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[Kai Dracon]

The K-Mart near us finished clearing out their games about a month ago. Unlike a lot of K-Marts, they actually did really well selling a ton of gaming merch until 2011 when a Gamestop moved in here (we're in a rural area). The moment Gamestop landed, K-Mart's business went down the tubes. I'm honestly surprised they bothered stocking stuff for another 4 years. The shelves were full of about 2 years worth of stock that was not moving, and they wouldn't perform any significant discounts to clear it out.

For people who grew up with games in the 80s and 90s, these chains getting out of the biz is the end of an era for sure. I got my original NES deluxe set with ROB at a K-Mart in the Dallas, Texas metroplex. They had a NES set up with Super Mario Bros. for a month before they got stock in; Nintendo apparently sent K-Marts demo units while they were busy fulfilling their first-year orders once the NES took off.

That is quite a memory because I saw the awareness build in real time. I went in once a week and played SMB. The first week, there was nobody there; no one was looking for new game consoles. Second week, two kids were there taking turns. Third week, regular traffic around the demo NES. By the time they got their first systems and game paks in, there was a crowd of about 15 kids hogging the NES all afternoon.

That was back in the era when K-Mart had a full cafeteria in the back with all kinds of hot foot, and those counters at the front of the store that sold nachos and those ham sandwiches on burger buns by the sackfull (if anyone remembers those). There were always people walking around eating snacks and the stores smelled like popcorn and cotton candy.

And yes, today walking into one is depressing. They look like you could walk in with extras and start filming a zombie movie.

 

[mjc]

There aren't any KMarts around me, haven't been for about two or three years now. They've all shut down.

 

[DeadTrees]

I went into the Kmart and noticed that there is no longer any video game stuff for sale.

Sears and Kmart (allegedly) had their vidgames supply cut off due to an...erratic payment history with their suppliers.

Also, Sears and Kmart (allegedly) will be getting rid of their in-store electronics departments in the near future, assuming they survive that long.

 

[Aces&Eights]

I hate going into Kmarts. There's something wrong with every customer in there it seems. Seriously next time you are in a kmart look around at how many people are disabled or have some kind of injury. it's fucking weird.

WTF, man. Disabled people shouldn't go out in public because you think it's weird? KMART is a discount store and most people with disabilities are on.....wait for it...disability. Meaning, they do not have a lot of income. My daughter has a form of multiple sclerosis so we'll make sure to try and wait until you leave before going shopping next time.

Jesus.

 

[Catdaddy]

K-Mart is actually the closest “department store” to me by about 7-8 miles. I completely forget they exist, but the last time I was in there it wasn’t in bad condition, just looked old compared to Target, I do know that their electronic department was nothing to write home about.

 

[DirgeExtinction]

*sigh* Kmart was where I actually bought(with my own money) my first game: Kingdom Hearts II.

:'(

 

[Exile20]

I remember when I preordered over $300 and will get back $130 in points and they shipped two games and canceled the rest with no reason. After than I was done with Kmart.

 

[ElMexiMerican]

K-Mart's phasing out their games section like the Sears locations have been doing. They probably haven't made much money from that section for a while now, the only time I ever bought anything was when there was a game clearanced all the way down to a ridiculous price.

 

[Rollo Tomasi]

Kmart had some great deals at one time. I remember they would issue $20 coupons on the receipt when you bought certain games. Went to a few different Kmarts when Skyrim launched to find a copy to use my $20 coupon on it. I think I may have got the coupon from Uncharted 3?

 

[Beartruck]

Kinda crazy especially how important Sears was to the early video game industry. I loved those catalogs.

But Sears is dying a slow death and gaming is moving digital.

One of my earliest gaming memories is going to the game section at my local sears and playing the demos for Toy Story and Yoshi's Island on the SNES. They also had the Virtual boy set up there, and the 10 minutes I spent playing it were enough.

 

[electric turd]

I thought Kmart was out of business

 

[cyress8]

The K-mart where I live went under years ago. However, something much worse grew from the bowels of that shopping center.

Fucking Comcast headquarters decided to take over K-mart's building. Fuck Comcast rather have a dead K-mart building.

 

[JMDSO]

So many good memories of K-Mart as a kid in the Northeast.

All we had was K-Mart/Bradlees/Caldor. I remember playing Star Fox for the first time at a Bradlees demo unit.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Shame, you could get away with murder in the PS1/2 era. I got Half-Life 2 for $2, Suikoden 3 for $20, Tron Bonne for $3, FF Origins for $2, DQVIII for $3, etc.

Spoiler

I worked there, but hey.

 

[Richie]

I visited San Diego, and I bought two DS Layton games at K-Mart for $15 back in, what, 2012? Greatness.
On top of that I saw No More Heroes 2 for $9. Man, I thought it was too good to be true.

It was. The Layton games were fine, but only once I came back to Mexico I noticed the NMH 2 case had no disc inside LOL

 

[Jimrpg]

KMart in Australia is also doing the same. I went over Christmas to a number of them and they were down to one shelf of basically unwanted games.

It makes sense for them though, they probably make 95% profit on chinese manufactured junk, there's no point in selling video games with barely any margin especially when everyone is discounting them heavily during the first couple of weeks.

Don't think Kmart Australia and US are related tho, only in name.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Kinda crazy especially how important Sears was to the early video game industry. I loved those catalogs.

Indeed, I remember seeing an SNES section at one Sears.

But Sears is dying a slow death

Wait, why?

Also, I haven't been to Kmart since...I dunno, 1999?

 

[jtar86]

That's where I got my launch Ps4, 360 and Wii. I just walked in, in the morning when they opened. There were no lines except for the Wii it was me and one other kid with his mom. If they do get out the the videogame business that would suck. No one ever thinks to go there, so getting stuff at launch was never a problem for me.

 

[Lum1n3s]

Indeed, I remember seeing an SNES section at one Sears.



Wait, why?

Also, I haven't been to Kmart since...I dunno, 1999?

Sears is definitely dying a slow death, they're cutting a lot of stores and jobs from what I've heard. The Sears here in my area is like a skeleton of what it used to be. I remember always running to the video game aisle as soon as my family and I stepped foot in there. Seeing all the games that they had always made me happy. Fondest memory will always be buying Donkey Kong Country 3 from there as well as a couple of other SNES games.

Which also reminds me of Toys R Us and how they used to give you your games. You would look at a wall rack in the game department that had the games they carried but the thing is instead of the games being there they had paper slips with the game's title/info on there. You would take it to the game department and I remember there being a caged room with a little window and a bunch of games in there. You handed the slip to the guy and he would go back and get you your game.

Seeing K mart going out of business is sad but it needs to happen. They're not even the same store they used to be back in the day.

... I feel old.

 

[Crimsonclaw111]

I love Kmart.

Or at least pricematching them at better stores.

 

[pooptest]

Sears is definitely dying a slow death, they're cutting a lot of stores and jobs from what I've heard. The Sears here in my area is like a skeleton of what it used to be. I remember always running to the video game aisle as soon as my family and I stepped foot in there. Seeing all the games that they had always made me happy. Fondest memory will always be buying Donkey Kong Country 3 from there as well as a couple of other SNES games.

Which also reminds me of Toys R Us and how they used to give you your games. You would look at a wall rack in the game department that had the games they carried but the thing is instead of the games being there they had paper slips with the game's title/info on there. You would take it to the game department and I remember there being a caged room with a little window and a bunch of games in there. You handed the slip to the guy and he would go back and get you your game.

Seeing K mart going out of business is sad but it needs to happen. They're not even the same store they used to be back in the day.

... I feel old.

You feel old?

I remember my Kmart liquidating a bunch of NES games and I picked up FF1 and a few other games. I think it was like $6? So good.

 

[boxter432]

ikr

apparently there is 6 left here
*map of chicagoland

Sears/kmart is HQ/based in Chicago.

 

[Kill3r7]

I went into the Kmart and noticed that there is no longer any video game stuff for sale. No Nintendo 3DS. No Xbox 360. All that is left is one shelf unit with junky stuff on sale.

What used to be the video game aisle is now filled with tablet accessories. I guess this Kmart 3DS Sale - most major titles under $20 each thread in early Dec 2014 was an early indication.

Oh well, not that I ever bought much video games there other than my 3DS XL a few years ago. I usually buy from Amazon or Gamestop. I guess it's just a matter of time before the entire company is out of business.

The store in my town is still doing decent business since it's the only store in town for household goods unless you drive 10 miles to another town.

Yep it's been happening for a while now. Decent size thread on CAG. I'll say this, they certainly tried to drum up more business but things didn't workout.

 

[Jims]

Yeah, I noticed too. Was kind of bummed out because I kind of liked stopping by there every once in awhile and looking through their $10-$20 clearance stuff. They always seemed to be liquidating old merch, so sometimes I would find something old that I had missed at the time.

 

[Sonson21]

Kmart is so depressing, I hate going in there.

 

[kidtamagotchi]

I also noticed that the game section was totally gone when I went there this week. I actually looked around the store for the video game section. I was bummed.

 

[smurfx]

kmart used to have some of the best sales. they would often give you 20 dollars in credit if you bought a game there.

 

[NervousXtian]

Been going on for a month or so now I believe.

For like the last 4 or 5 years they've been on the "most likely to go under" list.. I can't believe they are still around.

Sears isn't healthy either.. I think K-Mart might be the stronger brand these days.

 

[OuterLimits]

Kmart is so depressing, I hate going in there.

It really is. You could go into a store in the happiest mood but within minutes you almost feel the despair trying to drag you down.

Some of the stores feel like they are stuck in the past. Like you are in the book The Langoliers.

 

[EatMyFace]

Online store still has a gaming section.
My local Kmart has had a shitty gaming section forever though.

 

[B.K.]

I just found out they were going to stop selling games about a month ago when I last went to a K-Mart. They didn't have much left, but I did pick up Lumines for Vita for $5.

 

[kaiju]

Same. Video game area is gutted. Probably less than a dozen games left behind the glass case. Only thing they have left is accessories and a bunch of Skylanders figures.

 

[DannyDanger]

I got banned from a kmart for 10 yrs for trying to steal a ps2 game.

(bad decisions as a young boy)

5 yrs later the store was closing

I figured they wouldn't care so I went on it's last day open and told a manager I was banned

Spoiler

They didn't care

 

[JoRo]

This thread reminds me I should check mine to see if they have anything good left.

I did get the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection for $20 there a couple years ago.

 

[Maengun1]

The only K-Mart in my area closed entirely 2 months ago...so I don't think they're doing great period.

I remember picking up my WiiU there a couple days after launch when I actually couldn't find one anywhere else.

 

[yami4ct]

I heard about them getting out of the game business on CAG, but haven't been in since to actually see. Not surprised since their section always sucked and no one shopped there in my area. Only thing I'll miss would be being able to hop in and pick up a rare collector's edition like I did with Skyward Sword, but they haven't even seemed to have gotten those in a while.

TIL Kmart is still a thing.

Fun fact, Kmart is the only major store in my town. Why WalMart or Mejier hasn't come in and pushed them completely into destruction, I do not know. The store does well enough to stay open, somehow.

 

[JoRo]

Just to update, I swung by one yesterday and snagged Wolfenstein: TNO for $22. That was the only PS4 game they had (about 4 copies left). They had a few XboxOne games, and a couple Wii U Mario games (3D Land and New Super Mario Bros. for $40). Man, that place was depressing. What's funny, though, is that I found TNO on clearance at Target for $20 right after. I considered taking it back to Kmart and get it from Target, but the $2 wasn't worth it to me.

 

[Astral Dog]

wow, i love going to K mart (not necessarily to buy videogame stuff though, they never have the one i want even if the shelf is full)
sad to see they will give that part to Gamestop too.

 

[motherxwolf]

Those stores stock rooms are gold mines, when I worked in electronics I would go in the back and find old rare games, I bought all of them for pennies. I remember I went to the back once and they clearanced all the rock band sets and I had kart with like 5 full sets for 20 each lol

 

[Fantastical]

wow, i love going to K mart

I don't understand masochism.

The only thing I ever bought there Mass Effect 2 on sale. My local store is a ghost town, and it's real depressing and horrible.

 

[djtiesto]

I worked as a cashier at a K-Mart back in the summer of 2000 when I was home from college, and that place even back then was a total mess. Nearly every item in the store was marked wrong, aisles were small and dirty, the store management were assholes, and the air conditioning system "broke" so I'd constantly get customers complaining to me about it being so hot in the store. I'm pretty sure that it was because management were too cheap to turn air conditioning on... and this was one of the hotter summers on record in NY.

Normally I'm a bit sad to see retail that I've had a positive memory of go (mostly local business but I can't say I was happy to see Borders disappear), but I have no such memories of that place. So good riddance.

It's still so funny how for years, Sears was by far the biggest retail chain in the US.

 

[Femmeworth]

The sad thing is they did try for a while in recent years. I remember they had someone post regularly at Cheap Ass Gamer to give them more exposure, and I recall they had some decent deals.

 

[Azure Dream]

Last time I was in a K-Mart, a few months ago, this is what I saw:

I've noticed some other stores like Meijer and Target have let their games sections become an emptying mess too, when they used to keep up. I wonder if Gamestop is eating too much of their lunch?

 

[Pillville]

Just happened at my local KMart too (Ohio). They are down to a bargain bin of pure crap.

 

[Sorceror12]

Last time I was in a K-Mart, a few months ago, this is what I saw:



I've noticed some other stores like Meijer and Target have let their games sections become an emptying mess too, when they used to keep up. I wonder if Gamestop is eating too much of their lunch?

I'd take into consideration all of the nfc toys taking up some space and since the gen is fairly new the change over from last gen to this gen is happening in stores.

 

[andymcc]

Last time I was in a K-Mart, a few months ago, this is what I saw:



I've noticed some other stores like Meijer and Target have let their games sections become an emptying mess too, when they used to keep up. I wonder if Gamestop is eating too much of their lunch?

my local walmart has tons of empty racks too. barely even are arsed to stock new wii u/3ds stuff

 

[Nintenyearold]

Kmart
Konami
Kojima

Which K is next??

 

[Sorceror12]

Kmart
Konami
Kojima

Which K is next??

Kosby

 

[Azure Dream]

Kmart
Konami
Kojima

Which K is next??

 

[Zonic]

Ugh, yeah, our K-Mart is basically a ghost town & is the last place I'd look for something, let alone games. I think the only reason it somehow stays in business is because it's located right near an apartment complex for old folks. Their entire electronics section was rather bad when I checked a month or so ago just to see if they sold amiibo (they didn't).

Last time I was in a K-Mart, a few months ago, this is what I saw:

I've noticed some other stores like Meijer and Target have let their games sections become an emptying mess too, when they used to keep up. I wonder if Gamestop is eating too much of their lunch?

I'd say my K-mart looked similar to that. My Meijer & Target are still pretty decent with games, but some of their "clearance" stuff is kind of questionable. Meijer has some old Wii games I can find for about half the price online (Metroid Other M & Rhythm Heaven Fever are like $30).