Philadelphia Big Kmart at the Gallery at Market East
Store #3953
901-99 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Sorry about not posting the comprehensive Super Kmart blog post yet... things have been a little busy and haven't got time to finalizing it. Also coming in the next couple months for our Kmart series - we will be reporting from Bowling Green, Kentucky; Miami, Florida; and Hyattsville, Maryland - so a lot to look forward to!
Anyway, this 122,254 square foot 2-story urban Big Kmart is probably one of the "crown jewels" of the Kmart real estate - prime location in a dense urban area, far (at least previously) from the reaches of Wal-mart and Target. It is literally in the heart of the city, surrounded by the hubs of PHL's mass transit and within minutes of walking by Chinatown, the Convention Center, Reading Terminal, Thomas Jefferson University, and the historic commerce district of Market Street. Unfortunately, the store itself is far from a crown jewel to shop at - though it's not bad by any means for a Kmart. The hours of the store seem to hint that it targets people who work in downtown or otherwise commute on the bus/subway lines through it, as the store closes fairly early for a Kmart.
Mon: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Tue: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Wed: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thu: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Fri: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Sat: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sun: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Otherwise, the layout of the store molds to the Gallery at Market Street mall, a 1.1 million sq ft mall built in 1977 in which the Kmart is smack dab in the middle of - literally, the mall runs under and on both sides of it. The Kmart site was originally Gimbel's, then Stern's, then Clover's, before becoming Kmart in 1999, according to this post at LabelScar
It's a little odd that Kmart would be one of the flagship stores in such premium real estate, so we'll see how long it lasts - my bets is that as the area is redeveloped, if Sears can find a buyer at a satisfactory price, this store may be sold for its real estate value in the future.
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| One of the main street level entrances on Market Street |
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| The view from the main Market Street entrance |
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| Jewelry is the closest to this door |
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| This store has a lot of Philadelphia pride. Odd that clearance and jewelry line this entrance, though. |
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| Apparel takes up most of the ground floor. Note the K Cafe! |
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| K Cafe open for business! |
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| Looks like original signage! |
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| This is one of the ground level exits to the other side of the mall. There are at least 5 main entrances to the store! |
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| Up the escalator... |
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| The upper level exit to the mall |
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| Signage for mygofer and sears online order pickups... don't really see how it is much different from Wal-mart's site to store |
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| It's a little difficult to find things without good directories, and also without the weekly ads anywhere around the store. |
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| One of the upper level exits |
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| here's the shift assignments for our visit date! This clipboard was lying at the cash register where we were checking out, was putting things into bags and saw it next to the bags. The Cafe is run by one person! |
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| The pantry (I can't really call it a grocery) section had much to be desired. |
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| the Price Scanner has Super Kmart logo! |
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| The view of the upper floor from the West wing of the Gallery mall |
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| The 10th street entrance |
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| View of the store from Chinatown. Not sure if city codes allow it, but the whole mall could definitely use better signage. The 2009 Market Street commission was looking at ways to improve the looks and function of this area. |
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| Philadelphia's Chinatown. |
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| View of the area |
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That's all from the Big Kmart at the Gallery at Market Street East, in Center City/Downtown Philadelphia!
Hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for more posting! |
Thats a really cool KMART!
ReplyDeleteOnly if they had a district manager who knows what he is doing instead of yelling every time i see him.I know store managers who has alot more since then that fat childish man.
ReplyDeleteI don't really consider this premium real estate. It's in one of the seedier areas of Center City. The Gallery itself is largely made up of junk stores with the other anchor being a Burlington. Unless the Gallery gets blown up, I don't see too many people angling for KMart's property. It should be a great location but most of the action in Philly is a few blocks away. The loss of Strawbridge's really affected the neighborhood and many of the premium tenants had already been deserting the area, moving to greener pastures in the city.
ReplyDeleteGET RID OF THE CASHIERS OR TEACH THEM HOW TO TREAT CUSTOMERS BETTER YOU WILL GET MORE BUSINESS
ReplyDeleteIN THIS ECONOMY IT IS A PRIVILAGE TO HAVE A JOB ANY JOB.iT IS IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE TAKE PRIDE AND BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE.iT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO HAVE A PERSON WHO CAN LEAD HIS WORKERS BY SHOWING THEM HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE CUSTOMERS.THEY ARE IMPORTANT.tHEY ARE THE ONES WHO SPEND THE MONEY IN TURN KEEPING THE STORE OPEN AND A SUCESSFUL BUSINESS.i ALWAYS LIKED K-MART. IT CAN BE SUCESSFUL IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE DOING THEIR JOB. IF THEY CANT DO IT RIGHT REPLACE THEM. THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE LOOKING FOR WORK.
ReplyDeletedude, you might wanna update the business hours you wrote about! the Kmart.com website says they're operating at:
ReplyDeleteMon: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm
Tue: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm
Wed: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm
Thu: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm
Fri: 7:00 am - 9:00 pm
Sat: 8:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sun: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
This store is closing April, 2014
ReplyDeleteThis store is so cool. Too bad they closed it.
ReplyDeleteUsed to shop there all the time with my family when I was 10 and younger. I’m 20 now and remember my last visit to that kmart in late January 2014. It was on its last day and all the remaining merchandise was in center of the clothing a jewelry area near the 10th and Market entrance. Looking at these photos gave me a rush of nostalgia and makes me miss how pleasant east market used to be. Nowadays you cant go down there without getting spit on or shouted at by someone mentally unwell. Some say the old gallery was ghetto but I think it had a really nice charm that the new mall just doesn’t have. I rarely find myself on east market nowadays and can’t remember the last time I set foot in the fashion district but whenever I do go down there it always reminds me of how charming and structured it all used to be.
ReplyDelete