 |
| An honorary Ohio county that is unofficially a part of the Twin Tiers coverage area. |
This store was a prototype for super Kmart by being a supercenter located at a mall. It had previously been a plain '90s store attached to the mall. It was expanded upon by building on in the back.
 |
| Sears closed at the same mall in 2010 and allowed the auto center to relocate to the old PENSKE auto services attached to Kmart. It was nice to see the old auto center actually in use. |
 |
| Know that this store is closing, but here's a map of what its layout was. |
 |
| Produce |
 |
| Unbranded K-Cafe |
 |
| Checkout lanes for the mall. |
 |
| Another way of saying Thank You for shopping Super Kmart. |
 |
| Entrance from the mall. |
 |
| Seafood and Meats |
 |
| Looking down the actionway in opposite directions. |
Now for the rest of the store:
 |
| Actionway |
 |
| Electronics and appliances. |
 |
| Baby apparel |
 |
| Sporting Goods |
 |
| Layaway |
 |
| Seasonal |
 |
| Fitting Rooms |
 |
| Pharmacy |
 |
| Health & Beauty |
 |
| Cosmetics |
 |
| Little Caesars had opened in the former portrait studio. |
Rating when during normal operation: 10 out of 10.
This store used space efficiently, was clean, and had lots of customers. Not to mention the fact that it was a supercenter where you could actually get all your food needs.
The only explanation I have to why this store is closing is that the lease is likely up and therefore it is closing. The business itself here did great as you can tell from the last photo. Unfortunately this wasn't enough to save this supercenter. With this closure along with Lorrain, OH and Taylor, MI, only two Kmart supercenters remain in operation in Mentor and Niles, OH.
EDIT: Apparently, the Meijer was unable to buy the property.
While I've always thought of the Big Kmart concept as somewhat stupid, the Super Kmart concept is a completely different story, and I hate that it didn't work out for them because supermarkets obviously have a lot of potential for success. I really like the swoosh logo treatment for Super Kmart over the Super Kmart Center logo, as well as the Big Kmart décor package elements carried over to the grocery section. Also, like you, I totally appreciate the efficient use of space with the Sears Auto Center and Little Caesars - I try to be as efficient in getting things done as possible, and love seeing others implement that in any way, shape, or form! Sad to hear this store is closing. I'm very surprised two Super Kmarts are still operating actually, especially since I thought there was news a year or two ago that all of them were ditching the supermarket portion (of course, I think that was announced at the same time as KFresh, and we've seen how that's fizzled). I imagine with Meijer owning that Mentor store's property now, once it closes, the remaining store in Niles will de-superize or close altogether so Kmart can get out of the fresh grocery business completely.
ReplyDeleteBig Kmart was kind of a stupid move. While the remodels/relocations did good for some, most of what was done just made the company in worse shape because they didn't update the buildings themselves.
ReplyDeleteKmart is weird when it comes to the whole fresh foods concept. They aren't abandoning the concept as the have a number of stores that still do use the concept. Four former supercenters do have it, and two regular stores received it as well.
Uniontown, PA was one of the Kfresh stores but it is too is closing as a part of this wave. I stopped at this location on my way home from vacation and although no produce was there, the signs were still. Had they delayed the closing by just a few months I would of seen it in a normal state.
I live in Mentor Ohio and Meijer doesn't own the Kmart Supercenter. Meijer was never able to buy the store which resulted Meijer looking at other Opportunities around Mentor.
ReplyDeleteOh, okay. Thank you for the information! I was under the impression that Meijer bought the land it sat on. I've corrected the post to reflect this.
Delete