Kmart #4113

I saved the best (in my opinion) of the Erie Kmart locations for last. This location may be the oldest of the stores, but it seems to always be busy when I visit. Let's dive right into the pictures:

I love how the road leads to Kmart....

Helpful stoplights allowed me to take this picture.

Now for the closeup:

I noticed the bits of blue paint coming through on one of my visits. Perhaps scars from its earlier days?

The following find at this store is just plain out awesome.

Retro Kmart plaza sign still in use today.

Want to go for a spin in a Kmart kiddie ride?

Former Kmart Foods now occupied by Giant Eagle.

The store layout is typical for a store from the '60s and even early '70s stores. The one thing to note is that there was a separate detached auto center for this store which can be seen toward the end of this post. It is now used a doctor's clinic.

Alternate views of the checkout lanes.

Fitting Rooms

Mens department

Corner Lawaway and Restrooms

Back Actionway

Center Actionway

Home Decor & Cleaning Supplies

Pet Supplies

Starbucks at Kmart

Home Improvement

Garden shop entrance.

Inside the garden center.

Seasonal

Sporting Goods. Apparently someone wants to try out for the hockey team.

Toys in the bottom left corner of the store.

Tiles that can sometimes appear randomly at stores.

Electronics with the random appliances thrown in.

Mattresses and appliances now occupy half of electronics, but at least the electronics counter is still here:

Moving on from there, we capture the last remainder of the store:

Pharmacy

On one of my visits to this store, I was able to visit during a bluelight special. So that's a bonus.

This is actually a relatively smaller jewelry desk.

The entrance and exit doors.

Here's a pic of the old auto center turned urgent care and the former cafe area:

I accidentally skipped post this earlier and because Blogger doesn't like you adding pictures between already places pictures, I had have to it here.

Rating: 8 out of 10. I would probably give a higher score if some new paint and new signs were added here. 

In Danger of Closing? The only way I personally see this store closing is if it is a leased location and the lease runs out or if a major snowstorm dumps heavy snow on its roof.1 Otherwise, I think this store will continue to operate despite being over 50 years old with no major remodel.

Footnote: Although even if weather were to make an impact in the form of heavy snow here, there is still no guarantee that it would close. It would depend on how the landlord would react to the problem. The former Kmart in Conneaut, OH closed back in 2014 due to a lack of action from a landlord that refused to fix the roof of its anchor tenant. That store was profitable, but the landlord pretty much kicked it out.