I hope each and everyone of my blog readers is doing well as I post this. With the temperature plunge in the central plains all the way to the coast of Texas this past week, so many people have been affected. Our region is not built to handle sustained cold. Under normal circumstances for six months out of the year we are unbearably hot, so our infrastructure and homes are designed accordingly. My thoughts and prayers go out to those still in need of assistance.
This is one store closure that I hated to see. Over the years, we visited this Kmart store countless times. Some of those visits were documented here on the blog. With that being said, here is my long overdue goodbye post to the Lake Charles Kmart. On this article I will mostly let the photos speak for themselves, I have exhaustedly covered this store on the blog. Make sure to check out the video links at the end of this post for more on this store.
May 2018 just before the store closing announcement was made.
Once again Kmart was way ahead of their time. Snow shovels in 2018, a lot of us needed those in 2021.
KGRO
I am glad I picked one of these up when I did, they went quickly in the store closing sale.
The electronics department was a far cry from where it was just a couple of years ago.
Floors were really starting to buckle across the store.
Only a couple of light bulbs still working on the home goods display.
Anonymous, this photo is for you. Cassettes sold out.
Now we begin the store closing sale.
I really took a lot of photos on the next few visits. A lot of the store fixtures and signage had to be documented.
The pharmacy was gone fairly quickly once the store closing sale started.
More KGRO stuff.
As the sun sets on this Kmart, scenes like this have been repeated all over the United States. As of this post only 23 Transformco Kmart stores are left. In the near future the only remaining Kmart stores will probably be the Australian chain of Westfarmers.
Next visit during the closing sale. Things are changing fast at this point.
Now that the aisles are emptying out, we are able to see the signage. These department signs were put in about 5 years ago so they are in fairly good shape.
Layaway counter
There was a broken sticker taped over the button.
I like the extra information that is on the signage. This is helpful even though most people just use their phones these days.
Door was open so I had to peek inside.
The Craftsman guarantee. You have to wonder if the remaining Sears stores have any tool inventory left to honor this guarantee for most tools.
I wonder if this camera survived the building damage during the Hurricanes.
Such a perfect item for Kmart to sell.
This sign has seen better days.
I was glad to see the gift cards still up in this part of the store. All of the other racks had been thrown away. I saved a few of these for my collection.
August 2018, such an awesome sky in this photo.
Old school no smoking sign.
With how empty all of the other departments were at this point, the sports team stuff was still full. All of the Saints, McNeese, and LSU stuff was long gone. Not much interest in the remaining teams.
Our Finale! Last 9 days of business.
Seeing this emptiness was a shock. I knew this day would eventually come.
The last of the electronics.
I am glad the liquidators did not barricade the store off so we could roam the empty space.
This was the only part of the store somewhat barricaded off.
The bulk of the inventory left at this point was clothes.
I really miss this store, we have a lot of good memories shopping here over the years. As I finish up this post, it has been almost a year since I visited a Kmart. I really wonder how bad a Kmart looks in 2021.
The store closed for good on September 2, 2018.
More posts on the way.
