K-Mart :: essays research papers

K-Mart Kmart is the #3 discount retailer in the United States behind Wal-Mart and Target. Kmart sells name brand and private label merchandise, mostly to low and mid - income families. It has more than 1,800 stores and currently employs more than 220,000 associates in all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and owns an e-tailer BlueLight.com. As of Jan.30, 2002,Kmart had 124 Kmart Supercenters that combine a full grocery, deli, bakery, video rental and 24 hour/seven-days-a-week availability along with the general merchandise selection of a Kmart discount store. A core strength for the company continues to be the expansion of Kmart Exclusive brands such as Martha Stewart Everyday, Sesame Street, Jaclyn Smith, Kathy Ireland, and Route 66. These brands-nationally available only at Kmart- have progressively added to their assortments. Despite that, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection on January 22, 2002, after a year in which its financial performance declined from unimpressive to bleak. The filing came a day after Kmart's major food distributor, Fleming Cos., said it had cut off most shipments to Kmart because the discounter failed to make its regular weekly payment for deliveries. Fleming said Kmart, its largest customer, owed $78 million. This bankruptcy filing let Kmart rid itself of unprofitable stores and shrink the payroll. The company has closed 284 unprofitable stores and laid off about 22,000 workers to pare costs. Kmart stores have fallen as consumers have slowed their spending and as rivals like Wal-Mart Stores and Target have tried to siphon off Kmart’s customers. In this paper, I will try to suggest some solutions to improve Kmart as a company as a whole and help increase its sales. First of all, Kmart needs to improve its marketing technigues. The problem that it’s facing right now is decreasing sales. What I think it should do is lower the prices. It will definitely attract more customers. For example, the reason that one of Kmart’s biggest competitors, Wal-Mart is doing so well is because Wal-Mart is known for its very low prices. Also, I think that Kmart should increase eye-capturing advertising. Not only should they increase the advertising, but they should try to appeal to different kind of customers. Kmart should make sure that its advertisements attract not only middle-aged population-mostly housewives, but it ought to attract more hipper/younger consumers. In addition, it needs to provide better quality of items. One main reason why Target is a