As you have already probably heard, the oldest and first Kmart in North Dakota is closing it’s doors in mid-December. Believe me, it’s a crying shame to see the store go under and close their doors.

Kmart had been around for a long time. Not as long as Sears though. The Fargo Kmart store had been around for over 50 some years.

At one time, Kmart was one of the top retailers. I remembered when they opened the Kmart in Moorhead. The reason for opening that store was to be able to be open on Sunday. When they was about to open that Kmart, Tempo; which was in the old Holiday Mall became scared. They felt that they couldn’t compete with Kmart. So they closed their doors!

I remembered as kid, the Fargo Kmart store had a cafeteria that was in the back of the store. They also sold flavored icy drinks. It was a family friendly store.

They would have the blue light special that would flash and the manager would announced, “blue light special!” , and they will tell you where you can find it.

The next 2 Kmart, one was in North Fargo near NDSU. One of the reason that one was closed was because when the Fargo Dome opened up, customers from the Fargo Dome would used Kmart parking lot to avoid paying high parking fees at the Fargo Dome for events.

The other Kmart opened not far from Target, in the Burington Coat store. They opened that store to gives Target a run for their money. They did ok for a while too. The reason for closing that store was because Wal-Mart opened up nearby.

Where the original Kmart is in South Fargo, there is nothing down there to give them a run for their money. It’s a prime location. This part of town will be lost without Kmart; unless something worthwhile can comes in and take over.

I’m going to give you reason why Kmart had been failing the last few years. Some people would think that Wal-Mart is to blame. They are not at fault. They could had survived Wal-Mart. Some things were cheaper at Kmart than at Wal-Mart and vice versa.

Wal-Mart was the cheapest, then came Kmart, and Target was a little more expensive. Target is considered to be the rich’s Wal-Mart. The poor/working class would shop at Wal-Mart and Kmart; whereas the rich wouldn’t be caught dead at a Wal-Mart and Kmart stores.

Here is what killed Kmart:

Kmart should never merge with Sears. As I said in my blog, “Sears was an albatross around Kmart’s neck.” Also in my most recent blog, the oldest retailers, I mentioned that Sears was the downfall of Kmart.

Another things that killed Kmart and even hurting other retails, like Pres. Trump had said, is on-line orders. People don’t shop in retails anymore. They would rather shop from home in front of the computer in their pajamas and shop on-line through Amazon. It’s convenience. I have to admit that I had shop on-line. The reason for shopping online is because you can get things that you can’t get in the store.

The biggest thing that had killed Kmart is the management. It starts at the top. This is where the head honchos wouldn’t want the public to know. They wouldn’t be too happy with me for sharing this with my readers.

Most Recently, Eddie Lambert was the CEO of Kmart/Sears corporation. Let me tell you, he ran Kmart into the ground and he didn’t care.

They should never merge with Sears. If they didn’t had Sears dragging them down, I actually believe that Kmart could had survived.

The upper managements had made many bad choices in the last few years. They never paid the workers very much either.

The original owner of Kmart took care of the employees. I’ve seen old pictures; where Kmart’s employees actually had fun while work. Maybe that was why some of the Kmart’s employees stuck it out as long as they did.

I feel sorry for them. It’s hard to start over; especially as a person gets older.

I’ve heard recently that there was a no logical reason for closing the Fargo Kmart store. Earlier, they renewed their lease for 4 more years. The sales at the Fargo Kmart was as good as Bismarck. Those 2 Kmart was the top in sales. If any Kmart should close; it should had been the Minot store.

What these upper management were thinking, no one really knows. They are not telling anyone.

The reason they gave was to save money on gas, when they bring a truck up with freight. They could had done the same thing by closing Minot instead of Fargo.

Who knows what they were thinking?

Here is my thought on that: since both the Fargo and Bismarck stores had higher sales, they both got bigger trucks. With Bismarck and Minot stores open yet, they could combine the 2 stores. I still can’t wrap my head over their reasons for choosing to close the Fargo Kmart.

Like I said earlier, there is nothing in South Fargo after Kmart close. What will the people do?

My heart goes out to my former co-workers at Kmart; especially those who had been there a long time and still can’t retire. It’s hard starting over. I was one of the lucky one when I left Kmart over a year ago. I’m glad the opportunity came along when it did. I saw the writings on the walls.