcy. It seems to me that Sears is stocking more items which are probably also sold at Kmart stores. The opposite might also be true at Kmart stores, but I don’t know. I suppose it makes sense to do that with products which aren’t too low in quality, but there is some risk of turning a department store into a fancier looking Kmart. Some say that already happened long ago though.
This could just be a seasonal thing, but it seemed that at least half of the men’s department at the Mall of the Mainland Sears consisted of Fall/Winter clearance items. Some of those items were marked down considerably. Polo type shirts could be had for $3-10 on clearance. I obviously took advantage of some of the remarkable deals. I wonder if they’ll get a full department of Spring/Summer clothes to replace the Fall/Winter ones once the clearance sales are over with, but I guess we’ll have to see about that.
One change I did notice at the Mall of the Mainland Sears is that the Avis and Budget Rent-a-car desk in the Sears Auto Center has closed. Avis/Budget always had a lot of cars in the parking lot, but those are all gone now too. It certainly makes the store look less busy than it used to. I’m not sure if other area Sears have lost their Avis/Budget desks.
Sears has so few stores now that they may have a hard time getting suppliers who are willing to do business with them. The after-effects of the bankruptcy won’t help either as some suppliers feel burned by Sears. That certainly could cause them to take products out of the stores. Like I said earlier, the Mall of the Mainland Sears still looked well-stocked, but a bigger Sears might feel more barren. I suppose I’ll have to stop by one of them to see what is going on. Perhaps the stores will indeed be downsized if there are more supplier problems.
Sears seems optimistic about their new small store format, but I don’t know what’s so different about these than their previous attempts at appliance and mattress stores. Hopefully they open up enough new locations in prime suburbs and meaningfully advertise them. Perhaps that will help their cause a lot. Of course, there’s not much reason to shop at a mattress and appliance store unless one needs to buy one of those items and most people don’t buy those things very often.
You would think that most of the problems facing Sears would have been wiped out, but apparently not.
DeleteI have only been to Sears a handful of times since they came out of bankruptcy. The Deerbrook store in particular seems to really be emptying out. The tool selection is pathetic now and has tons of empty shelves. It is sad because the tool department was significantly downsized already to add the toy aisles. Electronics are nearly gone as well, no more TV's. The remaining electronics are on a small aisle surrounded by mattresses and vacuums.
Speaking of Deerbrook, Forever 21 has closed off their first floor. I am not sure if another store is going to move in, but in that section of the mall there are a lot of vacancies. There are now 3 large store spaces including Forever 21 that are closed between Macy's. There are some new stores in the mall so they are trying to fill vacancies.
It’s the time of Black Friday again. Like the past years, the
ReplyDeleteshopping frenzy encapsulates the entire city. Kmart Black Friday Deals are sure to thrill the
shoppers around the world. If the past trend is anything to
go by, you can expect a huge discount that was witnessed in
2018. In 2018, Kmart offered 100 per cent cashback in points
on the purchase criteria to lure the potential buyers.