Madison TN Big Kmart

Madison Nashville Gallatin Pike Big Kmart Store 4093

1508 S Gallatin Rd
Madison TN 37115

 Another one of the aging (probably approaching 40 years old) Big Kmart stores typical of the middle Tennessee region, this 91,743 sq ft solitary store features an extremely large parking lot (probably full 30 years ago, but not anymore) and pharmacy, K-cafe, garden center, portrait studio, jewelry, electronics, layaway, etc...
The oversized lot means this store is ripe for the leasing of outparcels and even kiosks/store- in - a - store revenue opportunities that Sears Holdings is desperately trying to generate to make up for continual declines in actual store performance. This might include the currently empty 7,832 sq ft former auto center...

However, a new Walmart (with groceries, of course) opened just a couple miles away on Dickerson Pike next to Skyline Medical Center - and with the many dollar stores nearby becoming more aggressive, we'll see how long this Kmart can stay open without any signs of capital investment. Seriously, a complete tear-down remodel would be nice, but the folks at corporate believe the costs of that outweigh any gains in sales. They may be right, but Kmart sales aren't going anywhere in the meantime...

Ok, enough corporate-bashing, we'll get on with the store tour. Not a bad Kmart by any means, but nothing spectacular either.

 The store is on the Nashville MTA Bus route #26 and Bus Rapid Transit BRT #56, serving Gallatin Pike from Downtown Nashville to Rivergate.

 Oversized parking lot, built for back in the heyday when people actually shopped at Kmart as a destination. Nowadays, people drive extra to go to Walmart Supercenters and don't think of Kmart on their radar.

 The late 1990's/early 2000s Big Kmart facelift, with the typical orange paint added several years ago.

 A lot of cashier lanes =)

 The Kmart Cafe still exists. It might have been a Little Caesars in the past, not sure, but most other Kmart Cafes have been converted into space for clearance items or baby strollers.

 Still some empty prominent racks...

 NARROW AISLES~!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... stop cluttering major aisles (and heck, all aisles) with protruding endcaps, display setups, clearance carts, and other stuff. I know you can't do much about the building poles that sometimes are annoyingly in the way without a remodel, but this photo shows how the clothing racks are in the middle of the main aisle that transverses the back of the store, and literally the cart had trouble fitting through - it had to push some clothing sleeves out of the way. Totally unacceptable, and not seen at most Target or Walmarts, and heck, even dollar stores are cleaning their act up. On the plus side, this Kmart has newer nice carts.

 Layaway and the (surprisingly busy on this visit) Olan Mills portrait studio are tucked away in the back.

 How does one actually purchase the furniture? There should be a "press here for customer assistance" button located near departments with big ticket items to call salespeople - aka, sporting goods, furniture, electronics, garden center, tools, jewelry.

 Electronics, pretty standard Kmart format, with the digital camera display upgraded.

 The seasonal corner with Back to School. I've always wondered whether Kmart could expand the lackluster grocery selection (into something like Target's PFresh or Rite Aid's combination with Save-A-Lot) and push one of the sections like seasonals into unused space (like former auto center areas) or the garden center (and push more of the garden center merchandise into the semi-outdoors area)... but that would probably require actually investing some money into making their stores look nicer...

 A colorful in store entrance to the garden center! Actually pretty cute!

 Fairly decent garden center!

 Kenmore grills... barbeque time?

 It seems like there are several interior color scheme variants, depending on when the most recent half-hearted remodel occured - most of the time the pre-bankruptcy "Big Kmart" conversion paint job. This store had the orange-reddish paint scheme.

 the "There's smart, and there's Kmart smart" slogan currently used makes no sense to us. Not sure how many people think Kmart is smart, considering that they've been getting their butts kicked by Walmart and competitors, with around 2/3 of their store base closed in the past decade... Does anyone actually like that slogan?

Hope you enjoyed a tour of the Madison Kmart! All in all, a fairly typical Big K, not a bad place to shop.
So that's all for now! Thanks for reading.

Hendersonville TN Big Kmart

Hendersonville Big Kmart
237 E Main St
Hendersonville TN 37075

This Big Kmart store in Hendersonville, Tennessee has some interesting features that are shown in the pictures. The first, of the road sign, shows the newest Kmart logo - pretty rare for your typical Big Kmart in the South. However, as you can see in the background, the main exterior storefront signage is still the standard Big Kmart design of the 1990s. The second photo shows a relatively unique Big Kmart Garden Shop patio exterior. Since these pictures were taken in December, there was nothing growing and the external doors to the Garden Shop were locked, though one could go in through the store to see some bicycles blocking the Garden Shop exit and the usual array of hoses, garden tools, and stacks of bottled water somewhat haphazardly strewn about.
The street sign is updated and looks nice with the newest (which, at almost a decade old, has yet to appear on most Kmart stores)

Dollar stores like Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree, while each store very small, should really be considered a potent threat to Kmart, especially when one chain alone has over 9,000 stores - small bites each, but together, a biiiiig competitor! And the dollar stores are pretty well run and evolving - such as adding better food sections (hint hint, Kmart) to draw more people.

Pretty standard 1970's heyday of Kmart facade with the 1990's BIG K redo.

Interesting garden center signage!

Haven't really seen this in very many places

Main entrance

The interior picture of the center aisle of the store is shot from the rear toward the front, and you can see the "Thank you for shopping Big Kmart" signage that is found in most stores. The American flag seems to be a new and nice touch, though. The flag can be found at most Kmart stores nowadays. You can see the old-style large circular air vents, even! The store is organized such that the soft lines (clothing, shoes, and infants) and cashiers are on the right side upon entry, and everything else is on the left side. There were a lot of carts intruding upon the entry lobby space, and the atmosphere, well, it was fantastic for a Kmart fan but still cannot really compare to a Target or Wal-Mart. This store is fairly large and well organized, and there were plenty of salespeople and cashiers to help in the week before Christmas. In fact, there were more cashiers than shoppers checking out - plus, the cash registers were numbered 4-7. I believe they removed #1-3 to make room for seasonal merchandise, recognizing that four cash registers were plenty to handle the amount of business a Kmart does - but I wonder how Black Friday went with only 4 registers and the Customer Service desk? (Note: for comparison, the nearby Wal-Mart has 20 + 8 self checkout lanes; whereas other Middle Tennessee area Kmarts generally have 7 checkout lanes, even if only a couple are open at most times.)

The standard fluorescent lighting that Kmarts have... wish they did an upgrade to the enhanced lighting that most Target stores have.

The Christmas decorations!

The rather unorganized garden center pseudo-outdoor area, but hey, it was winter, so I guess it didn't really need to be that organized.

Patio furniture!

Exercise equipment too!

The Craftsman signage is already getting a little faded...

Cross-promotional ads for Sears auto centers, even though there isn't really one in town...

Electronics featured a flat-screen TV to welcome shoppers, but it wasn't showing anything much.

View from the rear of the store.

Yes, there is a Layaway, like most Kmarts.

An old "Bluelight Specials" piece of equipment from the 2000's is hidden away in a corner. Kmarts seems to have many of these semi-abandoned corner areas....

At least it was pretty well stocked...

Ok, before we get too far into details, let's wrap up with the history and competition trivia. The 89,000 square foot Kmart opened in 1976 (any surprise from the standard 70's Kmart exterior facade so prevalent in the South?) alongside some grocery stores, but by 1991 the grocery stores were all closed, and by 1997 Eckerds left, leaving Kmart as the sole large/chain anchor. Today, some competitors to Kmart fill up the other major spots in the shopping center - Big Lots and Dollar General. In 1989, a Wal-Mart opened down the road, but luckily this Kmart survived... until 2005, when Wal-Mart relocated away from Main Street and opened as a 205,000 sq foot Supercenter. Somehow, this Kmart remains open as of 2010 though. The average household income within a 5-mile radius is almost $75,000 - not sure if this helps or hurts Kmart's business. The City of Hendersonville seemed to have wanted to "revitalize" this corner of the city center and make a new hip-urban lifestyle center, but from our visit, an aging shopping center still stands.

Overall, the interior of this Big Kmart is pretty standard and well-decorated and nicely stocked for a Kmart, but with some twists on the exterior signage. I'm surprised it remains open with a Wal-Mart Supercenter so close, but hopefully there is enough population to support both stores. All in all, a pretty nice, but aging, store.

Kmart Project Renaissance

So rumor has it that SHLD is pushing a "Rediscover Kmart" campaign that has now been branded under the "Kmart Renaissance" umbrella...

"Your local Kmart has made some really big changes... to celebrate we're hosting some great family-friendly events... so come on by and rediscover Kmart"

There are community tie-ins, coupons to local events and attractions, small in-store demonstrations or shows, things like Easter Egg hunts or fashion shows or even shopping cart parade floats, a branded van drives around the area, and Mr. Bluelight shows up.  The goal is to "generate excitement" among the store associates and "inviteshoppers to rediscover the value of Kmart" as part of their local community. This re-launch speaks volumes about how Kmart has lost most sense of position - people will drive an hour to shop at Costco or Walmart, but who drives an hour to shop at Kmart? Walmart and Target have filled the position in the average shopper's mind for low-price and trendy stores, respectively, leaving Kmart with, well, so far, not much. Add to that the lack of convenience compared to Walmart's supercenters or the local corner dollar store or drugstore, and Kmart really struggles to obtain a "brand awareness" in consumers' mindsets. If done successfully, Project Renaissance should invite people who haven't been to a Kmart in a long time to come back and try it out.

 However, the key is a successful execution, something that Sears Holdings does not seem capable of currently. If you manage to convince (very skeptical) people to stray away from trendy Target or convenient/low-cost Walmart into your Kmart store, then you want your store to say "Wow, this is a nice place to shop" or "Wow, I like the selection of cool styles here", or "Yeah, the prices here are great and the service is nice". It is hard to get one new customer to Kmart, and even harder to persuade them to stay loyal. A "Rediscover Kmart" ad is not good enough - a entire store freshening remodel is needed. And some stores look absolutely great, better than many Targets. But sometimes it seems like all they've done is throw a few banners and have Mr. Bluelight show up without doing a good job redoing the store... at least update the main signage!

Examples photos from the web:

Ooh, the Kmart van!

Mr. Bluelight!

An older "Extreme Makeover" remodel campaign from a couple years ago

Ooh, this store looks really nice

Another great looking store.

It looks nice, but still, please remodel completely the signage too! Otherwise it looks the same...

Bronx NY store

A former Super Kmart Center now just a normal Kmart

Another really nice Kmart

Interesting color scheme....

A nice Kmart

An example of your typical 1970's Kmart... NOT PART OF THE RENAISSANCE PROGRAM, can you tell? haha... seriously, sadly it seems like there's still too many of these olden goodies around that aren't remodeled.

The new red colored cashier lights!

Chicago Kmart doing good business across a Target. (From Flickr user uh, thanks, I'll find the credit when I refind your photo)

2009 Markets:

Asheville

50 years in Puerto Rico

etc...

2010 Rediscover Kmart: Project Renaissance markets, May-September 2010:

New York City

Chicago

Maryland

Long Island

Albany

Richmond

Cleveland

Los Angeles

Southern California

Michigan

Ft Myers

Philadelphia

St Louis

Phoenix

Portland

Phoenix

Raleigh

Hawaii

Bay Area CA