I remember the submarine sandwiches you could get for a dollar. The deli was in the same area that jewelry counters are now in many stores like Walmart. My mom would get each of us a sandwich (9 kids + mom & dad) which would be our dinner, and we considered it a treat. A visit to the K-mart cafeteria was an extra special treat, reserved for those of us who accompanied her on shopping trips (usually me).
The town where I lived until age 20 had all the famous businesses: Kmart, Montgomery Ward, Sears-Roebuck, Grants, Woolworths. And grocery supermarkets like A&P. Also regional stores like Publix, Winn Dixie, Kash&Carry.
I’m from Sarasota, FL. In the 1960s - early 1990s it was a town. Now it’s more a city.
Thank you for this. We were a family on a budget as well, I vividly remember the blue light specials. I also remember that they would do post holiday markdowns so we would go the day after Christmas and one Christmas I remember getting a whole pail of Christmas sugar cookies for something like 75% off (possibly the only price that Mom would agree to buying Christmas cookies).
We didn’t shop at K-Mart because we didn’t get one till my senior year in Hamilton Township, NJ. There was no Icee or popcorn but a small cafeteria that looked like the one pictured.
I worked there the summer after I graduated in 1972. The pay was bad, and we were required to smile at customers or risk being reported— signs actually offered a candy bar to offended customers.
I had to do the blue light special at times (ATTENTION KMART SHOPPERS: We have a blue light special going on in the sporting goods department…). The other sales clerks would try to make you laugh when you did it.
We did a lot of dusting because we had to look busy at all times. And they ignored the little detail that I was a minor and it was illegal for me to sell guns and ammo.
However, in the 1990s to 2000s, we came to rely on it in Eastern Washington for basics, especially socks and a great greeting cards section, and lamented when it closed.
I miss the KMart by me in Belleville NJ. I live in a moderate income neighborhood and I could walk there with the kids! I remember buying things on lay away for Christmas. Now you have to do guesswork online and risk getting hacked!😥😡😡😡😡
I remember the submarine sandwiches you could get for a dollar. The deli was in the same area that jewelry counters are now in many stores like Walmart. My mom would get each of us a sandwich (9 kids + mom & dad) which would be our dinner, and we considered it a treat. A visit to the K-mart cafeteria was an extra special treat, reserved for those of us who accompanied her on shopping trips (usually me).
The town where I lived until age 20 had all the famous businesses: Kmart, Montgomery Ward, Sears-Roebuck, Grants, Woolworths. And grocery supermarkets like A&P. Also regional stores like Publix, Winn Dixie, Kash&Carry.
I’m from Sarasota, FL. In the 1960s - early 1990s it was a town. Now it’s more a city.
Thank you for this. We were a family on a budget as well, I vividly remember the blue light specials. I also remember that they would do post holiday markdowns so we would go the day after Christmas and one Christmas I remember getting a whole pail of Christmas sugar cookies for something like 75% off (possibly the only price that Mom would agree to buying Christmas cookies).
We have KMarts in Australia. Always a great place to go for a wander.
Was Kmart food good? If it was something Mom did not commonly cook at home, it sure was!
I could smell the popcorn before I ever scrolled down the page.
Hoo ra. Blue light specials, Icees, popcorn, Little Caesar's, boy's underwear. You nailed it all, J. :D
Ahhh, the days of half and half Icees! An obsession I still have many years later. 😁
As Joni Mitchell sang: Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
I miss K-mart. Quality and high fashion were not their M.O., but, dang, it was good for people who didn't have a lot of money.
Ahh, nothing like celebrating the imaginary resurrection of jeebus with a deal on cartons of smokes! 😁
Great story. I was with you in the Kmart.
Good memories! My mom would shop there for family camping trips. They sold canned bacon! It was pretty good too!
We didn’t shop at K-Mart because we didn’t get one till my senior year in Hamilton Township, NJ. There was no Icee or popcorn but a small cafeteria that looked like the one pictured.
I worked there the summer after I graduated in 1972. The pay was bad, and we were required to smile at customers or risk being reported— signs actually offered a candy bar to offended customers.
I had to do the blue light special at times (ATTENTION KMART SHOPPERS: We have a blue light special going on in the sporting goods department…). The other sales clerks would try to make you laugh when you did it.
We did a lot of dusting because we had to look busy at all times. And they ignored the little detail that I was a minor and it was illegal for me to sell guns and ammo.
However, in the 1990s to 2000s, we came to rely on it in Eastern Washington for basics, especially socks and a great greeting cards section, and lamented when it closed.
Same here! I remember walking a mile or so to my local KMart in Jeffersonville Indiana and buying cheap toys and Icees back in 1979. Quite nostalgic!
Then the mighty Walmart took over and drove KMart out of business—We’ve had a Super KMart out of business here for over 20 years so sad!
I miss the KMart by me in Belleville NJ. I live in a moderate income neighborhood and I could walk there with the kids! I remember buying things on lay away for Christmas. Now you have to do guesswork online and risk getting hacked!😥😡😡😡😡
Thanks for this trip down Memory Lane 😅… just sent your article to my sisters!