June 29, 2009

Spotlight: Big Kmart - Panama City Beach, FL


While on vacation in Panama City Beach, FL I stumbled upon a Big Kmart, tucked away in a small shopping center behind a large road overpass. Upon pulling the building style immediately screamed former Wal-Mart to me. I googled online but couldn't find any info on if this was indeed a former Wal-Mart. The layout and building are not of any Kmart I've seen that they have built, so I know for a fact it was something else before Kmart. The entrance is on the far right end of the store. When entering the Service Desk is immediately on the right, followed by a large K Cafe. The registers are on the left. They store was very large and open. I went during a weekday afternoon and the store was quite a ghost town. The associates working the K Cafe and Service Desk were watching a tv setup in the K Cafe dining area.

This was a very large store, this shot was taken at the one end of the store looking towards the other end. Oddly this store did not have a large appliances department, common with most bigger size Kmart stores.


The electronics department was in a very odd place for a Kmart. If walking in the store it was at the front end of the store in the right corner. I was also a larger than normal electronics department.


typical Kmart Pharmacy, complete with half-lit sign.


Still in business K Cafe, when you walked in the store it was immediately to your right past the service desk. It used to feature Little Casers, these signs were covered by banners, as seen in the second picture.



I apologize for the blurry quality of the pictures, I was trying to take them quickly with my cell phone.

If anyone knows the history of the Kmart or has anything more to add about it, please leave a comment.

June 16, 2009

Welcome to the World of Kmart

Hello and Welcome to the new blog dedicated to preserving the retail memory of Kmart and other retail stores. Look for posts with pictures, information, news stories, and commentary on all things Kmart and Sears Holdings Corp.