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bucolic_frolic

(53,851 posts)
7. Was Kmart sandbagged with a goal in mind?
Sat Dec 27, 2025, 03:42 PM
7 hrs ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/kmart/comments/1f4zgw9/my_opinion_on_the_demise_of_kmart/

I have often asked myself.. what went wrong? This question, for me, this question goes all the way back to the 2002 bankruptcy filing. I was happily employed at Kmart when that bankruptcy happened. I remember thinking it all started with Chuck Conaway, the CEO at the time, brining Mark Schwartz on board. That, in my opinion, is the point in time where Kmart began falling apart.

Schwartz had been a Walmart executive for 16 years when Conaway brought him on board. He immediately instituted those ridiculous price wobblers as part of the "Bluelight Always" program, and those things were a complete eyesore. The customers hated them. We hated them. They were always in the way, and would often fall off the peg hooks and shelves when stocking merchandise or even when customers were going through items. I found out later on that Walmart had previously had a program that utilized similar wobblers, and that was at a point when Schwartz was still with Walmart.
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https://www.carrcommunications.com/clips/kmart-published2001-12.pdf This is an ultimate in depth look at Kmart, 2001, when Conaway was appointed.

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Eddie Lampert was chairman and CEO of ESL Investments. It was HQ in Greenwich, CT.

Conaway was COO of CVS immediately before he joined Kmart. His home base was Woonsocket, RI.



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0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

I find it incredibly sad. hlthe2b 8 hrs ago #1
I loved the sears catalog UpInArms 8 hrs ago #2
one bathrm in house, yikes! msongs 6 hrs ago #11
Trust me you can survive 😄 zeusdogmom 3 hrs ago #23
Sears was a victim of bad management Keepthesoulalive 8 hrs ago #3
I worked for Sears when I was moniss 8 hrs ago #4
When we were first married (dinosaurs still roamed the earth), Sears was where you went to get everything. Vinca 7 hrs ago #5
The acquisition by K Mart was not a very good idea MichMan 7 hrs ago #6
Was Kmart sandbagged with a goal in mind? bucolic_frolic 7 hrs ago #7
General Motors UpInArms 6 hrs ago #17
Some of us may remember using a outhouse with a Sears catalog Kaleva 7 hrs ago #8
Sear grew into a marketing suburban powerhouse after WWII bucolic_frolic 7 hrs ago #9
Sears should have been looking Greg_In_SF 6 hrs ago #10
Yep, they had everything in place to give them a leg up on it misanthrope 6 hrs ago #15
Wasn't it Sears that had the Ayn Rand-worshipping dickhead CEO Aristus 6 hrs ago #12
That's makes no business sense to me JI7 6 hrs ago #14
Or to anyone else with a functioning brain. Aristus 5 hrs ago #19
Didn't they go out of business a few years ago ? JI7 6 hrs ago #13
I sure thought so. News to me. B.See 6 hrs ago #16
Sears did themselves in. I recalled when I worked for JCPenney's, that Sears, the opposite anchor store in our local SWBTATTReg 5 hrs ago #18
The Sears Christmas Catelog was the boomers Google Norbert 5 hrs ago #20
Sears holiday portraits were a tradition Danmel 5 hrs ago #21
I thought they already went out of business. Jacson6 4 hrs ago #22
Sears went down not to one bad decision... Xolodno 48 min ago #24
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Sears on verge of fading ...»Reply #7