[Bainx]

Perhaps "Victory" is a bad choice of words considering U.S. citizens are being put out of work. Two of the three hundred stores to be closed are here in Knoxville.
I recall us ["pro-second" folks] boycotting Kmart due to Rosie as a spokesperson.
Do you think the ultimate closing of the stores is a result of that boycott?

[m.i.sanders]

I'm sure that there was "some" contribution of the boycott to the closings, but I know Jim Adamson, the new CEO, from his previous job at Denny's, and can tell you he does like to close stores as a way to cut costs. If he believes a store isn't making the numbers he wants, he'll get rid of them. It's actually what he's hired to do in these situations, do what ever it takes to work through a bankruptcy.

[ruger357]

Nomatter it's a shame all those people are out of work.

[Kamicosmos]

I worked at a KMart back in High School. I really don't think any pro gun boycott brought them down. We were worried then (12 years ago) about going out of business because of the many Wal-Marts in the area.
My home town KMart is still in business, even now that a Super Target and a Hyper Mart have gone in nearby. But, the owner of the KMart also owns the land all around the store. He makes all his money from the rent the banks and restuarants pay him. The Store is literally a hobby of his...

Kamicosmos

EDIT, BTW, my Kmart was still selling rifles, shotguns, and ammunition (Including handgun only calibers) and accessories last time I checked. Granted, this particular store is a kind of franchise situation...

[bedlamite]

No. Mall-Wart's Victory.

[Joe Demko]

Absolutely not. The so-called boycott by gun owners wouldn't even register at the corporate level. Kmart is in the position Poland was in around 1939. They have Germany (Walmart) and the CCCP (Target) to thank for their present woes. Kmart has failed to come up with a product mix and marketing plan that appeals to today's consumers, just like Poland in 1939 had an army and airforce more suited to previous decades.

[2dogs]

300 Kmarts Closing. Our Victory?

Let's CLAIM victory and go home:neener: :D

[JPM70535]

IMO, the reason K-Mart is in financial straits is their lack of a competitive agenda. By that I mean their inability to compete pricewise with Wally world, and Tarjey (French for Target- upscale Walmart). But an even larger part player is K-Marts total lack of resopnse to customer needs, to wit, the customers desire to check out in a timely manner after shopping.

Every K-Mart I have shopped, has had a shortage of cashiers. Whenthe line in the checkout grow to 5 or 6 deep with 1 lane open and the store fails to open other checkouts, it rubs customers the wrong way. Wally world does not seem to suffer with this problem.

I never participated in the boycott of K-Mart, not because I felt their policies were not abhorrant, they were, but because I did not want to eliminate competition for Wal-Mart. A monopoly in any field is not healthy from the consumers standpoint. Prices only go up with a lack of competition. While the Boycott may have had some small influence in K-Marts current condition,I feel it was their lack of customer service and non competitive prices that drove the nail in their coffin.

JMO

[foghornl]

The 2 K-Marts near me are both an accident in progress. You can never find what you want, nor can you find a K-Mart employee with even the tiniest shred of a clue.

Several months back, when the Hamilton County Courts ruled that the CCW ban in Ohio was unconstitutional, one of the Kame-Aparts immediately put up a "No Concealed Weapons Allowed" sign, even though that court ruling only applied to Hamilton County (Greater Cincinnati, OH area). I am in Greater Cleveland, 5 to 6 hour road trip away.

Buffoons is the kindest term I can apply to Kame-Apart stores.

[MrAcheson]

Yeah Kmart is now competing with Walmart and Target in most areas and Walmart is kicking their butt. Walmart has better products and better selection and Target is more upscale and attracts less scary people. Despite the fact that Kmart actually has better prices on many items, Walmart and Target both have less stigma attached to their store names. Lets face it, "Kmart" is pretty much synonymous with cheap crap, but Walmart is not.

As for the cashier thing, I have never been to a Walmart that did not have a healthy wait at the main bank of cashiers. I have been to Kmarts which did not. So I check out at the Sporting Goods register or the Electronics register in Walmart instead. Things like that are bound to be caused by store management and vary from store to store.

[igor]

K-mart vs. Walmart is a textbook example of IT strategy choices, made early and adhered to. The results speak for themselves.

[PATH]

I say we claim victory and let the gun grabbers prove it was not our boycott that was the final nail in the coffin. I will still boycott until they either change policy or go under!:neener:

[2nd Amendment]

I'm always amazed at how easily people dismiss any boycott or effort by gun owners but then acclaim as effective boycotts and efforts by other groups. The fact is, we are the largest "minority" out there. If even a relatively small percentage of us decide on a course of action we can easily influence things at a variety of levels.

Did we kill KMart? No idea, but it's more likely than any other boycott would have been. Did we give the Republicans control all those years ago? Absolutely, despite how often people try to dismiss it in favor of this or that other agenda or political cause. We DO have the power, we just need to learn to use it AND not dismiss it as impossible, especially after the fact.

[Bottom Gun]

I, for one, used to spend a lot of money at KMart. I used to buy groceries, sporting goods, ammo, etc.
I stopped shopping there when they stopped selling firearms. I figured if they wanted to make a statement, I could make one of my own.
I think if you add up the money they lost nationwide because of their anti gun attitude, the amount would be substantial.
I'm not saying I think that was the only reason for their decline, but I'll bet it certainly contributed to it.

[cuchulainn]

You could tell if there was an effect by looking at the sales volume before and after the boycott. You'd just need the date of the boycott and Kmart's quarterly reports, quarterly would do, but monthly would be better.

Anyone got the time to do that research?

Even if sales were going down before the boycott, if the descent got noticably steeper soon after the boycott, we likely had an effect (unless, of course, there was something else significant that coincided with the boycott).

[dinosaur]

I was in the local K Mart Monday. Still selling rifles, shotguns and ammo. No pistols though. Same with Wally World around the corner. This store is not on the closing list.

[Blackhawk]

Do you think the ultimate closing of the stores is a result of that boycott? No.

The hiring of Rosie in the first place was symptomatic of really stupid management.

K-Mart has been a troubled retailer for many years, and long before the mouth was hired.

[Ron L]

Do you think the ultimate closing of the stores is a result of that boycott?

I don't think so either. K-Mart's marketing plan has been flawed for many years. They tried to branch outside of their normal market. K-Mart used to be the place to go to buy a charp pair of jeans or shows or a box of shells, things like that. They they hire people like Jacklyn Smith and Martha Stewart as their talking heads and because their name is on the tag, prices jump much more than folks are willing to go to that store for. Hell, I won't pay $14 for a towel, no matter the store! Then they try to branch out into food. Sorry folks, people don't go to K-Marts to grocery shop either. Sure they may have picked something while they were they, but that's it. Basically, they zigged when they should have zagged.

Are the closings a good thing? Well, not really. Can you say collateral damage? I know several good folks that lost jobs with that corporation. They weren't anti's and they weren't ambivalent either, just uninformed. Around here, unemployment is high enough, we don't need more people sucking on the public teat.