That sentiment holds true for the Key West Kmart, as it's the only general merchandise retailer in Key West (and officially, the entirety of the Keys now, following the closure of the Kmarts in Key Largo and Marathon in early 2021). While nothing about Kmart's current state makes any sense to me, I believe most of the remaining stores have lasted as long as they did purely because they are the only major retail establishment around for miles, and generate some kind of decent income due to their isolation. For many people, a three hour drive to Kmart is pretty good these days, especially with how few locations are left (and that most of the remaining locations are clustered around New York City, with the two in Florida, one in Montana, and one in California rounding out the rest of the US mainland Kmart stores if I remember correctly). In July 2021 I got my chance, and off to Kmart I went! This particular Kmart location, located in the Kendall neighborhood of Southwestern Miami, is about a three hour drive from where I live. As the number of remaining Kmart stores began to fizzle down into the 30s, 20s, and now teens, it made me want to take the trek to Miami to see Kmart at least one more time before all the remaining stores closed for good. Of those 15 Kmart stores left as of September 2021, it just so happens that two of them are located in Florida, those being the Miami/Kendall and Key West locations. I know a lot of you are also intrigued at just what Kmart's few remaining stores are like these days, so I figured before this tour collects virtual dust in my archives for years like the others, let's take a look at the place while the photos are still somewhat current! I think this will be a fun little diversion from our usual content, and hopefully you guys will like this (now rare) treat of a visit to a 2020s Kmart store. This is a Kmart store photographed in 2021 - a tour of one of the few holdout locations of this once great retail empire. Sure, I have a few Kmart tours in my archives collecting virtual dust from years ago, but this tour is different. And today's tour isn't just any Kmart tour. That being said, I know a lot of people out there feel the same way, so I decided to make an exception to the blog's usual supermarket focus for today's Kmart tour. Still though, I have lots of great memories of Kmart, great memories I'll keep with me going forward in this crazy retail adventure of mine that I started. Like many people, I was one who grew up with Kmart, so I have lots of memories of shopping their stores and watching the company at both its highs and lows, although most of my life has spanned that of the company's lows. Then other factors like mismanagement, aging stores, the internet, and a man named Eddie Lampert got thrown into the mix of woes that would eventually bring Kmart to its current fate - a sad shell of its former self, limping along with only 15 stores remaining as of the publication of this post - a relic of retail past that somehow refuses to die, yet provides fascination to those wanting a small glimpse at this once mighty American retailer. However, as we all know, competitors like Walmart and Target began to rise to power in the 1980's, gradually expanding nationwide to eat into Kmart's market share. Kmart became an American icon as they grew into the nation's retail powerhouse, giving us the iconic Blue Light Specials and its synonymous introduction, " Attention Kmart shoppers.". As the predominant discount retail chain in most cities and towns across America, Kmart was the go-to for the majority of life's purchases - from the new kitchen decor in the spring to the new Christmas tree in winter, and everything else in between, Kmart was always there, that big red 'K' shining bright whenever you needed them. For many years a visit to Kmart wasn't anything of note.
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