Spotlight: Sears Grand - Las Vegas, NV

A day late and a Grand short...

Located at 4355 Grand Canyon Dr Las Vegas, NV 89147

Today we visit the Sears Grand in Las Vegas, NV. Opening on July 31, 2004 at 165,000 squre-feet, it was the third store to open as part of the Sears Grand concept. It was also the smallest ground up Sears Grand to open, the first one in West Jordan, Utah is 225,00 square-feet. For those of you who don't know, Sears Grand was developed and started by pre-Kmart merger Sears in 2003 as a ground up off mall hyper-mart type of store to compete with the likes of Walmart and Target. For more information about Sears Grand click here for a story we did on the Sears Grand concept all the way back in 2009.

When opening in addition to regular Sears merchandise, this store offered many items that you couldn't find in a typical Sears store. This store also had a Portrait studio, optical center, hearing aid center, outdoor garden center, full service auto center, key cutting, and large merchandise pickup area. Originally this store's hours were 8am-10pm, today its hours are 11am-9pm. Here's an article straight from Sears website on the opening of this Sears Grand location and an article here all about the store from the Las Vegas Sun.

These directories are posted all over the store at the price scanners.

Unfortunately today this and all remaining Sears Grand locations are a shell of their former selves. If you look at the directory above you can see some of the things a Sears Grand would have that a typical Sears didn't. Well Eddie Lampert decided that the Sears Grand concept wasn't working for him and reverted all Sears Grand locations to regular Sears locations with just a Grand name.

The looking at the directory here are the departments that are no longer offered in the store- cleaning supplies, pet supplies, lawn and garden (just patio furniture and grills still offered), garden center, paint, sporting goods (only bicycles still offered), toys, cds/dvds/gaming, window fashions (limited offering still), home decor, storage and closet, health and beauty, pantry, cards and party, books, portrait studio, and hearing aid center.

After reading that you're probably saying to yourself that's over half the store! And you would be correct, half the store was merchandise a typical Sears didn't carry and now this store doesn't carry. Things have been moved around in the store and now it has a very different layout than the directory which is from when the store opened.

Now the pet supplies/cleaning supplies/seasonal/lawn and garden area of the map just has patio furniture and grills. The lawn and garden area judging by old signs on the wall used to carry things like weed killer spray and fertilizer. The garden center is completely closed off and is used as storage for fixtures and supplies.

Signs on the wall for Ortho and Miracle Gro from the former lawn and garden area.

The sporting goods/toys area is now furniture which is a new department that wasn't offered when the store opened.

The paint area is now the fitness department and the fitness department is now more tools and bicycles.

The electronics department has been downsized by over half of what it used to be. Cds/dvds/gaming have all been phased out with the exception of a couple small displays of dvd's. The furniture department and vacuums take over some of the electronics department on the left side and clothing takes over some of the electronics department on the right side.

All kinds of signs on the wall for things that are no longer carried anymore.

The window fashions/bedding/storage and closet/bath areas of the map have all been taken over my the greatly expanded mattresses department.

The cookware/housewares area on the map is now dining room tables and other small furniture items.

Signs on the wall for the cooking department that was originally here,

The bath and home decor area on the map is now kitchen appliances and what I guess you would consider the cookware.

Signs on the wall to the left for the bath department that was originally here.

The health and beauty/pantry/cards and party areas are now the bedding and the bath departments. According to the article about the store when it opened the pantry department carried items such as milk, cereal, and baby food. It also carried packaged deli meats, hot dogs and a small frozen section with meals and pizzas.

Signs on the wall for the former health and beauty departments.

 The books area is now luggage and the portrait studio is now a watch service area.

The clothing and shoes departments are the only part of the store that has remained mostly the same from the directory.

Here's some pictures of what former areas of the store may have looked like. These pictures weren't necessarily taken at the Las Vegas store but they were taken at ground up Sears Grand locations. They were not taken by Kmart World but were found in various old news articles.

Former pantry area

Former pantry area with dairy coolers.

Former cards, party, and books area

Former cd and dvd section of the electronics department.

Notice the Cafe/Bakery on the left side of the picture.

 There you have it the not so Grand Sears Grand in Las Vegas, NV! Here's the rest of the pictures that were taken on June 9, 2016-

 

Spotlight: Super Kmart Center - Moon Township, PA

Store 4935 2000 Marketplace Blvd. Moon Township, PA.

Today we feature a Super Kmart Center that hasn't been downsized to a regular Kmart or closed down all together. It is located in Moon Township, Pennsylvania and was one of the first developments in the area between the city of Pittsburgh and the airport. It opened in November of 1994 and is 172,253 sq feet according to SHCrealty.com. It was strategically built to escape the high taxes of nearby areas. The area developed rapidly in the late 90's and into the early 2000's. Few other businesses decided to locate on Marketplace Blvd though.

Thank you for shopping Super Kmart Center instead of Walmart!

During it's first 8 years of operation this store did $250,000-$300,000 a day in sales. When Kmart went into bankruptcy in 2002, it was slated for closure along with numerous other Super Kmart Centers around the country. Luckily the store pulled through and stayed open, although it discontinued being open 24 hours for over a years time. Unfortunately sales declined year after year with only slight improvements during 2008-2010. Since 2010 sales have continued to decline again. 

The typical exterior design of a built from the ground up Super K.

According to a article in the Beaver County Times on November 10, 1994, this store opened with 28 checkout registers and 16 grocery aisles. It featured a full service auto center, hair salon, pharmacy, outdoor garden shop, one hour photo lab, florist, portrait studio, gourmet coffee and bakery kiosks,  and a full service restaurant. The grocery side of the store featured a butcher shop, bakery, deli, prepared food section, fresh produce, and fresh seafood.

Dairy department.

Unfortunately the features of this store have dwindled over time and the former auto center, restaurant, and arcade spaces are being rented out for other businesses to come in and operate. The auto center was closed in 2002, full service meat and seafood in 2003, the restaurant in 2004, Borics hair salon in 2011, bakery and deli operations were greatly reduced in 2012, the floral department was closed quite a while back, and the one hour photo lab is long gone also. In early 2012, this Super Kmart Center along with the 21 others remaining around the country had their hours reduced from being open 24 hours to 6am to 12am everyday. One thing promising for this store is that at the end of December 2012, it starting accepting WIC vouchers, the first Kmart store in the country to do so.

Service Desk with the Super Stars of Super K.

Team shop and former florist area.

The former restaurant seating area.

Another shot of the former restaurant seating area.

 

Newest Super Kmart Center logo, now pronounced Kmart Supercenter

And there you go another barely surviving Super Kmart Center, one of just a few remaining around the country. Should Kmart just give up completely on their remaining Supercenters or should they continue to let them hang on? Let us know in the comments below.