Saturday, September 1, 2018

Former Kmart #4874


Once again we tour a Kmart from a happier time than how it sits today. Today this location sits abandoned, although there are indications that Rural King may open up here at some point. The sad thing though is that this store was actually closer to the Franklin community it served then its closest competitor, which would be Walmart, in Cranberry Township about a 10 minute drive away. This closing didn't surprise me as I was more or less expecting it to happen. There are just some stores that make logical sense to close due to Sears Holdings' situation and this happened to be one of them in my opinion.

Anyways, enjoy the tour!


































13 comments:

  1. Nice-looking 90s store! Too bad it has closed (but like you said, not necessarily surprising).

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  2. Layout in this store is almost exactly the same as Victor, NY was save for swap Electronics with the H&BA and pharmacy area.

    I like the "Music & Video" signs still up over mattresses and other things. K-mart seems to have entirely dropped music CDs several years ago.

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    1. Yep. The other key difference is that Victor was bigger.

      Yeah, I don't even recall recall seeing CDs at Kmart.

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  3. I had heard recently that it might take up to a year before Rural King takes over..my question is why does it take so long for something else to move into empty Kmart's?...my guess is because the leases from Sears Holdings are still in effect even though the stores are shut down...you would think the landlords would want something in these empty Kmart's,Sears,etc,to generate at least rental income..

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    1. It is likely lease issues. Most of the time Sears Holdings is actually still paying rent for an empty store.

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  4. I had also heard rumors about Busy Beaver(Southwest PA based home improvement retailer) taking over the Clarion store..but with issues it might be over a year before anything,if it all,moves into closed KMarts

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    1. That would actually be a perfect fit for the area. With no Lowe's or Home Depot, they would in theory do good business.

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  5. Would Sears possibly filing bankruptcy affect current Sears Holdings leases on closed Kmarts?..You would think they would at least try to get tenants into these stores to get rental income.

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    1. It could. If they were to declare bankruptcy, these leases on closed stores would in theory be terminated without any question.

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  6. This store im hearing got the go ahead to become a Rural King,however I have not heard lately about the progression of the changeover,I'm assuming because of the coronavirus crisis

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    1. That's great to hear. Hopefully they will start soon.

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  7. Rural King has finally opened here ,as of a few weeks ago,and also very busy..happy to finally see this building being used again!

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