K-Mart + Sears Merger

[appnut]

Hmm, as Chris mentioned above about Kenmore & Kmart. I was reflecting on all of this last night and thought, what irony if Kmart adds Kenmore appliances. Remember when KmArt sold Frigidaire, GE, and WP appliances and closed out that dept. in the early 1980s The Kmart here closed about a year ago. I don't think the property has been sold. And we have one of those Sears st ores that sells appliances, tools, yard equipment and the like. Although I'd love to have a wider display of appliances on the floor, I doubt SearMart would go to the location. Although I didn't shop much at Wards, I still miss it. After they closed here, I pretty much stopped looking at the Sunday paper--no more appliance ads. Last Saturday I drove to Killeen to get service on my cell phone. Was at the mall and went to the Sears. It was nice to see a decent display off appliances. Went to HomoDepot, barely had anything on the floor and what was in the weekly ad, wasn't even displayed. :-(

 

[partscounterman]

Kmart, sears, wards and wal-mart

I know Kame-a-part has had its detracter and problems but will always hold a special place in my heart. Kmart was my moms favorite store (target was too upscale for her) and my first part time job was with Kmart. The best thing about working at Kmart then was that they paid you CASH. Every week, you'd go get you pay envelope. inside was your paystub and your pay, in cash, to the penny. I didn't know better at the time and was SHOCKED at my next job (monkey wards) when all I got was a check. Kmarts biggest problem always was not enough stock on the sale items- rainchecks are a PITA.
If you've read my earlier posts, you know how I feel about sears. I would feel bad if they went away. I also like the feature/price choices that kenmore offers-but would prefer appliance retailing to go back to the independants.
I really miss Wards too. Toward the end it was sad, but when I was a child we were a Wards family (you either shopped Sears or Wards. I think most St. Paul families chose Wards cuz of the big warehouse there, and Minneapolis families mostly went to Sears, with the big store/whse on Lake st.) This was when Wards and Sears had all the stuff Home Despot has now. I think they made their product lines so small, that people quit going there.
I despise Walmart. I hate the way they come into communities, sell stuff so cheap that the existing local retailers can't compete. Then when there is no more competition-prices go up. I hate the way they pay their people so poorly, actively resisting any unionization efforts. I hate their big noisy stores. I need a darvon just to think about a walmart run. I find if I watch the sales, I can get stuff just as cheap at Longs Drug (like a hawaiian walgreens) and I don't require sedation when I get out of there.
Heres proof that Kmart used to carry Appliances

 

[westytoploader]

Cool washers; were the K-Mart Filter-Flos different from the ones sold elsewhere?

Also, what year is this ad?

Gotta go...the GE Portable's going to spin-brake!

--Austin

 

[partscounterman]

to answer your questions Austin

I'm sure these machines are really no different than any other GE washers at the time, but these models were probably built exclusivly for Kmart, in the usual effort to bamboozle consumers that are out comparing models/prices.
Heavy use of recreational drugs in my youth prevents me from recalling exactly what year these were from. Its a safe bet that you were only a gleam in you fathers eye at that point in history.
I wish I could wash clothes with that ge portable- another great machine I remember from my childhood

 

[westytoploader]

Yes--these look way before my time. GE long switched over to the chrome pushbuttons from the white toggle switches for agitation speed/temperature control in 1988, the year I was born (see profile).

The GE Portable is a very cool machine, made by Hitachi. Cleans well, has a fast spin, and the "vortex" action is fun to watch! It's also very reliable--has never given me a second's worth of trouble. I'll post pictures of it in action sometime.

 

[agiflow-action]

They look more like Hotpoint design washers from the control panel.

 

[gizmo]

interesting that Kmart is/was in such trouble in the USA. They are still one of the biggest retailers in Australia. Kmart Aus was originally a 50% joint venture between Coles stores and the KMart company in USA (SS Krege??)starting from the mid 1970's. Australia's first Kmart was just around the corner from where my partner grew up in Blackburn, a suburb of Melbourne.
In the 1980's Coles merged with Myer Stores, a department store chain rather like Sears. Myers also owned Target, who were at the time Kmart's main competition, but after the merger Coles-Myer slowly moved Target to be slightly more upmarket. There is no connection between Target USA and Target Aus. Target closed down some departments including auto and hardware.
Some time in the 1990's the joint venture agreement was up for re-negotiation, the US parent company was already in need of a cash injection so they sold off the Australian arm to Coles-Myer. Coles Myer now own Kmart Aus 100% and it is booming. (I own a few shares in Coles Myer so I am pleased to report that.) They still use the same logo as when they had the joint ownership.

Fortunately we don't have Walmart here, though we do have other stores selling cheap Chinese junk, such as The Wherehouse and the Reject Shop.

Chris.

 

[cmiller990]

I am new here, but lemme add my 2 cents. My grandma, grandpa, mom and dad moved up here in the early 80's.. The only store was a K-mart and Sears. JC Pennys was also here and so was wards, but both where not near each other.. Our sears, pennys and wards went to crap when the mall was built. In 89, Walmart arriaved.. I work there as a cashier, but my days there are short lived.. I have made the decision to leave, because its too physical, there is soooo much waste and i don't want to go work in a super center. Wal mart has closed many stores, in order to put there mega giants in, and have closed many grocery stores.. I would hate to see sears or k-mar leave.. I have wayyyyy to many memoires wandering around sears and the mall .. And Kmart too.. I know my parents purchased a mountain home here in the 70's.. The washer was similar to the one pictured in the kmart ad.. I know that there dryer was from k-mart but i could've sworn it was a whirlpool... I know people want cheap foriegn items, but still... OH, Walmart might start selling appliances, like mid next year.. They will be either Ge or Whirlpool variant Estate.. More likley GE, as they're sold at Sams. ALso maybe some Samsung stuff too...

 

[arrrooohhh]

What is Walmart? I thought it was similar to K-Mart.

Its funny that people say shopping malls are dying, when they killed off downtown or high street shopping centres on the street. So where are these people shopping now?

In Australia it seems the Malls are all becoming the place to shop for clothes etc, while you get new shopping entres just out of town dedicated to furniture stores and electrical stores.

 

[westie2]

Our Wal Mart was a test location for appliances. They started out with Frigidaire the changed over to GE. Since we are close to Corporate office and one of the older sotres (number 4) and a growing area was good but the appliance ailse is now gone. I remember Back in the early 60's that Kmart had Maytags washers and dryers for sale. Don't know when they last sold them.

 

[cmiller990]

I know another bullitn went up on the bullitin board concerning this.. Apperantly, it will be GE and it is a "Test"... I work for HR Block part time, and the wal mart kiosk i am running for them, will be shared with the appliances...

 

[gansky1]

I remember Kmart selling appliances too - Whirlpool, GE, Hoover (laundry) and GM Frigidaire! Most of the WP and Frigidaire models they had were "Estate" or "Gold Crown" type models, specially featured and priced models for certain markets/outlets.

 

[appnut]

Lemme add to what David and Greg have stated. Kmart had the only WP washers that still had MagicMix filters fairly high up in the model/feature mix. Yes, the GE laundry had only the little knobs mostly, but they were true GE's otherwise, not rebadged hotpoints. And Kmart was the first and only place I ever saw a rollermatic configured with the fabric softner atop the jet cone. Never knew Frigidaire had that type of option for their lesser models--another thing that irked me about Frigidaire. I only knew the Imperial and Custom Imperial models had built-in fabric softners.