Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Last two Kmarts in metro Detroit will close, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse


I wrote about the very first Kmart closing in Company Man and WXYZ on KMart, a tale of the retail apocalypse more than a year ago.  Today, it's time to announce that Kmart is leaving its metro Detroit birthplace for good.  Watch End of an era: Kmart closing last two Metro Detroit stores from WXYZ.

Kmart is part of Americana, and part of Metro Detroit. The last two stores [in Metro Detroit] closing are like losing a member of the family.
The Detroit Free Press has more in Kmart to close 2 remaining metro Detroit stores.
Two of the three remaining Kmart stores in the state, located in Warren and Waterford, will close their doors, the company announced Thursday.

The two metro Detroit closures are part of larger list of 96 Kmart and Sears stores that will shut down nationwide. The cuts are an attempt for the company, also known as Transformco, to keep the two retailers afloat since acquiring assets of Sears Holdings in February...

Kmart previously announced in September plans to shutter nearly 100 stores in December or earlier, including eight in Michigan: Belleville, Clio, Grayling, Hastings, Menominee, Midland, Oscoda and Marine City.
...
In addition, a Sears in Lansing is set to close at that time.

The closures leave one remaining Kmart store in Michigan, in Marshall located at 15861 Michigan Ave.
Sears and KMart may have avoided liquidation, but stores continue to close as the Retail Apocalypse rolls on.

8 comments:

  1. Well, it doesn't surprise me though about Kmart, It seems like Kmart isn't doing very well, even if it weren't for online shopping. I remember going there many years ago, wondered what happened to them all ... But Target and WalMart seemed to dominate in those type retailers here in Dallas- Fort Worth. I know inner Detroit has had some serious issues, lost many folks, jobs, etc ... but surburban Detroit is doing fine. Online shopping is taking a toll on even giants like Walmart, even in big business towns, and brick and mortar across the board. In my part of town, and all around metro Dallas, big retailers are alwayz packed, it seems. I just looked up to see how many Kmarts were still open in Texas, after reading this ... I left a link below, unbelievably only one, like way down in the Valley (south Texas/ Mexico border) ... and texas is a retail boom place, with close to 30 million people, that shows that Kmart wasn't cutting something as far as bringing in business, so it's all on Kmart, lacking what it took to stay up and survive. Hope you had a decent Halloween.

    https://krld.radio.com/articles/last-kmart-store-texas-survives-cuts-once-again

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    1. Hey, Ranch Chimp, good to see you commenting here again! Yes, the suburbs are doing O.K while most of Detroit's neighborhoods are suffering, but innermost Detroit, downtown and midtown, are in the midst of a good recovery, although it's not a place for big box stores. The closest it has is a Whole Foods.

      Thanks for the news from Texas, including the link and the Halloween wishes!

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  2. The only thing I ever bought at Sears was Craftsman Tools. After that brand was bought by Black and Decker there was no reason to go to Sears. Of course, since everything is made in China now there is also no good reason to buy Craftsman tools.

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    1. Yeah, Sears sold off nearly all its best assets to stay afloat, especially Craftsman tools, which I have a few of. As for making stuff in China that will only stop when China gets too expensive. Vietnam, here we come!

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Sorry, this entry is not about housing or real estate. Find a post on those topics and I might let your spam stay. Here, I will only delete it.

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  4. It was a sad day to those individuals working for Kmart, i hope they will land a more stable job. God bless you all.

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