Up until the beginning of this year, I had not been in a Kmart for nearly 6 years, when both Kmarts in Mobile closed down. One of them opened back up as Sears after closing, became Sears essentials a few years later, and, ironically, switched back over to Kmart a few months ago.
I must be the odd one out, but I've actually found slightly
more variety at Kmart than at Walmart, at roughly the same price or even slightly cheaper (for non-food items). On top of that, the Kmart staff is at least friendly and know where the items are in the store. (Assuming I can even
find a sales associate at Walmart, most of them have no idea where an item is in the store. Their only response is "If it isn't on the shelf, we don't have it," to something I could've easily overlooked.) And Kmart is still the only place where I can find my favorite Peanut Butter Twix.
I agree with everyone else, though, that the interior looks run down and dated. Both stores that I've been in since this year look like they haven't been updated since the mid 90s. Both stores still have the "Blue Light Special" signs/carts from the early 2000s, even though they've long been discontinued. One store used the old K-Cafe as a storage area (still had the cafe there) while the other one had replaced the K-Cafe with the baby section. I have seen the amount of shoppers slowly decrease throughout the year, though.
It will be sad when Kmart finally does go bankrupt, as it will give stores like Walmart an even greater monopoly. But, I will not be surprised. I will be shocked if the Sears name goes away forever, though. They look in much better shape.