June 23, 2012

Spotlight: Kmart - Lake Park, FL

1220 Northlake Blvd Lake Park, FL 33403
Today we are spotlighting a Kmart that was visited by one of our anonymous guest contributors. This Kmart located in Lake Park, FL and opened on August 15, 1974. The store is doing fairly well and has even received a decent looking remodel in the past couple of years. Interestingly there is a Target complete with the new P-Fresh grocery section right next door to this Kmart.

Bright colored walls help make the store look bigger.
 This Kmart was remodeled with multicolored walls and the black (or brown) and orange concept departmental signs. They added a Sears Auto Center and a drink station at the front of the store with ICEE's. The store also has an Olan Mills portrait studio and a Pharmacy, but no K Cafe. Of course with most Kmart remodels obvious details have been overlooked like the old, nasty ceiling tiles, outdated video game cases, and the ancient milk coolers. Overall it was a nice looking remodel, but not as nice as the ones they have done most recently. If Sears Holdings would spend just a little more on each store's remodel it would make a big difference, but alas that's how Eddie Lampert manages the company.

Look at that nasty ceiling, why not fix that?
In the pantry department, it's set up a bit differently than most Kmart's. The aisles are broken in half so that it makes two short aisles as apposed to one long run. In turn that makes it a little more shopper friendly.

Panty aisle signs.
Now going back to the Target next door. Upon checking it out, it was a cluttered and cramped but clean store. The parking lot is a bit cumbersome to navigate and is not very easy to access from the highway. Possibly because of that the store was very empty upon visiting and is probably a good reason the Kmart is still making it. Kmart had a good amount of foot traffic and has multiple entrances to the complex. The Target is by itself and the Kmart is in with a busy shopping center.

Map showing how close Kmart is to Target
And so that covers the Lake Park Kmart. What do you think of the remodel of this store? Do you think it'll continue to survive next to Target? Leave you comments below and enjoy the rest of the pictures.