Tag: K-mart

Sears & Kmart, once the gold standard, now nearly dead

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

I was a longtime Kmart man.

Throughout my childhood, even as Hills, Twin Fair, Gold Circle, Ames, and Brand Names all had their advantages, Kmart was my gold standard in shopping.

It was always clean, well stocked, and carried quality merchandise.

When we first bought our house, Sears was still the embodiment of dependability. To buy something from Sears was an investment.

It’s been sad to see these great brands ravaged, and to know the service and dependability they stood for is completely and utterly dead on any large scale.

I was thinking about all this after writing about the demise of Kmart and Sears for The News.

The days when Sears and Kmart first arrived in WNY

 

Buffalo in the ’80s: What Black Friday looked like at K-Mart in 1986

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

This is what Black Friday 1986 looked like at the K-Mart store on Ridge Road in Lackawanna.

Buffalo News archives

Discounted televisions and VCRs got people lined up nice and early on the day after Thanksgiving 29 years ago, when this store was one of the first to open its doors that morning. The signs on the door clearly state the store would be opening much earlier than usual: at 7 a.m.

The signs also promote Breakfast with Santa. The kids’ pancake breakfast was $1.19; adults paid $1.69.

This K-Mart location, which closed in 1999, is now home to Global Concepts Charter School.

 

The K-Mart Radio Network was my favorite radio station

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

I was 11 when we moved to Orchard Park.

We lived within walking distance of Taffy’s, McDonald’s, and K-Mart, and when we were bored, we’d shake the couch cushions (or make a small raid on Dad’s change bowl) for a buck or two and head to one of those places to waste some time and get something to eat. I laugh at the thought of me at 11– ordering a small coffee and a hamburger at McDonald’s because it was something like $1.24.

When we had no money– or a lot of money– we’d go wander around K-Mart for hours. Never causing any trouble, just browsing and wishing… Toys, bikes, camping equipment, records, tapes, CDs, electronics, tools, books… We spent A LOT of time and most of our money in there.

The store was about where the Lowes and Tops now stand on Southwestern Blvd. It looked like the K-Mart in this video– But all the K-Marts built in the 70s looked like that.

This K-M-R-T jingle used to play incessantly on the PA at K-Mart… along with the big voiced announcer reading specials and always ending with “Thank you for shopping your Orchard Park K-Mart.”

I snagged this audio clip from this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t5TYw2bkOk