Kmart stores in suburban NY were mostly empty for its annual Thanksgiving Day opening. https://www.thestreet.com/story/13898550/1/15-haunting-photos-from-kmart-s-final-thanksgiving-day-opening.html?puc=CNNMONEY&cm_ven=CNNMONEY
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Our associates are encouraged to S2H on both web sites. We're a small sears store and manage to do at least 130+ a month, which is our monthly goal. It has also been encouraged on conference calls for all (much larger) stores in our district.
I'm sorry for all the toilet paper, toothpaste, coffee, etc.. and other stupid things we order. It's mandatory for individuals to have a certain amount every month. Just trying to keep our jobs until we find something else.
Our local Kmart had five people walking around with red vest on that said security. It was funny because there was probably only 10 people in the store and this Kmarts electronics department was just one aisle with clock radios, head phones and printer ink. Not like anyone will steal that.
Just five cars were in our parking lot upon unlocking the doors at 5AM on Friday. So much for crowds forming at the doors. In fact, only three people total were waiting at our main door. It took a few more minutes after opening for other customers to trickle in, so it's not like the customers we had were too enthusiastic about coming in to shop.
I overheard a lot of complaining about not having electronics (TVs) and not being able to take home certain things in our ad. Some walked out and threatened to take their business elsewhere. The traffic in my store was concernedly thin this year. I wouldn't even call it a crowd.
We were closed on Thanksgiving, so I can't speak for that.
I wonder just how bad the numbers will be for 4th quarter for Sears Holdings. The news is reporting that online sales have grown even higher than before and in-store sales are still shrinking (for every retailer). While it's merely an annoyance for someone like Target or Walmart, it is a life-or-death thing for us.
Unfortunately, I think something drastic will be announced when third-quarter results come out pretty soon (first week of December). They will know Thanksgiving/BF sales performance by then, and will be able to predict how the rest of Q4 will play out (hint: dismally).
Seems about right. Stores have lots of inventory but corporate has destroyed the reputation of KMart so much that no one even thinks about shopping there. Too bad because the people at my local Kmart are very helpful. They are just understaffed and the stores are stuck in the 80's in looks and technology