I avoided watching this for a while. Every time I logged into RU-vid today it was the first thing in my feed, but I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. I was going to try to wait a few days to let my emotions die down and look at it with a fresh mind. When I tried to go to sleep tonight however, I got restless and I decided I had to just get it over with. This video made me cry and now I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sleep hahaha. When someone sent me a link to your first video, I thought it was weird seeing my store through outside eyes, but now that it’s over, watching this series from beginning to end is like a wonderful time capsule. Seeing certain things the way they were at certain points brings me back to things we did at work, conversations I’ve had with people, events that have occurred, etc.. I’m extremely glad you got my final announcement recorded too. It completely slipped my mind, something I wish I had someone record for me. It was something I had not rehearsed for nor was I ready for. Why they chose me to do it, I don’t know, but it’s an honor to have that legacy. That store ran from September 28th, 1972 to January 28th, 2018. I only joined the company in August of 2015, but my experience with working at this store made me fall in love with not only my store but the brand, and cared for it like my child who happens to be one of the under-appreciated outcasts. Somehow in my 2.5 years of being there, I went from being a cashier with zero retail experience to a manager who closed the store every night usually by myself. I started making Kmart videos myself because of the love and passion for the brand and it’s history. While the company that runs Kmart now is among the worst companies to work for (Amazon is worse, however), the appreciation I have for these stores is unmatched by any retailer. Kmart has a legacy built up over many decades, and I hate to see it go. Thank you, Wallie, for a great trip down memory lane. We’ll have to hang out soon and do some collabs.
Nicely written and well said, man. I was almost the same way when several stores closed in my town. We first lost Kmart several years back and it was devastating for me because I loved the store. Then we lost Hastings (If you are familiar with what that company was) The lost of Hastings was even harder to deal with when it closed. About two years after that and just when I thought the worst was past, they closed our JCPenney's and then closed our Target. The list of store closings that occurred within the last 7 years are as followed: Dillard's, Sears, Zales, Hallmark, Finnish Line, Claire's, Payless Shoes, Rue 21, Radio Shack, Office Max, Kmart, Hastings, Target, Five Guys, Pie Five and Rita's. We are certainly witnessing the retail apocalypse at an alarming rate.
Marc Boulware absolutely. You're welcome. I'm grateful I was able to film this store as much as I could. Normally I would never been able to get away with it so much elsewhere.
Wow, this was the first time I watched every single Kmart update until closing, it was pretty sad seeing this store just get emptied out. REST IN PIECE MOONTOWNSHIP KMART, awesome video.
Thank you Wallie for taking us on this incredible journey on the Moon Township Kmart Closing Sale. And may your mannequin friend have a wonderful new life with you.
Is ever abandoned video store movie theater target shopko or Walmart store bye you is sad to see Kmart I grow up 90 I remember going to Kmart in mankota mn I hate Walmart
Thank you so much. I hope they do too. From what I understand most employees still have to report to the store for work for another week to clean it all up.
*standing ovation* What a great sendoff for the Moon Township Kmart, Wallie! Got kind of emotional myself at the end. YOU GOT THE HALF MANNEQUIN DUDE! Haha. That was fantastic! Had a great time watching you document this store's final days. Now on to the next adventure, please keep up the incredible content! (--- Heather K.)
10:10 In the Background is HI-Five - I Like the Way, which is one of the Original Songs from the June/July 1993 Kmart Tapes. Quite a sad time for this classic to be playing on a sad day.
Thank you for taking the time to film all of these videos. We all appreciate and enjoyed watching them. Still breaks my heart to see a store I grew up going to all the time close one by one. :(
This video was beautifully done. Thank you Wallie. I never thought I'd get emotional but it really hit me. Best of luck with everything to everyone affected by this.
Sad to see this store closed, I have very fond memories of this particular store, been going there for close to 30 years,... was cool to have met you there though, keep up the great work.
Sad to see this Kmart go out of business I worked here for a year and a half starting in 2009. I had a lot of fond memories here made a lot of friends.
It always intrigues me how when you go into any Kmart it always looks like you’re stepping into a time warp. They never updated their look in all these years. The last remaining Kmart in my area looks exactly they same as the one you were in. R.I.P. Kmart.
Another great video, I'm,sorry I didn't get to make it I thought they would be open later. I was really amazed when you told me they were already closed at 2:45. I'll catch you at one of the next ones.
Beautiful end to your series on this Kmart. It's so sad and I can see you are sad about the store closing. You put your heart and personality into these (Like Ace and Nate and a few others.) If only you all could get a Network (A&E, Discovery, History Channel series) featuring your work. Love your personal touches. As for the manniquin you could use as an entrance table (put your keys, wallet and toher stuff) on top. Or a table next to your recliner to put beer and snacks on as you watch your Steelers and Penguins. I've seen modern off beat modern art like this in homes of the rich and famous. But I prefer the real and true celebrities like you Wallieb.
My last day was crazy! 90% off everything! Everyone was loading their carts to the brim. I had a couple buy over 300 merchandise. Surprisingly, some people still thought some things were too expensive and we still had returns. I'm not sure what was left in the store at the end as my shift ended an hour before we closed. Speaking of which, wow this store closed early. My store closed at 6 PM. While I have a mostly positive outlook on my time working at KMart, I loved most of my coworkers, though in a way I'm glad it's over. There are some things I won't miss. The surprise points to shop your way was confusing a lot of the times. Like they'd say that you would need to spend $20 in the home department to get say $10 back, but it would never be simple enough to know what that was. Kitchen was its own department so that didn't count. Paper towels counted as groceries (wtf? but yes, really). It goes on and on. But I don't need to get started on people who would insist the points were there and show me their email on their phone, only for me to point out to them that in that same email they're showing me it says they needed to buy things in a department that weren't even close. Like, their points would say to buy stuff in shoes and they'd be giving me makeup. There were also days where our Internet shut down and we could only accept cash. So, while I'll miss working with the people I worked with, at the positive end of the spectrum, I'm happy I won't have to deal with the problems Kmart had anymore. I was actually quite surprised our store wasn't an earlier close. My store was in central Florida where most people are here for the winter (snow birds) and we're really dead in the summer and we had so many people quit in the one year I was there I thought we'd close to short staff. XD Anyway, it's been fun following this series as I took it to compare to how my store was liquidating and look to more videos from you in the future. :)
Creditors can sue a business straight into Chapter 7, and Sears Holdings is up to it's eyeballs in debt. It's so bad that suppliers have been demanding cash up front to supply stock (so they get paid, even if/when they go bankrupt).
It's crazy how massive Kmarts look with all the inventory stripped away. It's just a shame they all feel so dark and cavernous due to years of neglect.
Yeah my first job was the Kmart in East Greenbush, NY in the early 2000s... store closed in early 2014 along with the rest of the Kmarts in the Albany area :( Still have fond memories of it to this day
OMG, this is so sad. I guess it is what it is and Eddie Lampert is what he is to the retail sector. This closing reminded me so much of when the Targets closed in Winnipeg and we getting stuff for pennies on the dollar as well, some was even free. My final purchase was a pair of socks, can't wait for your next video-stay well until next time!
The Sears at my local shopping mall closed in 2018, and it's now a Round 1 Arcade and Bowling Alley, but the thing is, my local shopping mall only has 1 floor, but the Macy's, Macy's Men's and Home, JCPenney, and former Sears have 2 floors.
I love all the k mart videos. There is a very cool k mart in Steger Illinois near me. It's not even a big k. Google says it's one of their best stores and is not closing. Not yet anyways I went there Sunday and it's well stocked and very clean Just old and vintage Love it Thanks for the videos Keep doing more.
A bit like the Dominick’s stores closing in the Chicago area. The closer to the end it got, the more it looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic film. They were bought by Jewel-Osco (who bought their parent company, Safeway) as well as Mariano’s and Whole Foods. It was sad, since they were part of my childhood.
Were those garage doors to an old Auto Service Center and not the Garden Center? There was a fenced-in area at the back right of the property, which is more in line with a Garden Center. There was no "compound" near those garage door.
See? I told ya your mannequin buddy would still be there! Glad he's got a good home now, and, hell, I'd love to see him on future journeys with ya. But think you could even dress him up with the various holidays! Just think hula skirt! Lmfao!!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
Here's to wishing your friends the best as well, it sucks now they have to find new jobs, and it's always hard to leave a job that you've been at for so long and love to death. So, raise a glass to better days ahead!
Sometimes if its in a real busy intersection of a city, it will be a new store within six or eight months... At least that's what happened to my old Kmart. It is now a tile store.
hi, sue me! Very true as well. Sometimes you'll have temporary stores come in, and then, awhile after, another business will go into the space permanently if the area is bustling. There are still times where vacancies last for longer periods of time. I can still remember when Circuit City went out of business that some of the stores in my area remained vacant for a year and a half close to two years until a new store went into the space.
Abomination Same here. There was a Super K Mart close to my bus stop, and it was converted into a Walmart right after it closed its doors and got rid of their fixtures and carts.
Yeah it is pretty sad to see Kmart go out of existence. Yes we all know how Walmart took over and fast Eddie had gotten rid of the company. I Lost my Kmart back in 2017. And it's being repurposed into uhall. This is the rhythm of the night my night o yea one last time over the speakers before they go off for ever.
They just turned my abandon local Kmart into a high school/college prep school with a complete remodel. Tons of glass windows in the front, new paint, new lighting with tons of new square natural lighting in the ceilings and a fresh clean look. That remodel is what Kmart should have done 15 years ago.
