How Kmart Went From Beating Walmart And Target To Bankruptcy

Kmart survived the Great Depression and Two World Wars, but wasn't able to survive their own lack of innovation.

My local Kmart felt like a time machine as soon as you stepped inside you were transported to the late 80s early 90s, it was so outdated. LOL.

My Mom worked at a Kmart for 20 years. She had worked every department worked in HR and Management. When they closed her store all her time meant nothing and she had to scrounge for work like the hundreds of other employees that lost their jobs.

Our Kmart (in the town over from us) stayed pretty strong up until 2011. Ours never looked outdated or gross so it was really disappointing when they closed. Growing up poor it was great that struggling families could put back to school clothes and supplies on lay-a-way and pay it out. It really helped our family out and they always had in style clothes and home decor. Halloween was probably my favorite time of the year bc they seemed to have sooo many more costumes than Walmart

They didn’t innovate, the stores looked old and outdated in the early 2000s, while target kept refreshing the stores with new items and a fresh look.

Rip radio shack, k mart, Sears, block buster, and toys r us. Maybe rite aid.

My dad work for Kmart/Sears for 30 years he raised 4 kids in that time..My first real job at 16 was working at Kmart , my sister also. Kmart was a big part of my life. It shall be missed.

When Sears took over Kmart, they raised alot of prices and people went elsewhere for better prices. I even saw saw prices triple on a few things.

I worked at Kmart in high school the day a Walmart opened in our city. It went from being busy af to a ghost town, literally overnight.

They never had enough registers open and stores always seemed dirty

One time I stopped by Kmart. I forgot why I quit going there. After looking around the store I realized I stopped going there because the store was very messy. Product seem to be strewn around almost everywhere. It looked like a mob had come through pickup items to look at them and randomly put the item back anywhere on a shelf or the floor.

For myself and family Kmart has a very special meaning to us. In the 80s my Father worked as an Assistant Manager of the shoe department for a year in the Twin Cities and then for eight years back home in southern Minnesota. He worked very hard long hours to provide for his young family. My Father found out in 1985 three weeks before Christmas that he had a brain tumor and only had a few years to live. in the late 80s it was tough for him to go to work but somehow through the pain of chemo he try his best to be at Kmart because he was proud of his work. Six months before he died Kmart employees from around the country chipped in to send our family to Disney World in Orlando. We had a wonderful time and i will never forget it. Two months after the trip my father was working a normal shift at Kmart but in the late morning he had a sesher. It was the final time he went out the front doors of Kmart. But it was on a streacher to an ambulance. He fought his final months at home with his family and hospice care by his side. He died on Sunday July 30, 1989 at the age of 30. I was six years old. His memorial service had alot of Kmart employees and customers who loved his warmth and outgoingness to make Kmart a wonderful store to shop at. Over the years it was sad to go into Kmart and see the store go down hill. It also was hard in the fall of 2016 to see the store closed for good that my father worked hard at. The brightside is the former building was turned into a medical clinic. So I believe that people having cancer treatments are getting some spirtual help from my father. R.I.P. Dad I love you and miss you. :)

“Attention Kmart shoppers” ahh I’m gonna miss that😭

It's hard to believe there's still Kmart stores hanging around in 2019. I worked at a Kmart store in 2007, and it was by far the most depressing job I've ever had. We've had shelves that were literally empty. Packages all over the store. It's like you go to Kmart just to feel depressed.

My Kmart store was on Hacienda Blvd , hacienda Calif . They shut down years ago , it's a empty lot now my late wife and I used to eat are lunch there . When I pass the lot it always brings back memories.

While in high school I worked in Kmart. Loved it so much.

I bought a pregnancy test at K-mart when I was in college because I knew there was absolutely no chance I would run into any of my peers there because no one ever went there

Okay, in Australia Kmart is our GO-TO store. We have no Walmart and target is WAAAAY to expensive. Kmart is nearly everyone's favourite store...

I worked at Kmart during college. Always a mess and unorganized aisles but man we had some loyal shoppers!

I worked at K-Mart around age 16 in the mid 90s and even employees didn't shop there. The prices never rang up correctly based on the signs/ price labels/ sales flyers. They always rang up higher in the company's favor. If you needed to buy more than a few items, it was impossible NOT to miss a few and get overcharged. Even if items had rang up correctly, the prices were higher than competitors and the quality wasn't very good. Plus my store manager was constantly yelling at employees for things we had zero control over so employee morale was pretty much nil after a few days. I think I lasted less than 6 months and I lasted longer than most. K-MART put itself out of business long before Target even hit the scene in my area.