I Visit The Last Kmart In The USA.....Almost. 

The company that owns the Kmart stores in Australia are basically franchisees. They still pay Transform SR Brands/Sears for the Kmart brand Licensing. But I understand what you meant . I just think it's amazing that the largest retailer in the United States basically went out of business because Sam Walton started a dollar store.

@@theylied1776 It is pretty crazy. Of course Kmart and Sears having horrific management running the company into the ground definitely sealed their fate.

@@theylied1776 It wasn't Sam Walton. It was Eddie Lampert and his flavor of private vulture capitalism. He's smoother than Chainsaw Al Dunlap, but he's cut from the same cloth.

@@raygunsforronnie847 It was Sam Walton. The strategy Sam Walton used was opening a Walmart store wherever Kmart refused to. The strategy paid off because counties and small towns actually lobbied their state legislature to give Walmart tax breaks for opening stores. That strategy is actually taught in business school. It's called (go where they ain't). That's what Sam Walton called it.

@@theylied1776 That made WalMart a small town powerhouse, but it wasn't want killed Sears/KMart.

Me too. Wal-Mart needs some competition besides Target, which is no competition at all.

​@@StevefromOhio1972Always knew Kmart was tawdry even since 1983 as an eight year old child.

They survive because part of their M.O. was to buy up real estate (I’m told) not simply lease buildings

Me to I used to love shopping at Kmart they sold more different kinds of things than Walmart I would be nice Kmart could make a return an people stop shopping on line an do more shopping at real stores they could help save malls an stores like Kmarts 😊

Same here. Kmart was an amazing place to work. I loved it from the bottom to the top!

CEOs only care about their own greed no more.

We had a K-Mart here in Raleigh, likely one of the last new ones built. It was a nice store and kept well stocked, I actually went out of my way to shop there.

@@javicr2570 All CEOs aren't like that, but the CEO of Sears/K-Mart certainly is.

lol.. delusional people forever.

​@@JeffDeWitt- I remember the *first* Kmart in Raleigh at the corner of Six Forks and Old Wake Forest Road. We moved to Raleigh in early 1968 and went there once or twice a month. My mother preferred it to Woolworth. It had a couple of those mechanical children's rides out front you fed quarters, a horse and a car of some sort. That location also flooded from Crabtree Creek periodically, along with the nearby Buick and Cadillac/Olds dealerships. Thompson Cadillac is still there. Nearby was an early round Hardee's and my favorite fast food joint, the long-gone Red Barn (building is still there, now a Biscuitville). Good memories.

I remember the 80s as a kid going to kmart with my mom 😂

You can thank Eddie Lambert for Kmart's downfall. He sat on his butt for years not allowing the company to do major rebranding.

I liked Sears a lot but never went to Kmart because we had local grocery stores. Sears was everything but groceries almost.

You do have a point there because Kmart was always used as a poor person insult when I was growing up and it is kind of ironic It's in one of the richest areas in the country now being one of the last two in the continental US lol. Although I guess it just means the rich people get to take one more thing from the rest of us poors lol

I miss those stores too. For us, a trip to Montgomery Ward or Sears always meant fancier clothes for a special event or needing a new appliance. Everyday clothes or needs came from K Mart or Big K, which had no relationship to K Mart. We got our 1st Walmart when a Big K closed and Walmart moved in. Over the years we got a Ken's and a Magic Mart, but those would eventually close and left Walmart standing.

Ames, Zayre, Basix, Circuit City, Hechinger, Pace, Toys R Us, Service Merchandise, F&M

Dollar stores, thift sores and outlet stores make kmart look like a store for the wealthy, not for the poor

snobbish area lol i live here local for 55 years the snobbish people are all the tourist that come here and act like they own the place its sure not the local people !!! i rember when it was called caldors way back

Did they have the special until the end?

@@42luke93 Not sure as I, like most people, stopped going long ago as other stores passed K Mart in the retail segment. But I do remember going to the Tulsa location in 2016 and they still had the special.

That's awesome, thanks for the info!

@@SetsStreetsEats FYI, KMart Australia, like Target Auatralia are completely separate from the US based corporations.

Kmart in Australia first opened in 1969. The Australian Kmart was a 50:50 joint venture between Kmart USA and Coles. Coles is one of Australia's two major national grocery store chains. Kmart USA sold their 50% to Coles in 1977 and since then it has been entirely separate to the USA Kmart. As a kid I went to the first Kmart in Australia shortly after it opened and remembering it being very different to any shop I had even been in. Surprisingly it also had a cafeteria section with tables and chairs and served cooked meals on a plate with real cutlery. The cafeteria closed after a few years.

Those front doors gave me a serious Caldor flashback.

This store opened 1 day and 10years before I was born

Yes, but this building was built for Caldor discount dept store, so the this is purely coincidental.

​@@Mrs.Doubtfire007yes thanks for the update. Zayres had them, too!!

Jc Penney also has those big round HVAC vent hoods in many of their stores too.

When you only have two stores to stock they can have allot of inventory.

Thank you for that awesome compliment!

It’s well stocked and looks nice because there is absolutely no one in the store buying anything 😂

​@@anthonydefuria9224that's a great point! One thing you notice about all these "last days of KMart" videos on RU-vid is not a single fellow shopper or employee. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Fuck cellphones and the internet for killing the "store" and the "mall" as places to socially congregate.

The hamptons is one of if not the most expensive place to live in the entire country, it’s amazing that it’s open here because nobody is buying anything from it

Wealth 🤑

Your kmarts are owned by a different company. No connection between them.

But that name still lives on.

@@Steve.Cutler you are correct, however looking at the POS and store aesthetic they look the same + the name, hence I would say there is a lot connecting the 2, just not ownership.

@@stevensx4 I want to visit yours so bad!!! Totally one of the reasons I want to move there :)

Kmart in Australia selling anything brand name let alone Tupperware? 😂 maybe in 2005

What you said. The Eddie Lampert take over is a textbook example of private equity extracting the "value" from the assets of a company - the real estate, pension plan, finance division, cherished brands - and leaving the empty husk. Where did KMart and Sears go? Into the pockets of Lampert's companies and cronies.

That's a total shame and a horrible thing to do to a great American company like that and I'm sure it's sadly not an uncommon story 😢

Correct, but Kmart was beaten in the marketplace long before Lampert merged it. Walmart was instrumental in killing it off.

@@GDuncan8002 I agree. They sat on their hands for years while Walmart and target came in with fresher stores. Lampert finished it off. I hated watching it fall.

Sad that POS lampert put Thousands of people out of work to make millions typical hedge fund trash. Would be great for someone to buy the KMart name and bring it back I have no doubt folks tired of Wally world would flock back. That store was actually impressive as the last one that closed in Georgia a few years back took a slow death. So sad..

That store will probably close before the New York location.

Thank you, I appreciate you watching! And yes I agree. What he did was completely criminal to those great companies.

It's in Bridgehampton so its also located in a wealthy area which also helps

Yeah I cut it out of the video but they actually have a two aisle section in the back corner of just beach items as well. So definitely services the local community for sure.

Going all the way back to the late 70s I've never seen such a fully stocked and clean Kmart. I still remember our location having a bin that always had sub sandwiches sitting out ALL DAY with no refrigeration and flies landing on them.

​@@bruceh4180Our K Mart had the subs back in the 70's and 80's, but they were refrigerated and sometimes made while you waited. They were so good too. When the store moved and became a Super K Mart the subs went away and a small "eatery" moved in, but never caught on, so it closed after a year or two and became storage. They should've stuck with the subs. Lol.😊

@@bruceh4180 There’s a 99¢ store near me that has tons of produce out of refrigeration that should be refrigerated, like cauliflower and such. The few times I’ve been there, it’s impossible to buy any of it because it’s already getting moldy. What is the point of stocking food that they don’t have the proper equipment to store it in?!

Woolworth's did this with Woolco, G.C. Murphy's did this with Murphy's Mart, and Sam Walton did this with...wait for it...Walmart.

What was the rewards program like?

@@anti-ethniccleansing465 I remember the reward points could almost equal what I was spending in dollars. It's not like they marked prices up to make up for that either! I remember thinking at the time that this couldn't possibly help their bottom line. I continued to shop there until they closed.

There's already a Target in Riverhead. No need for anther one

@@cornkiller534 yes, but as mentioned, thats 30 miles away. this has survived because even the rich gotta sneak in some discount shopping once in a while

I have a feeling the landlord is going to increase the rent substantially.

Those are special memories. That's very nice to have memories tied in with the legacy of a company like that. That means every time you'll see a Kmart branded item at an antique store, you'll always smile and maybe even pick it up and take it home and it's something to pass on. I like that a lot.

Did you ever shop at Walmart? Blame the people that did. I never did in my entire life (I’m 48). Those of us with an lQ above room temperature knew from day one that it was evil company who was intent on destroying every city/county it put a store in, by clearing out all the competition and mom and pop stores. And it wasn’t surprising when it came out in news story after news story how wickedly they treated their employees. They never saw one single red cent from my wallet because they are such a heinous company. The people who didn’t care about anything besides saving a buck are to blame for shopping there and making Walmart so prosperous.

The prices were higher than Walmart and sometimes even higher than Target. Circa 2004, I shopped at a Super Kmart. I bought groceries there. It was actually clean, fairly modern, and well-maintained. But I had to stop shopping there because the grocery prices were too high. They didn't have anything special or unique. People say trying to compete with Walmart on price was a bad decision, and it was, but what else were they going to do to get people to come? If they had gone a little upmarket, they would have run into the buzzsaw of Target. It was a no-win situation for Kmart.

Our Kmart in western NC was always unkept and the stores seemed to vary in this regard during the years. A bit odd the management of an individual store would vary noticeably.

@@danieldougan269 Yes, there were headwinds from both directions. But some people truly preferred K Mart. They could have e retained a decent amount of customers by simply keeping their stores neat and clean. The fact that so many of their stores were unkempt gave the impression that they no longer cared. That didn’t help.

I remember when Sears started buying out some of The K-Mart Stores here in The United States and Than Sears closed down we were one of The Last Sears Store to close down here in Greensboro North Carolina

Funny, because I’m in Springfield and my family has roots to Guam!

Yeah, I'll be looking for some old Walmarts for sure. There are only 2 Kmarts left, this location in NY and a Miami location that may not last much longer.

​@@SetsStreetsEats I've been to the Miami one recently! Unfortunately it's now a shell of it's former self. I believe they'll be closing up soon. If you ever head out to that area be sure to hit me up! I'd love to see it again one more time🤙

This Kmart he just walked through likely won't last either. Did you notice that inspite of a ton of merchandise for sale, where were the customers? With no customers, no sales. With no sales, no profits.

That sounds like a great anniversary trip!

The u.s. has 3 locations in the u.s. Virgin Islands and 1 in Guam as well.

5:32. "Thriving" . 😂 They don't have a single customer.

The Australian Kmarts are a completely different company they just bought the name.

@@tylermills79 Kmart Australia Limited was created out of a joint venture between G.J Coles & Coy Limited (Coles) and the S.S. Kresge Company which was the company that operated Kmart stores in the United States. Kresge owned 51% of the common stock in the company and Coles owned the remaining 49%; together they began to develop Kmart stores in Australia in 1968 From Wikipedia.

​@dougrembowski5003 There is also a Kmart in Guam and 3 in the United States Virgin Islands that are owned by Tansforco. Yes, there more than "2" Kmart in the United States 🇺🇸 😂

Thanks, I actually got myself an icee or two back in the day from checkout, I totally forgot about that until you mentioned it. White cherry was always my flavor!

There is a KMart in Guam and three in the Virgin Islands as well that are owned by Lampert's outfit.

I really appreciate you watching the video and enjoying it! And I was in there at about noon on a Tuesday. And yeah I only saw one or two customers come in during the 30 minutes I was there and saw one or two employees working the store. So I guess they don't have to worry about a huge payroll lol

I'm very glad you enjoyed it!

Yeah I was there for about 30 minutes around noon on a Tuesday afternoon and only one or two other customers came in the whole time I was there 😬

My understanding is it's the only department store civilians have access to. Just like the NY one, lack of competition saved its neck - for now.

@@JohnWilson-hc5wq Yes, your right!

What’s the reward?

@@ATLcentury334 they had points just a few years back. Certain discounts and the likes. I’m highly doubtful they remain. Retail has taken a death spiral for the worst in recent years. A catastrophe at best.

It won't be because there's no other department store nearby for 25 miles

Just as well stocked as the rest of the store. Honestly. I honestly haven't seen a Kmart look this nice since I was a child. And I was in there around noon on a Tuesday and there was only one or two customers that came into the store during that time. But with it being one of the only stores out there, I think it will keep surviving, especially because during the summer time it's probably packed.

@@SetsStreetsEats here in long beach California there was a k mart super store that was very clean and well stocked. It was called the White people K-mart. I think it closed 6 years ago. I was sad to see it go.

The Kmarts in my area never looked like this. This looks more like a Sears.

They are tearing it down now

@@BrianWismer-mn7yd when exactly? I’ve been hearing that for a very long time now.

Kmarts old world headquarters in Troy Michigan is being torn down right now. The sumerset collection (mall) across the street bought it. Doesn't say what is going in to replace it

Sorta... they moved all merchandise onto garden shop & lease out the retail Salesfloor for other use. In essence it doesn't really count

No Amazon did not.....Wal Mart did! Wal Mart's sole purpose was to put Kmart, mom and pop stores, and other retailers OUT of business. They succeded. Amazon just jumped on the bandwagon.

@@lisah935 The truly sad damn shame about Sears is. . .they COULD have been Amazon long before Amazon was a twinkle in Jeff Bezos' eye. They had the brick and mortar stores but more importantly, they had the catalogs to sell their products across America. As a youngster, we waited anxiously for Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs to show up pre Christmas. They were divine spectacles. Sears sold virtually everything one could imagine. . inclucing a complete HOUSE from a kit. Sears overwhelmed Montgomery Ward and Spiegels (their other catalog competition). They owned the day and might have owned the future but IMO, foolish decisions about the future and complacency made the fat cats comfortable. They didn't think Sears would ever fail. Then, the internet came along. . .Sears ignored the op to jump into the new sales arna. Jeff Bezos didn't. Look who's sorry now.

Yeah, a few years ago another company bought the name that's running those stores. They're basically an offshoot of the original company from the way I understand it. As far as original company stores go in the US though, these are the last two.

@@SetsStreetsEats Yeah, well, that basically explains the reason why then

@@SetsStreetsEats The Guam and Virgin Islands stores are part of the original US chain.

You're welcome!