Kmart #7187

For the month of April we dive into one of Erie's three Kmart stores, this one being the newest of them.1 But don't let that title fool you, this location opened in the late '70s when Kmart took over a good number of former Grant City locations. This store still has that dated feel, but it does make it unique compared to Erie's other two stores which were both built as Kmart in the 1960s. Being a former Grants, I would imagine this location would of had a restaurant, but there is little evidence suggesting this is the case other than a mysterious exterior door.2

Erie, PA Kmart located on East Grandview Blvd.

Former PENSKE auto services

Kmart did still install these vintage garden signs at former Grants locations as you can see.

Here's a look at the store's map before we move inside for an interior look.

Notice some missing roof tiles in the upper right of this picture.

Taking a peek back at the girls dept, entrance and checkout area.

Restrooms on a blank wall. Possible there was once a restaurant here in the Grant City days.

Scrubology leases space as store within a store at this Kmart. Another Sears Holdings thing to try to get more value from their stores.

Back Actionway

New sign blocking old signs. 

Furniture

For some reason this portion of the store gets florescent lights where the rest of the store, other than the garden shop, does not.

White-out windows from Grant City remain.

We've been apologizing for over 12 years!

Greeting Cards

Now for a quick look at the garden shop:

Flickr user RetailPhotos2014 also visited this same location about a year later than I did taking some pictures as well. All photos shown below are courtesy of her Flickr photostream.

Electronics view courtesy of Flickr user RetailPhotos 2014.

When I visited back in July 2014, this was not here. Flash forward a year and this sight was seen. Picture courtesy of Flickr user RetailPhotos 2014.

The newer red Layaway sign is removed for some reason.  Picture courtesy of Flickr user RetailPhotos 2014.

Furniture courtesy of Flickr user RetailPhotos2014.

Store Rating:  7 out of 10. With no immediate nearby competition, it seems to hold its own. this location is kept up for the most part rather well. It is clean and organized and its actionways were easy to navigate.

Is this Store in Danger of Closing?  Could go either way, but I think it is safe at the moment.

Footnotes:
1. There was previously a '90s location on Peach St but that store closed in 2010 therefore making this the newest operating Kmart in Erie, PA.
2. For this reason, I left out a former restaurant space out of the store's map. It could be possible there was once a restaurant in the lower right of the store at one time or Kmart may simply had removed when they took over this location. Either way, a non-emergency exit door still remains on the exterior which suggests something.