Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard

[quote="Calvert DeForest"][quote="jry"]I'll never forget the time we had to sue K Mart for disturbing our business. All of their attorneys show up in really nice suits. One of the things they said is that K Mart is the only store you need. I commented that i didn't know K Mart sold Brooks Brothers suits.[/quote]

They really said that? Wow! Talk about brass cajones![/quote]

They sure did. This was in 93 or 94. BTW, they quickly settled out of court, even before mediation.

Unfortunately, lost in the collapse was news of Sears ultimately declaring bankruptcy on October 15 and the resulting and expected store slashing. In Michigan, Sears stores in Ann Arbor and Lincoln Park and Kmart stores in Charlevoix and Lake Orion are getting axed.

I discussed potential replacements for the Lincoln Park location:
-Walmart is out of the running since they can't build in Lincoln Park again due to getting into disputes with Sears in previous attempts.
-Kroger building a Marketplace store like the one they opened last year in the former Super Kmart on Fort Street in Southgate was taken out of the running once they renovated their existing store right across Southfield Road.
-Meijer is probably still in the running-in fact, I heard rumors that they would be closing their Fairlane Green "The Hill" store in Allen Park (seriously?! They just renovated that two years ago too!) and moving it to the Lincoln Park Sears site while continuing to keep open their existing Dix and Emmons store nearly two miles south.
-Costco could be in the running as well, especially now that they won't be moving in next to the Taylor Menard's-that spot will now be occupied by, yes, BJ's Wholesale Club.

Great summary, mtburb. Thanks for reposting!

I'm relieved to see at least some of the prior posts in this thread survived the implosion of my database.

Regarding Meijer - I had mentioned that Meijer tends to keep its store locations (at least in Michigan) open for decades at a time. As several of us discussed, there are still some Meijer locations of 1970's-vintage in operation in Michigan today. Examples can be found in Ypsilanti, Westnedge Ave. in Portage, Jenison, Plainfield Ave. in Grand Rapids, and probably a number of other locations as well.

We learned (from NS8401 and others) that this mainly due to the fact Meijer owns the real estate of virtually all of its stores. So, it is very economical for Meijer to stay at a given location for an extended duration. In recent years, Meijer has become increasingly ambitious in splitting & selling out parcels to third parties. So, not only does Meijer get to avoid paying rent, it has found a way to turn excess land into an income source.

As for tenants who might be interested in some of Sears former locations, I offered up the following names:
- Von Maur
- At Home
- Burlington
- Forman Mills
- Costco (a name I initially failed to include on my list)
- Flex industrial, office and medical office tenants

Three more names I'd like to add to the list - REI (I think the first two letters stand for "Really Expensive!"), Field & Stream and Art Van.

There could be others. But we have to remember numerous former Carson / Younkers locations are on the block, too! (I presume someone like Dillards or Nordstrom would generally have greater interest in the former Carsons & Younkers locations, but there may be instances where ex-Sears anchor spots would make sense.)

Some of us even pondered if someone such as Whole Foods could have interest in shopping mall space.

And more closures have been announced:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... 933522002/

The only Michigan closure in this round is the Sears store in Battle Creek.

When the Sears closes in BC, that mall will be left without an anchor.

Do not sell our stuff... return it immediately!:
https://amp.businessinsider.com/sears-s ... ry-2018-11

I honestly cannot blame the suppliers.

They evidently don't want their inventory sold at liquidation-style prices.

Things didn't work out that way when MC Sports went down. Some of my friends in the ski industry got stung hard.

Look at all the red on this map showing current and (mostly) past Kmart locations nationwide: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... 409132&z=4

Note: This map doesn't include locations that relocated or closed prior to the 2002 bankruptcy

Looks like the drain is swirling.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/12/28/sea ... mpany.html

Sears' advisors have until Jan. 4 to decide whether ESL is a "qualified bidder." Only then could ESL take part in an auction against liquidation bids on Jan. 14. They will weigh the value of Lampert's bid against offers to liquidate the company.

The full structure of Lampert's bid could not immediately be determined, but will be made public in coming days. If it is similar to the $4.6 billion proposal he outlined earlier this month, it is likely to face pushback from the company's unsecured creditors. As part of the initial bid, which regulators required Lampert to make public, financing would in part stem from $1.8 billion in debt that Lampert would forgive through a so-called "credit bid."

As that is happening, Sears will be closing 80 more stores in March. In Michigan that includes Twelve Oaks in Novi along with Muskegon.

https://www.wilx.com/content/news/Sears ... 24211.html

The Twelve Oaks location is prime real estate. I'm surprised that one didn't close sooner.

Not many KMarts left in Michigan at all according to that map. Our little Grayling Kmart is still open. I do question how much longer??

TheForce wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 02, 2019 12:00 am

Not many KMarts left in Michigan at all according to that map. Our little Grayling Kmart is still open. I do question how much longer??

Honestly I’m amazed it still is, also the infamously busy Belleville one and the one north of Flint. How many others are there?

Here in Charlevoix the Kmart is in the final week of their close out sale. Everything is 90%+ off. The parking lot has been full - checkout lines stretch to the back of the store - checkout wait was 2 hours. One person defended waiting that long saying it was like earning $300/hr. The pharmacy closed withing a week of the announcement and the accounts were sold off the Wallgreen or Rite Aid.