Another iconic name is fast disappearing from the Delco business landscape.
This time it's a national brand, with two big hits for Delaware County.
Kmart, the discount department store that became famous for its "blue light specials," yesterday announced it will turn out the lights on another wave of stores - including two in Delaware County.
Both the Kmarts on Baltimore Pike in Clifton Heights and MacDade Boulevard in the Holmes section of Ridley are expected to close their doors forever.
Clearance sales are expected to start within weeks, and the stores likely will close by the end of 2019.
It did not take long for one enterprising resident to suggest a use for the Clifton Heights Kmart site.
A Facebook post suggested that Upper Darby School District put its planned new middle school on the Baltimore Pike site, thus saving the borough's beloved athletic fields off Springfield Road.
The problem with that is that one of the biggest factors in the district's decision to use the fields site is because it already owns the property. That would not be the case if it had to acquire the Kmart site, adding a big expense to this hefty project.
Kmart becomes the latest victim in the rapid transformation of the way America shops.
We increasingly do not go out to stores. Instead we use our phones to order things online and have them delivered direct to our door via services such as Amazon.
Not even the mighty Sears could salvage the Kmart brand. From 2005-2019 Kmart was a subsidiary of Sears Holding Co. But Sears has been rocked by the business downturn as well, shuttering dozens of stores of their own.
Now it's the blue light special's time in the spotlight - and not in a good way.
Comments