Attention Kmart shoppers.

I took a $32 trip down memory lane today.  Canadians of a certain age will remember when Kmart stores were located in our country.  These stores were once fairly common in cities and towns across Canada before the early 1990’s when the company nearly went out of business and closed up in Canada in order to stay open in the US.  Kmart, originally the department store version of the long-gone S.S. Kresge discount chain regained financial stability and actually has since taken over another American retail institution, Sears.

Anyone who was young in Canada from the 1960’s to 1980’s probably had at least one toy or other item in their home that came from Kmart.  Walmart did not exist in Canada then and had not even yet spread to all parts of the United States.  My father never left Kmart in Trenton or Belleville Ontario empty handed.  Records and tapes (my parents still have the Anne Murray Christmas album he bought there), camping supplies, Christmas decorations, and countless other objects made from plastic, polyester, or tin entered our home.  My first tent for camping, a small dome tent that allegedly could accommodate three adults, fit only me very comfortably when I was eight years old and was from Kmart’s Northwest Territory line of camping products.   I remember the famous flashing blue light specials.  A voice would come over the store public address system starting with the familiar phrase “Attention Kmart shoppers,” and announce that a certain product would be on sale at a special price for 5 or 10 minutes only.  The announcement always ended with “Thank you for shopping our Kmart.”  The location of the special sale would be marked by a blue flashing light atop a pole attached to a shopping cart that an employee would wheel to the required place.  A minor frenzy of discount-seeking shoppers would follow.  Kmart stores always had a greasy smelling lunch counter in them too.  The thick odour of deep fryers was often noticeable upon entering the store.  The lunch counter was simply just called the Cafeteria, or at some locations, the Kafeteria.  I remember signs always advertising extremely cheap toasted western sandwiches.

Today I took a trip to Watertown, New York.  Due to ethical concerns, I try to avoid shopping at Walmart.  So, I decided to give Kmart a try.  The store did not really resemble the 1960’s and 1970’s appearance I remember in the 1980’s.  The store brand now is “Smart,” rather than Kresfair or simply Kmart in the past.  The Cafeteria/Kafeteria has been replaced with a Little Caesar’s Hot and Ready pizza counter.  There are no flashing blue light specials.  However, I did find some great sales on some items and the store was clean.  I didn’t even bother asking if they had any Anne Murray records in stock.

Have a look at this Kmart commercial from the 1970’s.  Danny Wells, who played Charlie the bartender on the popular American sitcom The Jeffersons is a singing Kmart manager who with evangelistic zeal, leads the people of a town out of the downtown area to the new Kmart store that just opened up.  The lineman on the utility pole is Johnny Haymer who played the minor role of Sergeant Zale on M*A*S*H*.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDKVLyRt0jQ