There's a kmart (which is owned by Sears and therefore in the same situation) near my old office and it's downright depressing to go in there. The lighting isn't bright enough, the store is run with a skeleton staff and everything looks a bit old or dirty. For example, the floor tiles are overdue for a replacement. Want to buy a watch? Good luck finding an employee to help you at the watch counter. But the most eerie part is that the store is so devoid of customers.
When I go to a nearby Target, you can hardly move around all the shopping carts in there. The Kmart, which is a similar size, might only have a few customers in the store at a time. Maybe Target is slightly more upscale, but even the Walmart nearby looks much nicer, plus has a better selection and similar if not lower prices.
Unlike many other retail stores, it doesn't even feel like Kmart is trying to adapt. Bestbuy has it's superior customer service (not exactly world class, but better than competitors). T.J.Maxx/Homegoods has an ever-changing selection of bargains and the feeling of being in a treasure hunt. Even J.C. Penney tried a new transparent pricing scheme (which failed). But I haven't seen Kmart/Sears try to do something similar.
Edit: changed the store is run on a skeleton staff to the store is run with a skeleton staff
I had a similar experience the last time I was in a Kmart. No employees, no other customers, empty shelves. Go to the electronics department and you'll find games for systems that were obsolete a decade ago. I don't understand how they've managed to stay open so long.
In some neighborhoods, the local KMart was the only local clothing store for miles. This was the case in the neighborhood a few miles away from me until the mid 2000s and the rise of Amazon.
We had a Kmart go under in our town recently. It was a dead store walking for years before it finally happened. Made entirely of cinderblocks, totally unkept, frankly it was reminiscent of dirt floor cinderblock villages I'd been to in Central America.
Target hasn't adapted that much because they didn't have to, what they were in the 90s was good enough to keep up with online competition. I don't pretend to understand all of it, but I can tell they have something that resonates with consumers.
When I go to a nearby Target, you can hardly move around all the shopping carts in there. The Kmart, which is a similar size, might only have a few customers in the store at a time. Maybe Target is slightly more upscale, but even the Walmart nearby looks much nicer, plus has a better selection and similar if not lower prices.
Unlike many other retail stores, it doesn't even feel like Kmart is trying to adapt. Bestbuy has it's superior customer service (not exactly world class, but better than competitors). T.J.Maxx/Homegoods has an ever-changing selection of bargains and the feeling of being in a treasure hunt. Even J.C. Penney tried a new transparent pricing scheme (which failed). But I haven't seen Kmart/Sears try to do something similar.
Edit: changed the store is run on a skeleton staff to the store is run with a skeleton staff