Spotlight: Big Kmart - Snellville, GA

Big Kmart - Snellville, GA May 2011.

 Today's spotlight is the Big Kmart in Snellville, GA. This is a very old Kmart located in a dying shopping center. As you can see from the picture above it wasn't very busy when I visited on a weekday afternoon. I originally visited this location and took a couple pictures of it in September 2008 (shown below.) A few things have changed since then including new shopping carts, the removal of the K Cafe and a few minor decorative changes.

Typical Kmart store entrance, The door striping is now red, it was blue when I visited in Sept. 2008.

Above was the picture taken in Sept. 2008. At the time you can see they were having a sidewalk sale. The carts they had were blue plastic, now they are grey and red metal (as pictured below.)

Kmart's new carts, that are being put in several stores. There are two sizes, the regular ones and a new mini cart (they are on the far right row of the picture.)

 I for one am happy to see Kmart at least invest in new carts. Most stores had several different colors and styles, not to mention that they were very old. Now if they would only makeover the rest of the store maybe we'd get somewhere.

The former location of the K Cafe, now just an area for putting pallets of specials.

 K Cafe pictured still in business when I visited the store in Sept. 2008. It used to feature Little Caesars pizza, but as you can see in the sign its blanked out.

K Cafe's seem to be disappearing from Kmart's at an increasing pace. I think Sears Holdings has something against food, as they are removing more Super Kmart Centers, K Cafe's, and continue to lag in their food selection at regular Kmart stores.

I could not get over how old this Pharmacy sign looked, a serious throwback.

Appliance area that was added a few years ago.

Electronics department, complete with missing signs on the wall.

One thing I will say about the electronics department during my visit was that there was an employee working in the department and she even asked me if I needed any help. I was impressed as most Kmarts its hard to find someone working in the electronics much less willing to help you.

Olan Mills Portrait Studio.

I found this Olan Mills very strange as it was out in the open in the middle of the store instead of being in a little room like they usually are. It leads me to believe it wasn't an original location and was added after the fact.

That about wraps up this spotlight feature, hope you enjoyed it. We've got plenty more to offer in the coming weeks including a former Super Kmart Center in NC that is now a regular Kmart/Sears Outlet combo store.  And as always leave your comments and thoughts about this store below.

Case Study: Recent Sears Holdings Headlines

  Here's some of Sears Holdings most recent headlines along with my take on them.

Sears Interim CEO 2010 pay more than triples

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Sears Holdings Corp.'s interim CEO W. Bruce Johnson, who gave up the top role in February, received compensation worth $5.3 million in 2010, more than triple the prior year, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.

Johnson, 59, received a salary of $979,487, up 15 percent from the previous year, which ended Jan. 29, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The company, controlled by billionaire financier Edward Lampert, operates Sears and Kmart stores. It has struggled for more than a decade with declining sales and customer defections. Analysts say it desperately needs to renovate its stores to lure shoppers back.

The bulk of Johnson's compensation came in the form of stock awards valued at $4.3 million, up from $663,400 in the previous year. Johnson also received other compensation worth $24,983 as part of Sears' perks program.

His total compensation the year before was valued at $1.5 million.

Johnson served as interim CEO and president from February 2008 until the company named Louis J. D'Ambrosio, 46, permanent CEO in February. Johnson now serves as executive vice president of the company's off-mall businesses and supply chain.

Johnson's base salary was restored to $900,000 in fiscal 2010 following a voluntary temporary reduction of his base salary to $850,000 in fiscal 2009 as the company aimed to cut costs. In April 2010, Johnson's base salary was increased from $900,000 to $1 million. In addition, Johnson received 40,000 shares of restricted stock last year to be paid in equal installments over four years.

Sears is being squeezed by retailers from all sides. At Kmart, whose business has strengthened somewhat, it faces challenges in food as Target Corp. expands into groceries. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, has stumbled with falling sales but is still a formidable competitor.

Sears' stores' strength has long been appliances and home goods, including the Kenmore and Craftsman brands, but those sales have weakened. Home-improvement chains Home Depot and Lowe's Cos. have been specifically targeting that category.

For the year ended in January, Sears earned $133 million, or $1.19 per share. This was off 43 percent from $235 million, or $1.99 per share, in the prior year. Adjusted earnings fell to $2.07 per share from $3.19 per share.

Annual revenue declined 2 percent to $43.33 billion.

Full-year revenue at stores open at least a year fell 1.6 percent, with Kmart posting a 0.7 percent increase and Sears reporting a 3.6 percent decline. The measure is a key indicator of a retailer's health. Copyright 2011 Associated Press

My Take-
Can Sears Holdings really afford to pay their CEO's that much money while their sales shrink? Why Eddie Lampert would want to reward his CEO for declining sales is beyond me. This is just another reason why Eddie is slowly destroying Kmart and Sears. He should be using that money to renovate stores and not overpaying executives. One thing to point out that the article stated is Kmart's business has somewhat strengthened. That's been reinforced by Kmart's small increases in sales, while Sears stores have been reporting larger declines.

Sears Holdings Continues Commitment to the Military With Launch of Permanent Change of Station Promise

In Support of First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden's Joining Forces Initiative, Sears Holdings Offers Continued Employment to Service Members and Families

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. April 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - As a longstanding supporter of the military and military families, Sears Holdings has announced the launch of its Permanent Change of Duty Station (PCS) Promise. The PCS Promise was created to support Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden's Joining Forces initiative, which raises awareness around the challenges that military personnel and their spouses endure when moving from one community to another. The PCS Promise, which helps military associates and spouses employed by Sears Holdings secure job transfers, is aligned with the Joining Forces initiative, which asks the nation to support our brave service members.

"The Sears Holdings PCS Promise for our military associates and their spouses was specifically created to identify new opportunities for our heroes to continue leading successful careers, regardless of their location," said Lou D'Ambrosio, chief executive officer of Sears Holdings. "And it is an honor to offer this promise at the same time that Michelle Obama and Dr. Biden are leading the charge in the Joining Forces initiative, which is committed to providing heroes the support and opportunity they deserve."

In many cases, military spouses move from one community to another when their spouses are reassigned. On top of the stress of uprooting children and relocating to a new community, military spouses are often faced with the difficulty of continuing their careers or finding a new job in their new location. With the PCS Promise, Sears Holdings will do everything in its power to give military associates who are employed by the retailer a job at a Sears, Kmart or Lands' End store convenient to their new location.

Sears Holdings will also conduct a virtual career fair for military spouses this summer that will enable them to connect online with other military spouses currently employed with the company and get information on employment opportunities at nearly 4,000 store locations.

"From our experience, we know that military associates are driven, motivated and have leadership skills that can only help our company grow. We win by keeping talented, experienced employees working in our stores," D'Ambrosio added.

In addition to the promise, Sears will continue to offer additional opportunities through its existing Heroes at Home program. The Heroes at Home program has provided the means for hundreds of military families to shop for in-demand items and necessities during the holidays through its Wish Registry, and the program will continue to provide support to service members, veterans and their families through joint efforts with various nonprofit organizations, including Rebuilding Together and the USO. The program has already helped hundreds of deserving military families by raising more than $21 million to support the rebuilding of more than 1,000 homes by the end of 2011.

My take-
This is one thing that Sears Holdings has done well with- helping people out in need. Kmart stores have the Smart Assist card that gives discounts for unemployed people. And now they are assisting military families who need help relocating their jobs. Not to mention they've done other things like providing items for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I would hope that they are doing this things to be sincerely helpful, but I'm sure a lot of it is for positive publicity.

Sears and Kmart Join Forces With TV Star Sandra Lee on Exclusive Home Products Line

The Debut Sandra by Sandra Lee Collection Will Be Available at Sears and Kmart Stores in Spring 2012

NEW YORK, April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - TV star, entrepreneur and bestselling author Sandra Lee has entered into a direct-to-retail license agreement with Sears Holdings for home products. The exclusive collection of home products, Sandra by Sandra Lee, will be available in Sears and Kmart stores in spring 2012. The initial launch of the collection will include cookware, utensils, gadgets, bakeware, small kitchen appliances and tabletop items.

"The new Sandra by Sandra Lee collection is a welcome and timely addition to the value we offer our customers in the home category and underscores our commitment to making everyday special," said John Goodman, executive vice president of Apparel and Home for Sears Holdings. "Both Sandra's down-to-earth style and sense of practicality shine through this collection, which is both aspirational yet still attainable."

Acclaimed for her warmth and approachability, as well as her talent for offering simple solutions to everyday living, Sandra Lee anticipates a product line and a collaborative effort with Sears and Kmart that will help customers focus most on what's important to them.

"Launching my first ever, complete collection of home products with Sears and Kmart is a wonderful opportunity to help their customers live their lives beautifully and simply. I have waited a long time to find the right retail partner—one that would be able to execute my vision for the brand," said TV star Sandra Lee. "What is equally exciting is that the 'Sandra by Sandra Lee' collection will be affordable and accessible to everyone, while still maintaining the fun flair and simple sophistication my brand is known for."

"We're thrilled to welcome Sandra Lee to our Sears and Kmart family and to add her line to our portfolio of trusted brands," stated Chris Capuano, president of Home Fashions, Sears Holdings. Ms. Capuano added, "Sandra's philosophy of implementing simple ideas that create dramatic results will resonate with our customers and we are happy to be able to offer the collection exclusively to them."


My take-
This could definitely be a good thing for Kmart and Sears by filling the void left by the Martha Stewart Everyday collection that was removed a couple years ago. I'm not that familiar with Sandra Lee, but I'm sure plenty of others are and they might go to Kmart just because they carry her collection. Which can result in positive sales gains for Kmart and Sears stores. We will find out in a year when it hits the stores.

Post a comment below to add your takes on these stories and if you agree with my take on them.

Special Report: The slow death of Super Kmart Centers & the rise of Eddie Lampert

© Kate Bingaham-Burt

One of my most popular posts on this site was from back in July 2009. It was a spotlight on Georgia's last Super Kmart Center and the subsequent removal of the "Super" part of the store. Fast forward to March 2011 and we are getting closer to talking about the Nations last Super Kmart Center. Super Kmart Centers are becoming an increasingly dying breed and it's unclear how many Super Kmart Centers are now left in the US. Kmart has removed the Super Kmart Center part of their website and thus the store locator for Super Kmart Centers. As of last count, there were just over 30 left but now that number is less because of the recent de-supering of several locations. And by de-supering, I mean the increasingly frequent practice of Kmart completely removing the grocery sections and changing them to Big Kmart's, which are no longer open 24 hours as the Super Kmart Centers were. This was the fate of the Rome, GA location I visited and reported on. Locations that aren't worth changing to Big Kmarts are closed all together, which happened quite a bit in the earlier 2000's during Kmart's bankruptcy stage.

© Kate Bingaham-Burt

You can pretty much put the final nail in the coffin of Super Kmart Centers. It's an unfortunate but true fact as the number of Super Kmart Centers dwindle down closer to zero with the closure or de-supering of most locations. Sears Holdings has all but given up on the concept, realizing that it's too little, too late now to try to expand it further to compete with Walmart Supercenters.

© Kate Bingaham-Burt

I am for one disappointed that they didn't try to maintain and expand the concept in the late 90s/early 00s, before Walmart got a stronger hold than it already had on the grocery market. Instead, during their bankruptcy of 2002, they closed several of the Super Kmart Center locations. Then in 2003 when Eddie Lampert started his rein of the company, you could all but forget any hope of progress for Super Kmart Centers.

© Kate Bingaham-Burt

Ever since Lampert has taken control of Kmart and then subsequently Sears any chances of progress for the company has died before it even started. Lampert runs the company to get profits for his hedge fund, instead of worrying about increasing sales or making improvements to the stores. Most people can tell this from the 90s and even 80s time warp they get when stepping into most Kmart stores. A lot of us love the nostalgic feeling we get when going into Kmart's but no matter how much we love it, it's bad for business.

© Kate Bingaham-Burt

Sears Holdings idea of progress is their never ending testing of different concepts, only for them to be abandoned or die a slow death. I recently did an article on mygofer, one of Sears Holdings most recent concepts that they have been focusing on. To give you a short summary, I'm not that impressed.

© Kate Bingaham-Burt

I hate to be critical about Kmart and Sears Holdings so much lately, but there really isn't much they've done recently to be positive or happy about. Here's hoping that Sears Holdings can do something to make Kmart a tour de force in the retail world again. Until then Kmart's outlook is looking as bleak as these pictures.

© Kate Bingaham-Burt

Special thanks to Kate Bingaman-Burt of Obsessiveconsumption.com. She captured these awesome photos after her local Super Kmart Center went out of business. She wrote an interesting article about that location to go with these photos, it can be read on Core77.com. These photos are sole property of Kate Bingaman-Burt.

© Kate Bingaham-Burt

Special Report: Mygofer or Mygoof, a concept worth the effort?

By now you've probably heard of mygofer, one of Sears Holdings many concepts and tests. If you haven't, it's in short, a bit of a hybrid type shopping experience. You can order groceries, health & beauty, and general merchandise items online and have them delivered to you or pick them up at select Kmart locations. All you have to do is go to the website, select your Kmart store, pick out the items you want, then go to the store to pick them up. There's also a mobile app that you can order items from in lieu of using the website.

         (Image courtesy of newmarketbuilders.com)

It's a good concept, but I'm afraid the execution is once again flawed. For example, when you're shopping for groceries on mygofer.com, you're limited to picking out whatever that Kmart store you select carries. Unfortunately, most Kmart's have a small selection of groceries. Upon browsing my local Kmart on mygofer.com, you can buy a gallon of milk yet you can't buy a carton of orange juice. Browsing further in the category of frozen foods, all it brings up is a half gallon bottle of prune juice, which is not even a frozen food item. You can see where I'm going here, there's a very limited selection of grocery items that you can order online and get in store.

There's many other catagories that you can chose from to order on the site and pick up in store (electronics, household items, etc.), but that's really no different from ordering on Wal-Mart's website and selecting their site-to-store pickup. The food and grocery catagroies are displayed prominently on mygofer's website and seem to be the main draw of the service, yet it's the part most lacking. I will go a step further and say that if you're close to an actual mygofer store (of which there is only one in existance) or a Kmart Supercenter (not many left in existance) you can chose from a better selection of grocery items. Honestly, what's the point of heavily promoting the service, if only a few places in the US can take full advantage of it?

Another point to make is the website itself is not especially quick or even easy to use. It makes a decent alternative to Wal-Mart site-to-store pick up service. If that's Sears Holdings goal, then why not just integrate the 'order online, pick up in store' service into Kmart.com and Sears.com. Instead of having a whole separate website to shop from. Yes, I understand that Wal-Mart's service won't let you pick up your items within a couple hours of ordering them, like mygofer can. That's definitely a positive, but it's only beneficial in certain situations.

Now let's look at the actual mygofer store locations, which at last check, there was only one. Joliet, IL is the original full fledged mygofer location, born from a converted Kmart building. It's basically a small showroom, with computers to order items, and a drive thru to pick them up. The majority of the building is warehouse space for all the items they sell. The city of Joliet has a webpage all about this location, including several pictures. To me, the actual mygofer store locations are a more innovative and intriguing concept than the mygofer at Kmart pickup service.

So what do you think, is mygofer a concept Sears Holdings should keep testing or do you think it's yet another failure by them?

Kmart World is back for 2011!

 

That's right, we're back! The World of Kmart, now known simply as Kmart World is back from hiatus. We have revamped the site and are ready to post new updates for 2011! Be sure to bookmark the site, share it with others, follow us, like us on Facebook, send us suggestions, and whatever else you can do to get involved with Kmart World.

We are in desperate need for contributors around the country for our store Spotlight features. If you'd like your local Kmart featured on the site, please send us photos and some information about it to the email address here. We will give you full credit for your contribution in the post.

Thank you for sticking with us, we hope you are looking forward to an exciting year in the world of Kmart!