6 comments
We have Kmart here in Australia but I believe its owners are completely different from the American stores now. Recently bougth a heap of singlets from there because they were 6 bucks each and just as good as the Bonds brand which they copy.
We have Kmart here in Australia but I believe its owners are completely different from the American stores now. Recently bougth a heap of singlets from there because they were 6 bucks each and just as good as the Bonds brand which they copy.
I think I've been to that Kmart, though I don't remember it. I used to make it a thing to go visit all the Kmarts in the area so I've been to a lot.
If I still worked at Kmart, it would have been 18 years a few days ago. I was 16 when I started when it was still Kmart Holdings, then Kmart bought Sears and they became Sears Holdings. I worked there through high school and through my associates' degree--a little over 4 years. I met a lot of friends there and kept a few after I left. It was a given that the company didn't care, so we knew we had to care for each other. It was a family and we were all in it together. I gathered that it was like this at pretty much all the other stores, same shitty company and same shitty outcomes. My store is still alive today, by some miracle, though it's not like it used to be.
I think I've been to that Kmart, though I don't remember it. I used to make it a thing to go visit all the Kmarts in the area so I've been to a lot.
If I still worked at Kmart, it would have been 18 years a few days ago. I was 16 when I started when it was still Kmart Holdings, then Kmart bought Sears and they became Sears Holdings. I worked there through high school and through my associates' degree--a little over 4 years. I met a lot of friends there and kept a few after I left. It was a given that the company didn't care, so we knew we had to care for each other. It was a family and we were all in it together. I gathered that it was like this at pretty much all the other stores, same shitty company and same shitty outcomes. My store is still alive today, by some miracle, though it's not like it used to be.
It's gotta be really hard to work at a place like that for so long, work your way up from cashier to manager and then get dumped because of poor management of the company. No matter where most folks work they generally become close, with some like family, but others not so much. I feel for the guy, but life goes on. He'll pick himself up and move onto bigger and better things, I'm sure. It's just a hard transition.
It's gotta be really hard to work at a place like that for so long, work your way up from cashier to manager and then get dumped because of poor management of the company. No matter where most folks work they generally become close, with some like family, but others not so much. I feel for the guy, but life goes on. He'll pick himself up and move onto bigger and better things, I'm sure. It's just a hard transition.
My mom worked there over 30 years, the same store I did. She wasn't a manager, she didn't want to be, but she worked as the office manager. They eventually got rid of her position. Kmart bought Sears, but Sears took over. It was rode hard to the bottom, as if that was the intention from the beginning. Kmart was mismanaged to begin with, but there was a certain lust for destruction with Sears.
Anyway, it is and was hard to work there. You stayed for the people, and because you needed the job. After so long you can do the job in your sleep--and often do, especially around the holidays--and not a lot of those skills translate to a new company. At least he made it to management, but it's retail management. It's cutthroat and exhausting, I'm glad I didn't go into it or else I'd be in his position right about now.
My mom worked there over 30 years, the same store I did. She wasn't a manager, she didn't want to be, but she worked as the office manager. They eventually got rid of her position. Kmart bought Sears, but Sears took over. It was rode hard to the bottom, as if that was the intention from the beginning. Kmart was mismanaged to begin with, but there was a certain lust for destruction with Sears.
Anyway, it is and was hard to work there. You stayed for the people, and because you needed the job. After so long you can do the job in your sleep--and often do, especially around the holidays--and not a lot of those skills translate to a new company. At least he made it to management, but it's retail management. It's cutthroat and exhausting, I'm glad I didn't go into it or else I'd be in his position right about now.
Retail is hard ... you're right, not a great place for advancement or decent working conditions It's especially bad now with the internet. It's difficult for brick and mortar to compete.
Retail is hard ... you're right, not a great place for advancement or decent working conditions It's especially bad now with the internet. It's difficult for brick and mortar to compete.
Guess i'll shop S-Mart from now on :(