NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Manhattan’s last remaining Kmart officially closed its doors last weekend after more than two decades, marking the end of an era from the once-giant chain.
WCBS 880’s Steve Burns notes that on Tuesday he ran into regular customer Marilyn, who went to open the door to the store in Astor Place, and was shocked to find it closed.
“I bought my sneakers here, my pantyhose, certain things I always found here,” she said.
And she even had a deeper connection to the store for years, too.
“And I also worked for them for almost 10 years,” she said.
The only things that remained in the building on Tuesday was a lone security guard and some naked mannequins.
“It's terrible because there's no place to shop in the area anymore,” said Marilyn.
Meanwhile, department store historian Michael Lisicky says the closing of Manhattan’s final Kmart marked the end of an era.
He notes that the one-time retail giant was not always welcomed in the borough, and many people opposed it when they first opened.
“That store when it came in in 1996 was really not welcomed too much in that community because it was the suburbs coming in,” he explains.
But, he says the store came to match the colorful neighborhood somewhat by accident.
“The store, as it struggled, as it lost relationships with vendors, became quirkier because it had to bring in stranger merchandise, off-brand merchandise,” Lisicky said. “So, the neighborhood, which is known for being quirky – at least historically – ended up getting a quirky big box store.”
According to reports, the Kmart in Astor Place sold its least to real estate investment trust Vornado Realty Trust for $46 million back in 2018. It remains unclear what will now replace the location.
Lisicky says just 17 Kmarts remain around the country – two of which are located in the Bronx – which is down from nearly 2,400 in the mid-1990s.
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