Anyone remember shopping at K Mart?

Nice. I think there is only one Kmart left open.

They are converting the old K Mart by my house that has been abandoned for years to a Meijer now.

I believe it still exists in Australia of all places, but may not have anything to do with the original

Worked there the summer of 1980.

I believe the last time I went to K Mart was 1984. Bought a black Hemi Cuda 1:25 scale model & a tube of glue. I never did get to see the actual 'blue light special' light lit up even though I looked for the cart every time I went there.
Half of the old K Mart is now an auto parts store. The rest has been vacant for many years.

Was K Mart the store that had the Blue light specials?
Something about blue lights made me sweat,

My wife said there all closed.Thier converting a old Kmart into a shoprite in manahawkin.

You knew the world was going sideways when Kmart bought Sears.

"The iconic chain’s last American mainland superstore, located in Bridgehampton, New York, closed its doors on Sunday, October 20,m 2024."

Spent some quality time being dragged around Kmart as a kid... I do remember they had the best cheap greasy tacos and bbq beef sandwiches in their little diners.

According to a quick internet search, they are still around as an online retailer.

Most K-Marts had a deli counter very near the entrance/exit. I'm still jonesing for that pair of sub sandwiches you would get for a measly 79 cents. Yes, two for 79 cents. I think that deal went away somewhere around 1981, but I can always dream. 🤤

I miss the blue light specials and the deli subs. Don't know what it was but they had a certain taste as a kid.

I have a neat childhood memory from the late '70's regarding K mart and their 'blue light' special.

As a kid, I was heavily into model cars, and often bought my kits at K mart. This one time while there with my Mother, a blue light special was announced for model kits! During this time period, kits were $3.00 and up. The special price was .99¢ ! We were clear on the other side of the store and my Mom looked at me and told me "GO! I'll catch up!"

I got four kits for not much more than the regular price of just one as two of the kits were below .99¢

I don't know what I miss more, the kits or the (regular) prices. *sigh*

I remember as a kid,my mom would usually buy me and my brother, our Halloween
costumes at K Mart, in early October. The old Collegeville costumes like, Casper the ghost, or Fred Flintstone..etc .
K Mart had freshly popped popcorn, from the popcorn machine, at the main entrance, iirc for .25 a bag??
Good times.

As several of you already brought-up, the subs were GREAT! Man, I can almost taste one now! I loved their "Texas Steer" leather work boots with the tan soles - they were SO comfortable once they got broken in, & they were always very economically priced. Always a good sporting goods department - pretty much a solid all-around store.

WHAT HAPPENED? Did we "move forward?" Why can't we go back to what we know used to work?

GREED! Closest we have currently is Wally World and Target

Almost forgot about the air-popped popcorn machine! My mom would sometimes buy my brother and I a bag to split. We were little kids, so we’d subsequently trail popcorn bits around the store like bread crumbs from Hansel and Gretel.



Come to think of it, my first car model ever was from Kmart. It was Snap-Tite Duster funny car. I didn't know anything about Mopars as a kid and had persuaded my mom to buy it because it looked cool. I guess the die was cast early! (thanks mom)

I also remember Mom and Dad taking us 3 kids and paying on the lay-away items for each of us like clothes, shoes etc. The excitement when the items were paid for and we were to get something new. We didn't grow up with alot of money, so we just couldn't walk in and pay for something and walk out most of the time.

What about the auto service centers on the side of the K Marts? I vaguely remember them as a kid when they were operational. They later made them into a "garden center". The closed stores around me got reused as different retailers. The line of garage doors still remain and not used. They probably still have the old in ground hydraulic lifts you don't see anymore. A like i stumbled upon...
https://www.kmartworld.com/

The last physical store in the US closed last October in, I think, Pennsylvania. They are officially gone.

And those too will go the way of Kmart and Sears. We may not be around to see it, but it will happen.

Agreed, but maybe not in the way many think.

IMO, the greed came about as slow and gradual dismantling or various laws and regulations that made it easier to manipulate money, stock, and other financial tools that only marginally exist combined with the proliferation of the 401k as the primary retirement tool of a majority of Americans who seek to grow said 401k at every opportunity possible.

A cutting torch?

Why not? You need it for most chassis jobs here in the rust belt.

Gus

Today storage of acetylene in a public accessible space is frowned upon because of its explosive potential. it was always an insurance concern at my shop.
We have had a few So Fla muffler shops explode with fatalities over the years with suspected gas leaks. I went to plasma many decades ago to remove that concern.

Every shop here has torches and they're used pretty regularely to cut off or heat up seized rusted stuff thanks to winter.

how about mis-mangement???

My first job out of high school in 85 was at a Kmart auto center. We weren't allowed to have an oxyacetylene torch setup in that location. Even back then. I remember the dual post in ground lift we had, was adjustable for length and lifted trucks (and motorhomes) by each axle, each post had its own lever to operate.
We (not me yet, that came later at other jobs) did a lot of front end alignment and repairs at that Kmart.
That job only lasted that one summer because I had to quit when I started jr college, as my class schedule and the hours they had available for me to work, clashed this location was only open until 5:00, had they been open evenings I could have stayed on. (The rest of the store was open til 9 or 10)

Yep^^^ Every shop around here has that setup. I work at a tech college and we teach their use in our fundamentals course....1st course incoming students get.

Not sure about K's, but I recently visited a Radio Shack in Pigeon Forge. Bought some tuner cleaner

K-Mart had a pretty good auto department. The one near my house carried lots of replacement repair and tune-up items, many with K-Mart private labels.