Kmart in the ‘70s/‘80s was awesome

[1srelluc]

The cafe had good food and always a blue plate special.

They had super good gun specials.

 

[Manonthestreet]

They built their Super K stores without a dock, thus everything was unloaded outside, from what I heard a former Walmart exec was behind that

 

[1srelluc]

They built their Super K stores without a dock, thus everything was unloaded outside, from what I heard a former Walmart exec was behind that

You would be correct. There was no dock at the one in my town.

When Roses, then Rural King, took over the building it still does not have a dock, just big doors, and I think they were installed when Rural King took over.

 

[jbrownson0831]

The cafe had good food and always a blue plate special.

They had super good gun specials.

I rang bells for the Salvation Army at one in Dallas every Christmas season for 4 years....I collected $300 almost every day 1976-1980 and got a $10 bonus for every $100. Tons of customers in and out every day.

 

[Care4all]

What did we have before Kmart? Smaller 5 & 10s??

 

[norwegen]

Before K-Mart in my town, we had an Alco and a Gibson's.

The new K-Mart closed both those stores.

 

[TNHarley]

I remember Kmart when I was a kid. Mid to late 90s. I remember always looking forward to go there.

 

[evenflow1969]

What did we have before Kmart? Smaller 5 & 10s??

Gold Circle was the Kmart before Kmart around here.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

K-mart blue light specials


Best store evah and back in the day, they stood behind their products. My parents had bought a shelving unit from there, and it had collapsed and broke a bunch of stuff put on them. When they took it back to the store, they not only refunded for the shelves, but also the loss of what was broke

 

[Muhammed]

They built their Super K stores without a dock, thus everything was unloaded outside, from what I heard a former Walmart exec was behind that

I've seen that. I repaired those old buildings and installed bollards so the trucks wouldn't keep backing into the building.

 

[whitehall]

You like the prices of cheap Chinese junk in the 70's? Get a freaking life.

 

[marvin martian]

What did we have before Kmart? Smaller 5 & 10s??

Woolworth's, among others.

 

[braalian]

When I was a kid in early 90s, I remember the Kmart cafeteria was my favorite restaurant in the whole world. Grilled cheese and fries.

By the mid-2000’s it had declined and become so depressing it was actually kinda fascinating to go there just to observe how horrible it had become

I don’t know how the one by me held on as long as it did. By the end, there was probably hardly ever more than dozen customers in the whole store at a time. Hardly any staff. And still using technology from the 1970s-80s. Those cash registers….

 

[odanny]

So we had Venture, K-Mart, Montgomery Wards and Sears when I was a kid, all are now gone. I remember the blue light special at K-Mart, and remember when I was stationed in Hawaii in the 80's thinking of them whenever an unmarked Monte Carlo would stick the flashing blue light up on his roof (or his dashboard) and take off to a call somewhere.

 

[fncceo]

I remember when they changed the sign from Kreges- which no one on the planet could pronounce. To K-Mart.

 

[braalian]

View attachment 1106379

So we had Venture, K-Mart, Montgomery Wards and Sears when I was a kid, all are now gone. I remember the blue light special at K-Mart, and remember when I was stationed in Hawaii in the 80's thinking of them whenever an unmarked Monte Carlo would stick the flashing blue light up on his roof (or his dashboard) and take off to a call somewhere.

My local mall that we skipped school at as kids had two anchor stores, one on each end.

They were Kmart and Montgomery Ward.

As far as I know, I never saw a blue light special at Kmart. Maybe they had discontinued that by the 90s

 

[odanny]

My local mall that we skipped school at as kids had two anchor stores, one on each end.

They were Kmart and Montgomery Ward.

As far as I know, I never saw a blue light special at Kmart. Maybe they had discontinued that by the 90s

Probably disappeared in the 80's, as I only remember them from the late 70's. I only remember them because my Dad picked a pair of shoes out of there for me as a young preteen (the blue light was on a pole with a bunch of different shit in this bin, and once it was various sneakers) when my classmates were wearing Converse and I got a generic pair, I still remember the feeling of disappointment.

 

[Dr.Destructo]

I despise Sears for killing off Kmart.

The Sears killed itself. So, there really is such a thing as Karma.

 

[fncceo]

I despise Sears for killing off Kmart.

The Sears killed itself. So, there really is such a thing as Karma.

Sears and Roebuck predated Kresge’s (the parent company of KMart) by 7 years.

Sears was founded in 1892 vs 1899.

 

[my2¢]

I never found K-Mart as being awesome. They were utilitarian and efficient. I noticed it begin to lose that efficiency in the late 80's when a couple of times check-out lines started backing up because of missing price tags or some other problem.

Stores seemed to downgrade interest in customer service around that era. I recall going to Sears and being told the only credit card they took was the Discover Card which they had just come out with. I didn't return to Sears until years later when they either sold off Discover Card or grew sense enough to take other cards as well.