Bad Marketing Combo
My impression is that K-mart/Sears was a bad combination, both financially and marketing-wise. Financially, Sears Holdings became too dependent on K-mart revenue to help keep them solvent. Marketing wise, K-mart had image problems. I don't think I have been in a K-mart in my life. They were where the poorest of the poor shopped where I grew up. Sears, on the other hand, throughout the 70s and 80s, was where people went to get top-quality items, either at a small-town catalog store, or at the mall in bigger cities. Never could reconcile "blue light specials" with Sears, even in name only.
My impression is that K-mart/Sears was a bad combination, both financially and marketing-wise. Financially, Sears Holdings became too dependent on K-mart revenue to help keep them solvent. Marketing wise, K-mart had image problems. I don't think I have been in a K-mart in my life. They were where the poorest of the poor shopped where I grew up. Sears, on the other hand, throughout the 70s and 80s, was where people went to get top-quality items, either at a small-town catalog store, or at the mall in bigger cities. Never could reconcile "blue light specials" with Sears, even in name only.