JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: JediMAC on January 14, 2003, 05:53 PM
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Well, maybe Rainman was right: K-mart sucks.
Or at least their financial planners and business operations managers do. They just announced that they're still struggling to emerge from last year's bankruptcy, and therefore will be cutting another 35,000 jobs and 326 stores! You can read all about it right here at CNN (http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/14/news/companies/kmart/index.htm). For a complete listing of the stores affected, click here (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,75526,00.html).
So hopefully that favorite K-mart of yours that you hit while you're out on your figure hunts ain't about to bite the dust! Only a couple left anywhere around me in L.A. I just hope Hasbro doesn't do anything stupid like give them an exclusive this year (like the rumored Slave 1/Jango Pilot set)!
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We got 2 K-Marts in town, one is on the "nice side" of town, and the other is on "the other side" of town... The crazy thing is, I went down to the "nice side" to look for SW's stuff during the buy one, half off another sale last night... and words cannot describe the chaos of that store...
There is no manager of the toy section, and as an employee told me when I asked for help, she told me, "When we get boxes of toys, we just throw them in the toy section..."
I remember walking into through the appliance section and thinking that the K-Mart reminded me of the bridge in Apocalypse Now, how nobody knew who was in charge and nobody really knew what was supposed to be happening.
Once I saw the "method" of which the toy section was laid out... I couldn't help but mumble... "I dont see any method." - Willard...
I searched through the ailes and found a POTJ Sing figure, a torn up Bacta Tank, and a Zam Wessel, two Interactive R2's, two lightsabers, and one Star Wars Stratego, all of them strewn about. That is all I could find.
I then went to "the other side" and expected something worse, but I was amazed to see that the store wasn't just clean, it was organized and seemed to be up-to-date on inventory. I found several end-caps' worth of initial release figures, and even some Action Fleets, and most importantly, several Bacta Tanks, which I didn't have.
Because I am somewhat broke, I bought :
Bacta Tank, Red Clone, Boba Fett, and Coruscant R2...
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It's no wonder. We have no K-Marts within 150 miles of Dallas (and you'd think Texas would be chalk full of them...).
Then, I went back to Florida over the holiday and went looking for K-Mart so I could see if by any freak chance the Assault on the Jedi Temple battle pack was still available, and only two of the 6 or so I used to frequent were left. And they were both complete and total dumps. They made the dirtiest Wal-Mart in Dallas look like Trump Tower.
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Trump Tower?? LOL!!
Well the two K-Marts in Albany have been spared the ax!! Lucky for me, I was able to score some of those JTA there. But they really need new upper management, or something!! I think they need to re-focus their ad campaigns to focus in on shoppers wanting something that they can give, but Wal Mart can't!! What that is, they have to decide!!
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Trump Tower?? LOL!!
Well the two K-Marts in Albany have been spared the ax!! Lucky for me, I was able to score some of those JTA there. But they really need new upper management, or something!! I think they need to re-focus their ad campaigns to focus in on shoppers wanting something that they can give, but Wal Mart can't!! What that is, they have to decide!!
That's all so exciting!
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Yea!! I don't even look at K-Mart's ads in the paper anymore!! After a while I just felt like I was looking at their Wish List!! And not an actual In-Stock and Ready to Sell Ad!! Maybe they should footnote what's On Hand and what's just fantasy!! Haha!!
Weeeee!!!!!
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K-Mart is still a pretty big presence up here... Sounds like the South is pretty well dominated by WM/Target, but up in Pittsburgh KM is still your neighborhood store for many areas.
That's gonna change I think, but yeah it's still a common sight up here.
I loved KM during the POTJ run... They got every wave in and I probably bought more SW there than year than any year prior, and I'd say I havne't shopped more consistantly at any one store since. I've always just spread out my dollar to whoever had what I wanted... Though KM and KB have lost my dollar because of their inflated prices.
On the other hand, KM was the only one who I could find some of the final 12 at this year on Black Friday, so they're still a viable shopping option for some of us... With them teaming up with Sears, that's a plus for them. I'm thinking they're just abandoning the last of the fat at this point, which is what they should do I guess. Move on and improve. I wish they'd just be a more competitive source for toys... Selection's been comparable to other stores but price makes me loathe buying from them. I only bought there on black friday because figures ammounted to $3.50 each after the sale price. I was more than happy with that.
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Trump Tower?? LOL!!
Yes, K-Mart makes the bottom of the toilet bowl at the local gas-n-go look like the penthouse at Trump Tower.
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K-Mart sucks.
I think the last time I bought anything there was when they got ML9 before anyone else locally. I went there during the summer for ROTS stuff which they never had, and totally missed the JTA set.
They're too far away for me to make it a regular stop, so I don't bother with the place anymore.
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K-Mart is the perfect example of what is wrong with corporate America. It's a company in trouble because they can't compete, so in stead of competing and taking a little bit of a proffit loss to rebuild, they basically try to put perfume on a pig and hope to get people into the store. Sadly, they're between a rock an hard place because money talks. People won't go into the store because they charge too much money, and if the charge people less money, investors on Wall Street won't invest in them because they're not maximizing proffit.
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That's all so exciting!
Dude, let it go!! Man, whatever happened in the past, let is stay in the past. Sheesh trolling's not a good look for you. ::)
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Okay DP, you know the drill...
(http://f.screensavers.com/migration/wp/yougotserved_215.gif)
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No, instigator, not trying to get anyone served, just trying to put the past behind.
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What Deanpaul posted didn't have anything to do with anything that's happened in the past--it had to do with something that is still happening to this day: your continued abuse of punctuation.
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Like I've said before, my K-Mart is like a 3rd world country. The last time I went there was about 4 months ago. The toy aisle was crazy. You literally had to wade through the toys on the floor to even get through the aisle. Everything was thrown all about like a tornado had gone through there. Finally, I found a JTA set (the only reason I went there in the first place), and of course someone had stolen one of the clones out of it. The basic figures, which were the same since April, were still priced at $6.99.
I couldn't care less if the K-Mart in my town goes belly up.
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Guys, guys, guys (and Bertha)...I think the important thing to do is ask, How Would Jesus Punctuate?
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I like K-Mart, but I havent seen one for 8 years(in Canada).
So I guess its too bad.
Then again I am lucky to find a #6 clone trooper :P and you guys still have Target and KB.
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Bunch of crumb bumbs in this thread!!
PS - Kmart sucks
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BUMP!
More K-Mart & Sears stores are closing. Check out THIS CNBC ARTICLE (http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/04/is-your-sears-or-macys-closing-heres-a-look-at-the-stores-that-will-go-dark.html) for details.
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I saw Sears is selling the Craftsman brand to Stanley/Black & Decker too.
Can't imagine they have too much time left before they are either out of business completely or split up and sold for parts...
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Looks like my local store is gone, so I can only hope that Kmart no longer gets any exclusives.
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Seriously?!?! I think I'm more upset about the Craftsman news than with Kmart/Sears closing stores. I've had a lot of my Craftsman tools for about 20 years, and they all still work really well. I might have to stock up.
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My local store is finally on the chopping block. Been a dump for years, but was the place really for toys back in the day. Spent an ungodly amount of time there as a kid. My mom would go for the blue light specials which I think were all like on one night and you had to kind of camp out to see what they were. I'd just drop anchor in the toy aisle, or the electronics department.
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That toy aisle rocked back in the day, Darby. It's definitely not the same, but I was like you hanging out there while my mother shopped.
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I saw Sears is selling the Craftsman brand to Stanley/Black & Decker too.
Can't imagine they have too much time left before they are either out of business completely or split up and sold for parts...
Article on how the Craftsman brand represents nearly all of the value in Sears/Kmart market cap. (http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/05/investing/sears-sells-craftsman-stanley-black-decker/) Sears' market cap is only $1.1 billion and the Craftsman brand is being sold for $900 million.
It looks like Sears has been pealing off everything of value creating a separate real estate company, spinning off Lands End, etc. I assume its only a short matter of time until they shut down all Sears/Kmart operations.
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They opened up a Sears Grand store here a little under 10 years ago, but it was this giant store that was a ghost town (and still is). I went there once or twice to snag some of the Kmart exclusives, but they got rid of the toy section in 2012-ish. I was there a few weeks ago to pick up an online order of the exclusive Jyn Erso figure and it looked like a store that had been rampaged in a zombie apocalypse (though still less sad than setting foot inside a Best Buy).
Learning something new every day, though, apparently there is (or was) a Kmart an hour from me. Had I known that, I wouldn't have had to rely on Jesse James for so much Kmart stuff. Also, Lands End is still a thing. I remember that being "the" upscale brand before Gap got popular.
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Glad the Craftsman brand will live on even if Sears dies. I think their tool section is fantastic, but could probably make do at Home Depot and Lowes.
I can live without every aspect of Kmart. Its a dump and doesn't offer anything other than the random SW exclusive that could go to a different retailer.
But maybe the biggest loss for me would be Sears' large appliance offering. I'm consistently underwhelmed by shopping for these things at Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Sears isn't great, but seems to be solidly better than most alternatives. Granted I probably only buy a new large appliance once every five years, but Sears always seems to win my business for these.
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To be honest, Craftsman is a lot junkier now... Not everything, but you overpay for Chinese-made tools generally with it now, and are paying for the name... If you want something as good, you can go to Harbor Freight for things like sockets, ratchets (which are vastly superior to just about all Craftsman)... OLD Craftsman stuff was US made, and superior. It's become difficult to get though. Their screwdrivers are still US made and far more durable (since they double as prying tools usually, heh).
That said, Craftsman sells better tool sets overall than many similar priced things... For instance, Stanley. So Stanley buying them is kinda ugh. They've largely been overtaken though by Gear Wrench, Harbor Freight's Pittsburgh brand, etc. Tekton is ok, and I believe that's Home Depot's line. Kobalt (Lowes) blows, trust me.
From a tools perspective though, Craftsman has gone downhill in the past 10-15 years, and it's probably not going to trend upward with Stanley/B&D owning it unfortunately. They'll pass in a crowd if the crowd gets big enough, but the reality is most of what they offer can be had for a fraction of the price at Harbor Freight, same lifetime warranty, and less of a hassle (they've become real dicks on exchanging) over it too. And stuff like HF's 72tooth ratchet? It blows Craftsman out of the water and is vastly more comparable to Snap On, Matco, etc.
What Craftsman does really nicely though, is sells a decent socket or mechanics tool set, whereas the "sets" at places like Harbor Freight can really suck... You can get a set of like deep metric impact sockets, and those will be cool, but if you bought a "mechanics tool set" of a lot of random stuff, it's usually made of some insanely cheap stuff and you don't get their individual smaller sets... It's kinda tricky to navigate the tool world, haha.
If you wrench day/night though, most of those guys are looking at things like Matco, Snap-On, etc. Even those brands you have to watch somewhat though. But I know so many guys buying Harbor Freight Toolboxes because Craftsman etc. have become insanely overpriced and HF is as good or better quality. It's a sign of the general global market times we live.
Now, my father's Craftsman stuff, it's all US made for the most part, stuff from the 60s/70s... some older even. And here's something goofy... Individual sockets are often US made whereas the big sets are Chinese (but ok), but when you break one you get a better US made one... so weird how that's set up.
K-Mart is ok here... The stores aren't fantastic, and the ones in the city are worse, but they're fairly clean and well stocked. Their rewards program is unmatched by anyone else (points spend like $, and if you play the coupons right you accrue a ton fast), and they've had the only exclusives worth buying now for years... It's not a lock those will go to another retailer because it's something the retailer has to want. I can't imagine K-Mart had dibs ya know? But they always had something good every year while WM, Target, etc., generally have not for some time.
I'm curious to see what Craftsman will turn into now, but with a KM right up over the hill from me, I'll miss it... Though mine and the other one not far away aren't leaving either. Still do pretty well out here in the boonies I guess.
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Glad the Craftsman brand will live on even if Sears dies. I think their tool section is fantastic, but could probably make do at Home Depot and Lowes.
I was under the impression that Craftsman isn't what it used to be. That the warranties are crap now, that they're made in China...
EDIT: Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnd I just read Jesse's post. So yeah...
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Must be nice to have a "local store." I haven't even driven by a KMart in years.
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I have 2 really... one's 20 minutes away, one about 7 to 10 maybe? They still had a decent foothold in the east and northeast for the most part.
We had a Sears Grand, but it went kaput. Sucks because I did exchange my craftsman stuff there when I needed to.
Craftsman's guarantee varies (Anything with Evolve isn't as easily exchanged as the regular stuff), but yeah it's not as simple as walk in and get a new one, as it once was... Sometimes they hassle you on seeing receipts, despite the tool being stamped what it is... Annoying junk.
It's weird too, like I say. Individual things that you may get as a replacement to a "set" are labeled made in the USA, while everything in the "set" you got was made in China...
Like I say, the quality is about on par (or even below) Harbor Freight. You have to navigate it, know what you're looking for, at, and talking about... Like HF's 72 Tooth Ratchet is insanely well done, and rivals Snap On, and blows Craftsman's stuff out of the water. That said, I'd prefer a Craftsman Torque Wrench to a HF (not that HF is bad, I just know the Craftsman is more accurate).
I don't think you can get much 6 point stuff at HF, only 12 point, and you really should have 6 point wrenches and such for breaking nuts loose... I LOVE my Craftsman electric impact guns too, but HF's corded gun is every bit as good as Craftsman's corded gun, and even has replaceable brushes and things. But Craftsman's cordless impact gun is miles superior to HF's and has the torque to rip lugs off, and I've even broken axle nuts with it. HF's cordless stuff is very much more miss than hit.
On wrenches, I've got ratcheting Craftsman, and I have regular box wrenches and things, and they're all Craftsman, and I prefer them to HF, but when I want something like a super long box wrench, I tend to look at HF at this point.
I can't justify the $ spent on Snap On and MAC and such (though I do have some inherited tools from both, and love them). Craftsman isn't terrible, but it's not what it was in the 70s and 80s for sure. They still have Craftsman Tool Stores here, not sure about all your different areas though. They only sell tools and maybe some appliances too? I forget, but they're small stores, usually in a plaza, and I'm hoping those somehow live on as a place to go LOOK at the tools you want to buy. Otherwise it's all online, and sometimes you have to hold a wrench or something to know how you'll like it.
That all said, HF has tons of cool stuff. I could go broke there buying/trying anything they have. I have far more things from them that I love than things that crapped out on me. And they are really easy to deal with on exchanging anything. I've never had a single issue.
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My local store is finally on its way out. Not surprised. Every time I tried to buy something there, I'd either not be able to (Jyn Eadu exclusive), it wouldn't be in the system, or the computers/registers wouldn't work properly, so I stopped going months ago. Not going to miss it, as it was kind of the place that time forgot, but it does suck to see another empty storefront on the road that store was on, University Avenue.
I just hope they don't get a great exclusive for Episode VIII.
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I was surprised when they closed the Godfather's out by Crossroads which has more traffic and leave the one on Uni open, which as you said was a ghost town.
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Must be nice to have a "local store." I haven't even driven by a KMart in years.
I've driven by a couple of empty ones with no signs.