Sears @ Oglethorpe Mall (Savannah, Pooler, Montgomery: sales, real estate, Home Depot)

[Newsboy]

I was over there yesterday and the entire store has been fenced off, as if a major renovation project is about to get underway. About time, since that store has clearly NOT been updated since the 1970s. But WHY OH WHY would they start such a thing right before the Christmas shopping season?! DUMB!

[TheDarkKnight]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

I was over there yesterday and the entire store has been fenced off, as if a major renovation project is about to get underway. About time, since that store has clearly NOT been updated since the 1970s. But WHY OH WHY would they start such a thing right before the Christmas shopping season?! DUMB!

It might onyl take them a few weeks to be honest.

They're probably going to unveil it at Black Friday.

[counterclockwise]

Remember K-Mart went bankrupt, emerged from bankrupty and then bought out Sears. There is no telling the logic behind this.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by TheDarkKnight

It might onyl take them a few weeks to be honest.

They're probably going to unveil it at Black Friday.

Dude ... Black Friday is in TWO WEEKS!

[TheDarkKnight]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Dude ... Black Friday is in TWO WEEKS!

Could work round the clock?

Maybe they're re-arranging their store for Black Friday, did you hear machines in there doing construction?

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by TheDarkKnight

Could work round the clock?

Maybe they're re-arranging their store for Black Friday, did you hear machines in there doing construction?

This was the outside of the store like they're gonna redo the exterior or expand.

[gentlearts]

Kind of like, we went to the Pooler Publix on Saturday late afternoon. We usually go in the morning. The parking lot was at capacity and you could barely get down the aisles because the stockers chose then to unload stuff onto the shelves. How about they do it when everyone in town isn't trying to shop?

[DanielAvery]

This might not be the case, but I can theorize one reason why they were doing that: the truck that typically shows up very early or very late with those pallets of merchandise may have arrived mid-day. Supermarket architects intentionally make the back rooms tiny to discourage the employees from having lots of crap sitting around in back. If the truck unloaded mid-day, then the stuff had nowhere to go but to the sales floor. I know from experience that it happens a lot during the holidays, and trust me when I say we do NOT enjoy having to unload it in the crowded aisles any more than patrons enjoy having to go around it. A spot that had NO ONE shopping in it for half an hour will suddenly become the most popular spot in town if you are trying to build a display there.

I hope the mess at Sears is a "positive" situation, like a remodeling or replacement of air conditioning or something that is part of their intention to remain open/viable. January is typically when we get those long list of store closures, and KMart and Sears have been systematically shrinking every year.

[TheDarkKnight]

To be honest I'm stunned we still have a K-Mart in Savannah.

It's location isn't the best, and the store is a dinosaur.

I still miss the old K-Mart/Scotty's/Food Lion combo on Victory Drive that's now Home Depot, Target, Staples respectively.

I just miss it for nostalgic purposes. The shopping center is pretty decent now, sans a few empty booths. THe bowling alley closed, my dad bowled there when he first came to Savannah in the late 70's. Was kind of sad to see it's gone.

[DanielAvery]

I knew a lady who worked at that old Victory Drive KMart, and she told me that one of the drawbacks of that location (out of many) was the slope of the parking lot. If it rained enough, the water would go downhill and wash right into the front door. She and the other employees would "sand-bag" with actual sacks of potting soil from the garden department.

Ah, good times.

The Montgomery Cross Road KMart (store and parking lot) is such a huge piece of real estate that I fear some bean counter at the Sears Holdings, Corp. offices might decide to close the store and sell it off just for the land. If they were more financially secure, they could very easily build a newer, nicer KMart in the section of parking lot next to White Bluff Road and tear down the old one. Heck, if they were really trying to think outside the box, they could just build a combination Sears/KMart and the Oglethorpe Mall Sears could close. But most financial types worry that the Sears chain won't even exist within a few years, so who knows?