Here is part one of the final months at the McAllen Kmart. These 2 visits happened on January 11 and January 12, 2020, just before the store closing announcement was made public. Part two will show the store exactly 30 days before it closed for good at 4pm on April 11, 2020. The closure of this store is significant because it was the last Kmart in Texas. As of this post, Texas does not have a Kmart location within 800 miles. Southern Florida and California are the closest locations. This may be my last footage of a Kmart store while in normal operations.
Day 1, January 11, 2020.
Even though the Sears appliance banner was probably over 10 years old, it still looked fairly new.
The jewelry counter was to the left as you entered the store.
Just past the jewelry counter.
Not sure if you can see the dates, but there were 2018 and 2019 calendars mixed in with the 2020 calendars here in January 2020.
The long lines of checkouts were empty.
One of the wider aisles that no longer had middle displays. Without the displays this aisle seemed empty.
Looking down the front main aisle towards toys and the garden shop.
One of the good things about this location was that the store had the newer signage inside and outside.
Unfortunately the pharmacy closed sometime before my first visit in 2019.
Valentines day stuffed animals had taken over this aisle.
Health and beauty signage. The newer photos were not as vibrant as the 90's Big Kmart era signage.
Books and magazines were thrown in next to health and beauty.
A wide view of the grocery, toys, and seasonal departments.
The remains of the separate garden shop. Seeing that there was barely any garden shop items in stock for the spring planting season, things did not look good for the prospects of the store.
Back inside, to the pantry section.
Tons of toys left over from the Christmas season.
Looking back to the main entrance of the store.
More toys loaded up in the seasonal department.
Most of the seasonal department was being cleared out.
This corner of the store had a lot of toys on one side.
Aisles and aisles of toys, leading up to the main toy department of the store.
Here is the main toy department of the store.
Toys were spilling into the former tool department as you can see by the signage on the wall.
This display is a magnet for kids.
More toys!
Tools and home improvement department.
Was anyone looking for more toys?
Stretching towards the sporting goods, we have even more toys!
More toys stretching to the appliances and electronics departments.
The very plain electronics signage.
Clothes had been moved into the electronics departments to fill empty space.
More Men's clothing across from the electronics department.
More views of the remaining electronics department. This department was probably 4 times this size just a few years ago.
The Kmart kiosk was hidden in the back of the appliances.
More appliances and mattresses.
Sporting goods.
As you can see, large items were stretched across shelving to make aisles look fuller.
Hunting and fishing items were hurting as well.
Pantry department.
Dollar items in the pantry department.
More dollar items across the aisle. This was a pretty good idea that Kmart management could have used to attract shoppers, but if you were not looking for these items they were somewhat hidden.
Cleaning supplies and Valentine's day displays.
A wide view of the remaining electronics.
A wide view of the appliances and mattresses.
More clothes.
The many aisles of shoes across from Men's clothing.
Can't get any more Kmart than this shot right here with the round A/C vent and Kmart signage.
A closeup of the layaway counter.
Children and Women's clothing.
Pretty sure this was the former restaurant area. Not sure if this was a Kcafe, Little Caesars, or Krestaurant back in the day.
So much red here at the checkout counters.
Women's clothing across from the checkouts.
Open register light and gift card display.
The moon rising just above the store, made for a perfect night photo of the store.
This sign was in poor shape despite being fairly new.
The former auto center is on the far right of the building.
Day 2, January 12, 2020.
The Big Lots in this photo closed between my January visit and my March visit. The inside of the store has the same large A/C vents as the Kmart. I am guessing this was a Kmart foods store in the past.
The sign above the main entrance was starting to show signs of wear and tear.
We start this visit by going to the Women's clothing and associated departments.
I picked up my phone as high as I could to get this shot in the back corner of the store in Men's clothing.
The NFL headquarters sign was still up even though the remaining NFL merchandise was moved away to a different area.
Back to the pantry and cleaning supplies.
As we take a closer look at the pantry department, we see that water has taken over a lot of shelf space. Jarritos were still available, but not as much as the last visit in 2019.
As you can see, barely any Coke products.
More Pepsi and a look to the seasonal/toy departments.
A closer view of the main toy aisles.
Now for a better look at the home improvement and tool departments.
The automotive department. Car batteries nearly gone, and almost no motor oil left.
This was just about all that was left of the automotive department.
Generic tools had filled the space where Craftsman tools once were. This brand of tools had made their way into Sears stores as well in late 2019.
Outside of the tool department, we browse a few more toy aisles.
Back to the pantry.
Just past the cold cases, we see water has taken up nearly the entire side of the aisle. Most of the remaining beer, Jarritos, and just about everything else was in the cold cases now.
Housewares
The Gatorade and energy drink selection.
More views from this part of the store.
Health and beauty department close ups. Shampoo was really thinning out.
Home goods just across from health and beauty.
Deodorant was thinning out as well.
Cough and cold was also thinning out. Remember these images are from January 2020 before stores started running out of these items during the Covid-19 buying spree.
Lots of isopropyl alcohol, you will not see that in May 2020 anywhere in the USA.
A decent amount of stock here.
Toothpaste and dental products were seriously wiped out.
Near health and beauty, we see the purses, home goods, and Men's clothing down at the back of the store.
Now for a better view of the home goods.
Not looking good here either, lots of empty shelves.
It looked like some things were being consolidated, but there was nothing to fill the empty shelves. In the old days, products were stacked at the top of shelves to refill spaces. Not anymore, unless it was toys, water, or Men's clothes, there was nothing left to stock here.
A half hearted effort to fill some empty space by spreading out storage containers. Most of the shelves could have probably been taken down at this point and the aisles made wider.
A look at the Women's clothing from the home goods department.
Cosmetics and health and beauty.
A few more closeups in health and beauty.
Water thrown in to fill empty spaces here too. They needed a lot more water to fill the shelves in this part of the store though.
Just about every aisle in health and beauty was stretched thin or barely stocked.
Greeting cards.
I love this surprise sticker, I guess the bags change too often to price the bags.
More views at the front of the store.
Battery supply was pretty good.
The service counter was tucked away in this corner of the store.
This is the entrance/exit of the store.
Next up, Amigoland Mall in Brownsville Texas.
This was a very nice looking Kmart, I'm glad you were able to photograph it just before the closing announcement so we could get a last good look at this store before the store turned into a mess during the liquidation. I remember being impressed by this store during your first post about it some months back. The store is still in good shape, but the inventory (both the inventory of Jarritos and otherwise) is certainly less here than before.
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah, unlike a lot of Kmarts which look rather depressing, this one looks clean and relatively well-maintained. It certainly an old store and it looks vintage in many ways, but I suppose it has enough signage from this millennium to make it look somewhat up-to-date. It looks like most of the lights at this store worked too so the store is nice and bright.
While some retailers were caught by surprised by the pandemic panic shopping, this Kmart was well-prepared with plenty of TP, cleaning supplies, isopropyl alcohol, and bottled water, lol. I wonder how many people looking for toothpaste and mouthwash ended up not finding the product they wanted and ended up buying a bottle of water and party cups instead. I suppose that was a creative attempt of filling the shelves by this Kmart, but I don't think it worked too well, lol.
It's kind of funny that the infamous cooler marked as being for deli meats and cheeses is full of soft drinks. Oh well. I don't know what to think of the electronics department having underwear in it. It almost seems like something which should be in the movie Rainman, lol.
On the positive side, this Kmart had a pretty good inventory of batteries. The inventory of batteries at the Willowbrook Mall Sears was pathetic around Christmas. They just didn't have much left and that was before the closing announcement. That new brand of tools doesn't have the same appeal as Craftsman stuff. It looks like Harbor Freight grade stuff.
I wonder why the Big Lots closed. Maybe this property already has redevelopment plans?
As we've mentioned before, Furr's Cafeteria was once owned by Kmart so it's interesting that there is one here. It's also odd that the relatively new signage is already falling apart, but oh well. It wouldn't surprise me if Lampert cheapened out on the signage.
Perhaps we won't see any more new posts about Kmarts after Part 2 liquidation photos of this store get posted? If so, that'll be sad. It'll certainly be the end of an era. It certainly was the last Kmart in Texas. That's very sad, but at least this store went down swinging.
I think there's a lot of anticipation for the Amigoland Mall post. It seems like a lot of your readers are intrigued by that one. I know I am. It might be the most anticipated post on this blog since...I don't know...the series of posts about the Deauville and Buyer's Market Malls maybe?
I really enjoyed going to this Kmart location. It was very similar to the Lake Charles Kmart that closed in 2018. Even though I had no history at this store prior to 2019, it felt really familiar.
DeleteThe store still had some of the paper towels, water, and isopropyl alcohol when I visited for the liquidation sale. The amount of toys that was all over the store was wild, there were toys in a good portion of the store.
I am guessing that this piece of property is up for redevelopment. A lot of new hotels and retail centers are going up in this section of McAllen. There are some vacancies in this area though. A gas station, Tacos Panchos restaurant, and HEB near the Kmart all closed after my visit in 2019. There is a large vacant parcel of land at the Northwest corner across from Kmart that had a large shopping center in the past that was demolished.
Part 2 of the McAllen Kmart may or may not be my final Kmart post. I still have an enormous amount of photos from the Lake Charles Kmart. I may split those into 2 articles like this one, before and after the closing sale. I also have the final Kmart in Metairie that I photographed in late 2018. I still have a lot of Kmart material left and a ton of Sears stuff behind that.
Speaking of Sears, I went to the Pasadena store today. They are on reduced hours and close at 6pm. Inventory is very light and parts of the store are now empty or very spaced out. The clothing racks are spaced out more than before as well. It was a good time to document the store, it feels like there is not much time left. Lawn and Garden was nearly empty, very few items were left so I guess the rumors of Lawn and Garden being discontinued may be true.
Amigoland Mall is a mystery to anyone that is not from the Brownsville area. I was happy to finally get a chance to go inside after missing out the first time. The Deadmalls discord community is looking forward to seeing the place as well. I posted some teaser photos there back in March.
Yes, this Kmart did have a lot of toys. I wonder if they over-ordered for Christmas. Some of the Sears which ran out of toys before Christmas could have used some of this inventory.
DeleteIt's hard to believe an HEB would go out of business in Texas! Maybe the location closed or consolidated with another nearby location? If Tacos Panchos tastes like the Houston Pancho's, it wouldn't be surprising that they went out of business. Big Lots usually doesn't close locations so there must be some kind of redevelopment plan for this building, but who knows what that might be.
I'm glad you were able to visit the Macroplaza Mall Sears, but that's not a promising sounding update. The clothing departments were quite nice looking at the Pasadena location, but they probably look less impressive with the decreased inventory. I'm afraid that might be a sign of impending doom for that location (and all Sears locations really). It's hard to imagine Sears not carrying Lawn & Garden stuff. If they were going to sell that stuff, this would be the time for it. Then again, I remember the Willowbrook Mall Sears getting lawn & garden stuff quite late last year so who knows. I wouldn't be surprised if lawn & garden is eliminated because it seems the Craftsman name has been removed from lawn & garden goods at Sears. I'm glad you were able to document the store though. I was looking at some old photos I took on my cell phone earlier today and I actually had some photos on there I took of the exterior of the Pasadena store in around 2016 or 2017.
It's good to know that there are still some Kmart photos which will show up. Of course, it's sad that those stores are all closed now.
It's hard to believe that a mall like Amigoland Mall was so little known because it wasn't an insignificant place, but maybe it was just too far south for outsiders to notice. I saw the teaser photos as well so I'm certainly interested in seeing more. The part of the mall that is still open is a nice time capsule and there is the JCPenney grocery store oddity. Beyond that, any mall that had a Montgomery Ward was bound to me an interesting mall. Wards labelscar in the 2020s is even more interesting!
The HEB probably relocated. There is an older HEB still operating about 10 minutes North from where this one closed. I was temped to try the Tacos Panchos, the store still has the advertising posters on the windows.
DeleteI did notice that the small selection of rakes and garden tools they had were not Craftsman branded. That whole corner of the store looks bad, the toy department is just an open area with the blue plastic still on the walls where the Toys were located. The area across from that has some tool sheds, with flooring peeling, and the seasonal area has some clearance items with the holiday tool displays. Don't get me started on the tool department, they could probably fit all of their remaining tools on 5 aisles. The tool department has space for 20+ aisles. I am planning on going back to the Shepherd Sears on my next days off. I bet the signage on the Pasadena Sears looks a lot more faded in 2020 than your photos from 2016 & 2017. They still have the Blue Crew advertisement for example.
Those trips that I have made over the years are really paying off now. Once Sears/Kmart really started faltering after 2011, stores started dropping like flies. I began to feel a sense of urgency to get to these places before they were gone. I was able to document the stores and make some great memories.
There is another mall in Victoria formerly known as the Town Plaza Mall that the Youtuber (SpulbEx) who filmed Sagewood Mall also filmed. That mall is a time-capsule from the 1960's. I read that U of H bought the property and has begun renovations. I wonder if any of the old mall was preserved, and if it is, can I go inside to see it. If I make the trip out that way again, Sagewood and Town Plaza will be must see places. I wonder how many more of these properties still exist across Texas and how many of them are still open like Amigoland. From what I have gathered online, Amigoland never actually closed. The property was nearly vacant around 2000, but that is when the redevelopment started.
My last visit to a Kmart store was oddly enough in 2011. One of the Kmarts I visited in 2011 was the Niagara Falls Kmart which has some similarities to the McAllen Kmart, but that store was not as nice looking or inviting as the McAllen store even though 2011 was certainly better times for Kmart than 2020. It's not like 2011 were the best of times though even if they were better for Sears and Kmart. Certainly there is a big difference between Sears of 2011 and Sears of 2020, but that is a different sad tale.
DeleteI was reading the Retail Watchers forum last night and I saw a recent comment from a user that their local Kmart has replaced Kmart's own brand of personal care goods, Smart Sense is what I think that was, with TopCare brand products. TopCare is a division of Topco, a pretty well-known private label brand for smaller, independent grocery stores. Think of the Parade brand which is popular here in Houston with smaller grocers, but the Parade brand is from a different company than Topco. Randall's used to sell Topco products, Food Club most specifically, back when they were independent. Anyway, based on the photos of the McAllen Kmart, it seems Kmart was selling personal care goods from the XtraCare brand. That's actually from a different company than TopCare. Maybe the user at Retail Watchers was mistaken or maybe Kmart is using different distributors in different areas. Anyway, whatever the case is, it's sad that Kmart is so small now that they can't even have their own line of private label goods and have to use products meant to sell at small, independent grocery stores.
That description of the Macroplaza Mall Sears does not sound very promising. You're probably right that the store will probably close soon with inventory problems like that. Hopefully the N. Shepherd store is in better shape, but I'm not going to get too optimistic about that.
That Town Plaza Mall sounds very interesting, I'll have to find that video. I am not familiar with that mall in Victoria. You're right that there are probably hundreds of these malls around that have managed to operate off the radar from retail bloggers. It'll be nice to chronicle some of these malls like you did with Amigoland Mall.
Kmart in 2011 was a much better store than in 2020. There are another round of news articles today floating around talking about another Sears bankruptcy. Sears did get another round of cash from selling their delivery service to Costco, so maybe they will restock stores.
DeleteI did notice the change of brands from Smart Sense. I like the Smart Sense mouthwash and only found a couple of bottles there. Another Smart Sense product I liked was a liquid soap, out of stock in 2020. It is probably cheaper to go with a regional brand since the company no longer has a nationwide presence.
I can see the possibility of the second floor of the Sears stores being closed off if things get worse. The Shepherd store will be okay since it has a huge first floor. Pasadena will be more difficult, but they appear to be closing off a chunk of floor space.
There are a few more malls across Texas that are on my radar. I don't know if I will wind up covering them in the future. Some of those malls are several hours away, located in small towns with little to offer. The upcoming round of JCPenney closures is going to hurt a lot of the small town malls just barely hanging on.
I read one of the articles talking about a second bankruptcy for Sears and how it would probably be the end of the line if that happens. I don't know if the article was going off of specific rumors or just speculation though. Certainly a second bankruptcy will not be a surprise if it happens though. My guess is that if it does happen, certain divisions will be sold off like the appliance repair division and maybe some of the retail stores in the US territories. The rest of the company will probably be liquidated and closed.
DeleteYou're probably right that some remaining Sears stores might close their second stories if the inventory crunch continues. In the lead up to the first bankruptcy, the N. Shepherd Sears seemed to have better inventory than other Sears stores in the area, but I wonder if that is still true. Of course, now the only other Sears store in the area is the Macroplaza Mall location.
It's possible that the Smart Sense products are made by the some of the same companies providing generic brand products to Kmart stores today, but perhaps Kmart just can't afford to put their own Smart Sense labels on these goods. I never did use Smart Sense products, but I do have some Essential Home home goods which was/is a house brand used by Sears and Kmart and I found those items to be quite good. Given that, I wouldn't be surprised if Smart Sense products were pretty good as well. I also still have a handful of Kmart house brand products around the house like old audio cassettes from the early 1980s (not very good quality, but at least they have the vintage Kmart logo on them) and KMC/Focal VHS cassettes from the 1980s and 1990s (these are better quality than the audio cassettes).
The generic sodas being sold at the McAllen Kmart when you took these pictures seems to be the Super Chill brand. Those are produced by the United Natural Foods (UNFI) company which recently purchased the Supervalu grocery store chain and supplier. They might be the same store brand products as what Supervalu stores sell, but I'm not totally sure about that.
There is more retail carnage to report. It seems that Pier 1 Imports has decided that they're liquidate the chain and Office Depot is reporting that they will close a number of stores in the near future. Pier 1 is hardly a surprise, but you'd think a store like Office Depot would be going relatively well at a time like this when many people have to work from home and need supplies to make that possible. Perhaps they feel that they can get by with fewer stores.
There is really not much left of Sears. Less than 150 stores, only the Kenmore brand is exclusive to Sears, and their repair department. Craftsman and Die Hard are disappearing from the stores after they were sold off. Their appliance departments are thinning out as well.
DeleteThe Smart Sense products I tried were always good in comparison to the name brand stuff. Mouthwash, shampoo, bandages, body soap, and numerous other ones I have used were fine.
I have always been leery of off-brand sodas. A lot of those brands don't taste very good or they give me headaches for some reason. The fruit flavored sodas are the ones that give me the headaches so I stay away from those.
Pier 1 had a very slim to none chance of surviving prior to the Covid crisis. Office Depot still has way too many locations. Humble for example has 2 locations less than a mile from each other. Neither one of those is ever busy. One of those stores was an Office Max that was finally rebranded after Hurricane Harvey flooded out that store.
Sears made some big mistakes well-performing closing stores like the downtown New York City one, the Memorial City one, and the Mall of America one. A section of retail that really interests is the downtown NYC area. It has so many stores in the main city area. It is so cool to me, I guess because the stores are not located in traditional shopping centers, but instead, in high-rise buildings.
DeleteYes they did, some of those properties they sold for immediate cash and others for potential redevelopment that have not panned out.
DeleteI have never been to New York, but it has been a dream to go.
If you like retail in New York City, you should check out the retail in the big Canadian cities. Montreal in particular is very interesting. Many of the skyscrapers in Montreal have shopping malls in their basements. Some of the malls are relatively small, but some are quite large. Some of these separate malls even basically connect with one another via the expansive downtown tunnel system Montreal has (Houston has a downtown tunnel system too, but with far, far less impressive retail options). Of course, downtown Montreal also has a fair bit of ground-level retail as well.
DeleteNaturally, many of the retailers in Canada are different than ours. Sears once had a major presence at these major Canadian malls like the famous Eaton Centre in Toronto, but Sears Canada is now extinct. Sears Canada was more upscale than Lampert-era Sears stores in the US since they integrated the rather upscale Eaton's department store into their chain.
I wonder what they are going to do with the now-vacant Sears buildings at Willowbrook and Deerbrook Mall. My theory is that they are going to have the space split up into multiple stores, like with what they did at the Galleria with the old Macy’s building.
DeleteI wonder the same. One idea I thought they could do would be to open up that area of the mall and make it into an open air shopping section. The only problem with that is that the land is sloped and would need to be lowered to accommodate a street level retail district.
DeleteCanada sounds like an interesting place to visit. This would probably be the best time of year to visit while the weather is decent. I recently visited Mexico where Sears has a similar upscale feel to it. Sears in Mexico is doing very well and has the backing of one of the World's richest persons, Carlos Slim.
DeleteThe malls in Mexico seem to do a better job of bringing people in with lots of food and entertainment options. Supermarkets are also common in Mexican malls.
Sorry if I posted the same thing twice. I tried to add some text to the first comment, but I somehow accidentally clicked the post button.
DeleteNo worries, I figured it was a double post. I deleted the shorter comment of the two. I had to implement the moderation of comments due to a large amount of spam comments a few years back. The spam comments were filling up my site, so I shut them down.
DeleteThis is the best time of the year to visit Canada. June, July, and August are probably the best months of the year to visit there. Of course, the weather up there can get in the 90s, but it can be in the 40s or 50s in the mornings even in the summer so you have to be prepared for everything. Still, their weather is a real relief from the kind of weather we have here in the summer.
DeleteI think you would quite like Montreal if you ever have the chance to visit it. The downtown there is quite a lively place. In addition to the many hidden malls of downtown Montreal, there is a lot of great food and the city is quite clean compared to urban US cities. There is a lot of old architecture and such which is very nice to see. Montreal has a lively culture too which likes parties and big events. It's a bit like New Orleans in that regard.
Canada just seems to have more of a mall culture than we do and perhaps the cold winter there has something to do with that. For the most part, their department stores aren't as interesting and diverse as the ones in Mexico, but most of the major malls I've visited in Canada are quite busy and the stores seem to be doing better than mall stores in the US. The food courts at the Canadian malls, especially the urban ones, are very impressive. Even some of the small basement malls in Montreal had food courts with 25+ vendors selling all kinds of food. They are very busy also since the local shoppers, tourists, and downtown workers are all down there during meal time. When I visited the Rideau Centre mall in Ottawa's ByWard Market, the food court didn't have trash cans, but rather manned stations where you'd take your dirty tray when you were done. The workers would then clean and sort the bowls, plates, and silverware. Because of this, some food court vendors used real china and silverware. It's really quite upscale for something as casual as a mall food court. I'm not saying all malls in Canada are like that, but it just seems like malls in the US don't try as hard to draw crowds as the malls in our neighboring countries.
On the topic of foreign retail, there's some big news which came out of Australia today which can be read here. As you probably know, the Kmart and Target chains in Australia are both owned by the same company down there, Westfarmers. These chains are independent of the US chains, but are kind of modeled after glory years US Kmarts and Targets. Anyway, Westfarmers announced that since the Target format wasn't working very well and since the Kmart format is working well, they are going to convert some Target stores into Kmarts and they will close the Targets which aren't being converted. The idea of Kmart winning and Target losing may seem very foreign to those of us in the US!
As for what happens with the Willowbrook and Deerbrook Mall Sears locations, it's hard to say. Even if the malls want to redevelop those pads, they may not be able to if Sears or someone else still owns that real estate. I'm sure Lampert would like to sell those pads to the mall operators for a nice sum of money if he hasn't already, but I don't know if that'll happen in the current climate. Those buildings may sit empty for a while like what is happening with the ex-Baybrook Mall Sears or maybe they'll be torn down until a good opportunity pops up like what happened with the former Joske's/Dillard's/Lord & Taylor building at Willowbrook Mall. An outdoor lifestyle center or mixed use development might be possible at Willowbrook some years down the road, but the economy probably can't support such a thing right now. Maybe these places will become temporary Spirit Halloween stores like the Baybrook Sears was last October.
It sucks that the only Houston-area Sears attached to a mall is in a struggling mall, Macroplaza. Why did Sears leave Willowbrook and Deerbrook? They should’ve closed the Pasadena one instead. I wish the Memorial City, Willowbrook, and Deerbrook were left open.
DeleteI have heard nothing but good things about Canada. Maybe one day I can make the trip happen when I get closer to retirement.
DeleteTarget beating out Kmart is definitely something that could only happen in 2020. Target slowly beat Kmart along with Walmart here in the USA. Kmart had the lead and blew it.
I would take a Spirit Halloween store in the former Sears, just so I can walk in one last time. Last year Deerbrook Mall had the Spirit store.
The busier malls were the easier stores to sell and gain a quick cash out for Eddie. Some of the better stores are Seritage properties that were being marketed for redevelopment. The Valley View Sears is one example. Valley View Mall is being redeveloped. Sears initially was going to stay put, but later the opportunity for Seritage to redevelop the property was a better option. Sears closed and the store was leveled for the new development.
DeleteWhat former store space did Spirit Halloween take in Deerbrook Mall?
DeleteThere is a vintage Target near Valley View Center Mall in Dallas. It seems that it had a separate Target Grocery Department connected to the main building.
DeleteThe former Palais Royal. Now that space is a clothing store. Spirit used the entire store for their products.
DeleteI wonder if it is a copy of at least 3 Target locations here in the Houston area. When the Grocery stores closed, Marshalls took over 2 out of 3 grocery locations beside Target.
DeleteI am not familiar with the Valley View Center Mall Target, or any Targets in the Metroplex for that matter, but I looked photos of it up on Google Maps. The store certainly has some odd raised and lowered parts in the ceiling which might be a good sign that it is a fairly old Target store and/or it's in a building which didn't start out as a Target. That said, the store seems to have been renovated recently, and probably several times before that, so there's not exactly much left that's retro about that Target if it is indeed retro.
DeleteHave you ever photographed the inside of a Spirit Halloween/any Halloween store? If you haven’t, you should consider covering those stores because they leave the inside of the stores intact form their previous tenant. Here is an example if you want one https://houstonhistoricretail.com/2019/10/27/looking-at-some-costume-conversions/
DeleteI have not seen a good location to photograph yet. If a former department store or Toys R Us opened up near me I would photograph the store. I have seen some in former Kmarts stores up North and some in former department stores that would be interesting to me. Spirit does bring these properties back to life even if it is for a short time.
DeleteWhy do the ceilings inside of Hobby Lobby stores look like Kmart ceilings if the Hobby Lobby stores I’m talking about were never Kmarts before.
ReplyDeleteCan you give an example of one of these Hobby Lobby locations? There are a few including the one featured here attached to a former Kmart like in Pasadena Texas. A lot of these developments had a Kmart Foods or planned to have a Kmart Foods that never opened.
DeleteIt seems that a lot of Houston Hobby Lobby locations have Kmart-like ceilings. The only one that I could find that was not like that was the one near Deerbrook Mall.
DeleteThe Deerbrook Hobby Lobby building was originally a Pharmor location that became a Media Play. Hobby Lobby in the Woodlands and the FM 1960/Kuykendahl locations are located in former Kmart stores. A few more on the Northside are in former Kmart locations.
DeleteThe Hobby Lobby in The Woodlands still has the "Welcome", "Entrance", "Exit", and "Thank You" signs from Kmart on the doors.
DeleteSweet, I need to stop by that store one day. Thanks for letting me know.
DeleteI remember going to a Kmart in El Paso and seeing the electronics department there. What I remember the most was the video game section, especially the Nintendo part. For some reason, one video game really stands out in my memory. Super Mario All-Stars for the Wii.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great game. I missed the last Kmart in El Paso by just a couple of months. El Paso was the last area in Texas to have multiple Kmart stores.
DeleteIs the x-shaped building on Cypresswood and Holzwarth a former mall?
ReplyDeleteYes it was a Deauville Mall. Here is my write up from the mall, some things have changed but one of the mall corridors is still intact. https://southernretail.blogspot.com/2013/06/deauville-north-fashion-mall-spring-tx.html?m=0
DeleteDid you take a picture of the shelves covering the entrance to the former auto center inside the store?
ReplyDeleteI looked all along the walls in that area of the store, and I could not see where an entrance had been covered up by shelves. The only other possibility form an auto center entrance was that extension that led to the garden center. I walked through there as well, but I did not see any evidence of a covered up entrance. In my March 2020 photos of the store, I made sure to get a good photo of the auto center from outside.
DeleteWe earlier discussed Kmart's house brands and also Kmart Australia's success over in Australia. Well, I was doing some research and it seems that Kmart Australia is starting to enter the US market. It's not under the Kmart name of course as they don't have rights to that here, but they are using the Anko name. Anko is the name of Kmart Australia's house brand.
ReplyDeleteIt seems Kmart Australia has a reputation in recent times of offering cheap and stylish products. Obviously, Kmart Australia has no affiliation with the US Kmart in modern times based on the previous sentence, lol. Thus, Kmart Australia and their parent company Wesfarmers has opened what looks like three Anko stores in Washington state. These stores are mainly focused on housewares, but they also have clothing and some other stuff. It appears that all the stuff they sell is Anko branded so it might be the same stuff they sell in Australia, but I don't know. A website which reviewed one of the Anko stores in Washington called it something like where a Target meets Ikea.
I'll include a link here on the Kmart Australia website discussing the Anko brand in Australia and I'll also include a link here to the Google Maps page of one of the Anko stores in Washington. From there, you can read user reviews and look at pictures of the inside of the store. I don't think this is a kind of store that I would get too excited about, but it seems that they have good user reviews so some people must appreciate their offerings.
I doubt that Kmart Australia would want to use the Kmart name in the US even if they could. While Kmart has stood for 'cheap' in the US, I don't think it's ever stood for fashionable even in Kmart's glory days. The thought most Americans have of dumpy Kmarts would work against Kmart Australia's goals I'm sure. Still, it's interesting to see that a different Kmart is having some success in the US. Kmart Australia/Anko probably has better long-term prospects in the US than Eddie Lampert's Kmart.
Sounds like Kmart is getting a second life here in the US. It would be best if the Kmart name is not used here in the US, as you mentioned the name is tarnished. With stories like this one and Kmart beating Target out in Australia, 2020 is shaping up to be a strange year for retail stories.
DeleteHere is a quick update. There was a tip on The Layoffs forum that Sears had just added several store closing liquidation job openings to their website. It looks like Sears stores in Texas are taking most of the losses in this round of closures. A single store closing job posting from a couple of days ago is there for the Rolling Oaks Mall location in San Antonio. Several store closing positions were added today for the Hulen Mall in Ft. Worth and The Parks Mall at Arlington.
ReplyDeleteWith all these closures, I believe there will no longer be any Sears stores in San Antonio and the only Sears left in the DFW Metroplex will be at the Town East Mall in Mesquite. I believe the only other Sears that will be left in Texas will be the El Paso store and the N. Shepherd and Pasadena Town Square/Macroplaza Mall locations in Houston. Of course, those locations could close soon as well. I'm sure Sears isn't done adding locations to the closing list.
It also looks like a Kmart location in Lebanon, New Hampshire is closing. That Kmart has a Sears Appliance store-within-a-store with it's own exterior entrance in the old Kmart Garden Center. I reckon that'll be closing as well, but I'm not sure.
The Laredo Texas location is also closing, so the only Sears near the Mexico border is in El Paso. I did see this article a few days ago and did my own research.
DeleteEl Paso, Mesquite, Pasadena, Houston, and the Baton Rouge Sears will be the only stores left in our 2-state region. The Houston area is fortunate to still have 2 stores, but the remaining stores are on very shaky ground. The Pharr Texas Appliance and Mattress store is listed as a company store as well, but it is a small location.
I wonder what it would take right now, in 2020, by any means, to make Sears/Kmart great and prosperous like they used to be back in their glory days.
DeleteBoth chains had over 2,000 stores each at one point in the glory days of each brand. To buy land, build new, and stock with inventory you are looking at billions. Maybe even close to a half a trillion.
DeleteOkay then, what would it take to make Sears/Kmart profitable again, considering all of these factors: Advertising, Leadership, Merchandise, and what any other factor that I forgot to add.
DeleteI think the best chance that the company had of future survival was their Sears Grand and Super Kmart concepts in the cities. When those stores opened up, they were a true step in the right direction. The small town Sears stores were also designed well, but inventory issues and no support from Sears corporate has done those stores in. Downsizing departments such as clothing and adding more of their signature Craftsman and Kenmore products would have helped out. Sears and Kmart department stores do not have nearly enough hardware items to do most projects. Certain sizes of hammers and basic tools have been out of stock for a while now. Nails and screws, good luck finding any of those at Sears in 2020. That is just one example of why people don't go to Sears or Kmart anymore. Kmart has pretty much eliminated electronics, lawn and garden, hardware, and automotive items.
DeleteLeadership under fast Eddie has been terrible. He rarely invested in the stores to bring them up to the modern era. Even now, when the company is supposed to be setting themselves up for the future, staples like Lawn and Garden and Tools are being downsized or eliminated completely.
The best outcome at this point is for the Sears brands to live on through another store like Craftsman. Lowes has filled up their stores with tons of Craftsman branded tools, mowers, and items that you would never find at Sears in 2020.
I absolutely agree with je that Sears Grand was a step in the right direction for Sears. I'm not so sure if pre-Lampert Sears would have had success selling everyday items like what Sears Grand was trying, but at the very least, pre-Lampert Sears understood that they needed to get new stores in the newest suburban developments which didn't have indoor malls. Even within Houston, it's crazy to think that Sugar Land never had a full-line Sears store. I'm sure pre-Lampert Sears would have put a Sears Grand in Sugar Land and would have closed the Westwood Mall store a lot quicker than what happened. Discontinuing building new Sears Grand stores was one of Lampert's biggest blunders out of all the blunders he made and makes if he was trying to run a serious retail operation. I'm not so sure that he was.
DeleteSuper Kmart is a little more debatable. The grocery game is notoriously difficult and it's even more difficult for national retailers. There's a reason why big retailers like Kroger and Albertsons do not try certain markets. It's hard for national retailers to understand the grocery needs of each neighborhood. Plus, Target has done well by expanding with normal stores that have a small grocery department. Super Target looks to be a dead or dying concept. That said, Kmart desperately needed to replace their old, often dilapidated stores in the 1980s, much less in the 2000s and 2010s, and they needed to open new stores in the newest neighborhoods.
Although in some ways the Kmart discount store model is more relevant for retail in the 2020s than the Sears department store model, I do wonder if Kmart's numerous poor business decisions in the 1980s and 1990s permanently damaged the reputation of the company to the point that it would have been very difficult to ever recover the company even with the best leadership. Although Sears had some issues before Lampert, at least most people respected Sears and they were still producing good ideas like The Great Indoors. I can't really say the same about Kmart.
Sears and Kmart are basically as dead as Service Merchandise, Circuit City, Phar-Mor, and Korvette's. Yeah, they have a few stores hanging on, but the stores in the 50 states will close soon. The company has no valuable assets on the retail side in the 50 states (I'm not including the A&E appliance repair and warranty divisions as retail) except for the Kenmore brand and even that asset has been left to rot by Lampert and company. If Sears and Kmart were to make a recovery, it would take a complete rebuilding of the company from the ground up.
I read an article a couple days ago stating that Seritage will be terminating the leases on several Sears/Kmart locations they own here soon. The N. Shepherd Sears is a Seritage owned property so don't be surprised to see that one close here soon.
Maybe someone, hopefully not Lampert, will buy the Sears name and turn it into a catalog/online store like what was done with Montgomery Ward. Given that Sears historically was a catalog retailer before they ever had B&M stores, that might not be a bad way for them to return to their roots. The catalog retailer may not have Sears' famous brand names to back them up, but that may not matter depending on what they end up selling. Will it be the same Sears? No, but the current joke of an operation being run by Lampert over the last few years isn't the same Sears either. It's almost like Sears has been on a slow, continuous liquidation sale for the last five years or so.
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I think Costco sells Craftsman stuff at their stores.
DeleteI hope a miracle happens and Sears at least recovers. Maybe one day in the future, if Sears eliminates their full size stores, Sears will live on as a store-in-a-store, like Sephora is in JCPenney.
I wonder what happened to the stores that were in the middle of their store-closing sales, like for example, the Copperfield Bed Bath & Beyond on Highway 6. Maybe the merchandise was sold off quietly and the store is now permanently closed.
About Greenspoint, why is the major retail away from the mall? I know that it was probably built when Greenspoint Mall was doing good back then, but why wasn’t it built closer to the mall. Now it seems smart because the mall is struggling and the retail south of Greenspoint on I-45 is going well compared to the mall, but why did they make that decision back then, with no telling how the future would turn out for the mall. I also wonder why the Walmart near that area has a separate auto center. I know that Walmart was originally not a Supercenter, but other non-Supercenter Walmarts already had auto centers before they were converted.
Super Target is indeed barely alive. We are down to just one Super Target in the Houston area I think. The Pasadena Target was remodeled and kept the Super Target name and departments.
DeleteWe are definitely in the final days of the USA version of Sears/Kmart. It is crazy to think that we will have to leave the USA to see these stores in the future. It is almost like the situation of Toys R Us. I doubt we will see a resurgence of the company if it folds, but I think the catalog business could possibly come back as you mentioned.
I haven't seen any Craftsman items at my local Costco yet, but they may be on the way. They do have Stanley tools and products, Craftsman could be the next product they get.
DeleteSears has sold off nearly all of their brands that made them unique. There us nothing left for Sears to capitalize on but their name. Many people think Sears closed a couple of years back. I would like to see Sears come back, but I think the opportunity passed a long time ago.
Some liquidation sales were cut short because of the Covid restrictions. Since a lot of these businesses were not essential, they were not supposed to open up in many areas. Liquidators probably moved the inventory to other locations and closed off some stores early.
There were a few retail centers built around Greenspoint Mall in the 70's and 80's. The mall was just built in a bad spot so the West Rd. corridor was able to capitalize on the issues at Greenspoint. A really nice big box center was built across from the mall, but it did not last long. The crime in Greenspoint, freeway construction, West Rd. corridor, and even The Woodlands Mall are what killed off the mall and surrounding developments. Willowbrook and Deerbrook Malls also became stronger and a lot of stores relocated to those malls from Greenspoint.
I think it would take a lot of really rich investors to save Sears/Kmart now. And I’m talking about millionaires/billionaires, preferably not Lampert, since he has basically ruined the company.
DeleteCan you imagine if Lowe's had a Sears department with Kenmore appliances and Craftsman tools. It would take more money that anyone would care to throw at the company. Amazon was rumored to be interested in some Sears locations about 5 years ago, but it never panned out.
DeleteCraftsman is now owned by Stanley Black & Decker and Stanley's tools are very popular in retailers. Many different stores sell them. Stanley might try to use the Craftsman name more in these various retailers. While the Craftsman name has become associated with Lowe's in recent times, I don't think they have exclusive rights to the Craftsman on at least most items. I could be wrong about that.
DeleteOf course, many years ago, Sears had a deal with Ace Hardware to sell Craftsman tools through Ace stores. I'm not sure if Ace now has a deal with Stanley or what. Some retailers, like Northern Tool, have gotten their hands on some liquidated Sears Craftsman products and are selling them via their stores.
The Copperfield Bed, Bath, & Beyond liquidation started well before Christmas so I'd imagine the liquidation sale there was completed before stores closed for the virus. There was an odd issue where Bed, Bath, & Beyond paused some liquidations, but I don't think that would have been a big delay for the liquidation.
I'll give Kmart credit that they knew that West Rd. & I-45 would be a good spot for retail. It's positioned right between the Beltway and 249 which makes it a good option for a lot of shoppers. Also, that area has less of the Gunspoint stigma that the mall has even if most people wouldn't confuse it for being the safest spot in Houston. As for the Wal-Mart Auto Center there, the area behind the garden center where Wal-Mart usually puts their auto center is quite close to the neighboring Academy. I suppose the detached auto center was the only way they could make things fit.
I would say that when Greenspoint Mall was still pretty powerful before The Woodlands Mall was built, it had just about as many big box stores, or more, than what Willowbrook Mall had around it at the same time. Greenspoint had the Finger's, Best, and Circuit City right by it. The Commons shopping center was right across I-45 and the former Target shopping center is there too.
The problem is that the retailers at The Commons were mostly struggling retailers at around the same time that The Woodlands Mall was being built/opened. The anchors there were Children's Palace, Computer City, Phar-Mor, Media Play, and a few other retailers who were not on solid financial footing. Thus, The Commons cleared out at around the same time the mall's prospects went down. The shopping center was converted into a data center even before such conversions were quite popular. I suppose the shopping center developers knew they could never fill so many empty anchor spots.
I was hoping the Sears liquidations were going to be paused, but they must have shut the stores down earlier. I know Kmart liquidations were allowed to finish up as normal since they were considered an essential business.
DeleteThat was one of the few good locations that Kmart had located to in the 90's. The Katy location that opened in 99 or 2000 was a good location as well, but those were the exceptions.
Sportstown USA was there at the Commons as well, they had probably the worst big box lineup that you could create. Nearly every one of those companies left the Houston area or closed by the mid 90's.
The modern equivalent of all of the not financially stable retailers at the Commons leaving at the same time would be like Kmart, Sears, Stage, and all of the troubled retailers being in a big-box center, and then they all went bankrupt around the same time and left the center.
DeleteExactly and they also had a Pier one at the Commons as well.
DeleteI feel like the only way Sears could come out of this is if they keep with their Home and Life stores. I see often many AutoZones/O'Reilly's in residential areas; they could do something like that with them, due to their small size. Selling homegoods and everyday essentials in a convenience store layout/size is a novel idea, I believe.
DeleteAs much as I like the concept, these stores are not getting enough inventory to survive. I have been reading complaints about long delivery times and cancelled orders due to the inventory issues. There are not a lot of suppliers that will sell to any store tied to Sears, they are known for not paying their bills.
DeleteOne advantage that the department stores have is on-hand inventory that can be immediately delivered. Even that inventory is thinning out at the last 2 stores in the Houston area.
I wonder what Sears locations are still busy and packed now, like how it used to be in their glory days.
ReplyDeleteMini-Sears stores inside of Lowe’s would be cool to see. I can imagine it as this: it would look like what a Sephora looks like inside of a JCPenney, but instead of the mini-building being striped black and white, it would be all white on the exterior, and instead of make-up being sold, tools and appliances would be sold.
(Sorry if I already typed this, but I might have accidentally touched the publish button twice)
The only busy Sears locations like back in the day are in Mexico. The last 2 Sears in the Houston area have their busy sports, but it is nothing like the old days.
DeleteA few Kmart stores had a Sears appliance and mattress department. If you go back and look at the New Orleans area Kmart stores I covered, you will see what those areas looked like.
The Big Lots was indeed a Kmart Foods. It closed in 1975 and became Valley Mart: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth194505/m1/1/ Valley Mart later became Carl's Grocery which closed in 1998 and then became Big Lots in 2000. The auto center later became Street Sound Customs which didn't last long according to Google: https://www.google.com/maps/@26.1888367,-98.2305949,3a,41.4y,188.71h,91.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGSFNAs5b6Pp2_PNKAEMngQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en&authuser=0 And since you did mention Furr's, I believe this was one of two Kmart's in Texas that had one adjacent to a Kmart (the other two were Austin and Victoria). The HEB you mentioned in the comments was originally a Kroger Family Center that became an HEB around 1984 and is now TrueFit
ReplyDeleteThat newspaper article is pretty awesome, especially the vintage photos of the store. It is pretty crazy how quickly the Kmart building went from being fully occupied to empty.
Delete