This may be the last Kmart post on the blog. This is Kmart location #4389. The store opened on November 21, 1971 and closed at 4pm on April 11, 2020. The closure on April 11th was confirmed by a phone call to the store. We visited here on March 11 and March 12, 2020. This visit was unlike anything we experienced due to the changing nature of the retail scene in the early days of Covid-19 panic buying. It was on this trip that talk of school cancellations and lockdowns was beginning to sweep the nation. Panic buying was taking hold with toilet paper already running out just about everywhere. Thankfully Texas was one of the early states to fully reopen after the Covid restrictions so we could get back to earning money. During the lockdowns the restricted hours of operation and outside lines to get into stores was ridiculous. As we have learned to live with Covid-19, our lives have forever changed. Now for the store tour!
My previous posts at this store for comparison
For this trip, we start at the back corner of the store.
Previously as you can tell by the sign, this was the sporting goods department. Later on, the sporting goods were mixed up with random products that were "special buys".
Some of the furniture items were left in this area, mostly store fixtures.
Hardware department.
The back corner of the store facing towards the sporting goods and toys. You can see the empty bike rack to the left.
Some of the remaining aisles in the back area of the store.
This sign just makes me laugh. Don't go in here, but if you do be careful. This was the only barricade up and the rest of the store was wide-open.
It was at this time in the sale process that areas of the store were being cleared out and consolidated up front.
An unstable electrical fixture that was probably attached to a shelf. Not exactly very safe.
Around the corner, the cleaning supplies from this viewpoint looked practically normal.
As you can see, the cleaning items were a mere 20% off.
Same story with the pet products 20% off.
The sodas, water, and grocery items were very light.
A different view of the same aisle.
As you can see, they had plenty of paper towels. This was not the only place they were located in the store either. I heard stories of people resorting to using these since toilet paper was out of stock for several weeks at most places.
Back towards the seasonal and toy aisles, this awesome Kmart sign.
Looking from the front of the store back towards the sporting goods/home furnishings area we started out in.
An up-close look at the sign. I wish we could have gotten this for the collection, but it is a pretty sizable sign.
Looking from the Kmart sign area to the pharmacy/seasonal aisles.
Now we are going to jump into the Garden Shop.
As you can see, pretty much everything was gone. This area did not have a lot of merchandise back in January either.
The Garden Shop items were put out here along with seasonal items.
Magazines and books, only 30% off.
School and office supplies, 25% off.
Health and Beauty department, 25% off as well.
The Pharmacy door.
Toilet Paper and Paper Towels! Remember at this time toilet paper was already sold out at practically every store.
Home goods, another 25% off area.
The medicines here had been wiped out.
Deodorant running low as well.
Lots of medicines here, but you need to check the expiration dates! Sadly, most of the remaining medicine was close to expiration.
One of the few opportunities to buy and build your own pharmacy.
Tissues were another hot commodity in March 2020, Kmart still had them.
Even more could be found on the next aisle.
This aisle was still well stocked. Not much demand for these items at 25% off.
Vitamins and health supplements. At 35% off they were a slightly better discount. Normally you could find buy one get one free, so this wasn't a very good discount.
Lots of mouthwash. I picked up some Kmart house brand Smart Sense mouthwash for the road. 25% off for dental items.
Not as much left on the toothbrush and toothpaste aisle.
Party goods, gift bags, greeting cards.
Lotions and skin care, decent discount at 35% off.
Cobwebs!
Now we will head to the other back corner of the store. Restrooms and Layaway counter.
Not much going on here at the layaway counter anymore.
Looking from the back corner of the store towards the front.
Shoe department view to the front of the store.
Checkout area.
Middle of the store. Items that were stacked on top of shelves and aisles were now stacked on the ground. You can see the remains of the electronics department in the background.
A wall of paper towels had been built in this center area of the store as well.
Not much remained of the electronics department. This store didn't have much back in January.
The empty display cases of t-shirt and underwear that was put back here months ago.
The electronics department photos were generic without brand names. The right side of an old Playstation controller shows how old this newer version of signage really was.
Tucked back in the store was this Kmart kiosk. We have seen these before, but this one was especially hidden.
A few TV's were still here for sale.
Now for some photos of the clothing areas of the store.
As you can see, there were still a lot of clothes left at this point in the sale.
Some of the leftover underwear displays were here on the display racks.
Fixture row in the middle of the store.
Toys had been moved over here with the clothes and random items in the middle of the store.
Some up-close photos of the fixtures.
This is pretty close to the exact middle of the store. Clothes, toys, and fixtures were left here.
Near the jewelry and cosmetics section of the store.
Jewlery and clothing.
Now this has to be the weirdest product placement ever. Sporting goods including BB guns along with purses, and clocks. These store closing sales always have some interesting things to see. This was definitely a first.
To the left, an aisle full of jewelry boxes. To the right, umbrellas, stuff to keep you dry in the rain, and some beauty items.
Some of the remaining cosmetics and beauty items.
Unfortunately, this is where our visit ends. The store closed earlier than listed at 7pm so we had to end our trip.
Two different blue-light special signs from different eras of the blue-light reboot. You can also see some of the St. Jude donation items to the right.
I am not sure which one of these is older. Either one would be awesome to add to the collection. I certainly didn't have the vehicle space for one of these.
That wraps up the interior photos of the final Kmart visit of the blog. That is unless for some odd reason Kmart makes a comeback or one of my blog readers sends me some plane tickets to Miami or New York 😉
The old auto center.
This side of the store was especially dark, only the freeway lights provided light here. The road signs look awesome like this.
Now for the next day, we didn't go back inside but here are some final photos of the store.
The Big Lots labelscar is very visible on the right side of the building.
This Kmart still looked great on the outside.
This gloomy day was the perfect look for my final trip to Kmart.
I could have picked up this loose sign for my collection, but I let it be. The photo is more powerful in this case.
Final roadsign photos!
Farewell Kmart, the Texas chapter is now history. I was glad we could document this store as the chain shrunk and eventually left the state. More to come on the blog!