It looks like this is the end for Super Kmart

          Recently, going around the news and forums, it appears that 5 out of the 11 remaining Super Kmart Centers are being converted to a more traditional set-up, where the seafood, bakery, and deli, are being removed and the stores are basically split in half, yet there will be a new addition, "Kmart Fresh", where more food that whats regularly expected at a usual Kmart will be offered. This idead was originally tested at the Kmart in Norridge, IL.

          This method to save corporate costs has had a bad history with other stores closing shortly after this change went into effect for them over the years. At the peak of the chain, when Kmart was Kmart Corporation, or Troy, MI, there where over 100 super center stores by the end of 2001, with many more in the works before the bankruptcy announcement in January 2002 that halted the construction of what would never open as Super Kmart stores as well as the start of a decade struggle to remain a competitor in the market.

          The first Kmart Super Center opened in Medina, OH in 1991, where it offered many new features not found in a normal Kmart, like full-service grocery and expanded selection of other goods and full line auto and garden center.

          Kmart was very competitive in the 90's, a powerful company with many divisions, covering all the needs to customers, like Builder Square, Pace Membership Warehouse, Officemax, Borders Books, and Sports Authority. Super Kmart was there idea to compete with Hypermarkets like Wal-Mart Super centers, Hypermarket USA, and Twin-Valu.

Stores that are changing:

- Bradley, IL
- Tinley Park, IL

- Roseville, MI

- Cambridge, OH

- Uniontown, PA

Stores that will remain super:

-Taylor, MI
- Ashtabula, OH
- Chillicothe, OH
- Lorain, OH
- Mentor, OH
- Warren, OH

Here are pictures of the stores, press and news articles (I do NOT take any credit for these photos):

Indianapolis--Now closed

Bloomfield Hills, MI--- circa 2001

Indianapolis--- Now closed

Aisle of a traditional Super Kmart

Shoppers look for groceries at the Super Kmart Center in Bloomfield Hills, MI on November 21, 2001.

If anyone has any stories, questions, or answers, feel free to post and comment below.

Thank you for reading

It's over: RadioShack filed for bankruptcy!

Oh, the shack, forever has been the place to find that replacement television tube or computer jack, has admitted defeat, and has filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. For decades, Radio Shack has been famous for bringing personnel computers to the masses, and supplying any extra and replacement parts released a list of nearly 2,000 stores that will potentially close, although, most likely it will be all that are proposed, and what is left of the chain by the end of 2015.

The nearly 100 year old company announced that filing for bankruptcy protection on Thursday, that it has found a deal to sell up to 2,400 stores to the wireless carrier Sprint.

Although the economic difficulties almost a decade ago may have claimed several chains, and ruined others for there more recent endings like blockbuster, the movie rental chain that was in a struggle for almost 10 years, Radio Shack seemed to hold on, but what might have drove them to bankruptcy was there marketing strategist that started in early 2014 with the Superbowl commercial advertising that the company knew they were outdated, and had to change in order to survive.

Found below are some pictures I chose that I find to be my favorites, the vintage stores still found in the hundreds of more modern and recent designs. 

Original Radio Shack Electronics Retailer:

A corporate photo showing the many personnel computer systems that original parent company Tandy, was producing and selling it the chains heyday.

That famous ad from 1991 that shows at the time, the average consumer needed to spend nearly 5,000 dollars for all the merchandise on the ad, and now we have a small, flat rectangle in are pockets that can do everything these devices could do and more.

If anyone has anything to say about Radio Shack, stories, experiences, or photos, please feel free to post and comment below.

Thank you for reading.