A Kmart store just opened inside a Sears in Brooklyn, but there's a major downside to shopping there
A 10,000-square-foot Kmart just opened up inside of an existing Sears store in Brooklyn, New York.
It's located on the lower level of the massive three-floor department store.
Immediately upon walking in, I noticed little displays in Sears that advertised the new Kmart store.
All of the sample products were kept behind small glass display cases, next to signs advertising special deals for Shop Your Way members at the brand-new Kmart. Somewhat confusingly, however, some of the samples were for items that were actually for sale on a different level.
The Sears store itself was pretty messy. Clothes, shoes, and jewelry were tossed all over the place, and it was poorly lit with just a faint echo of the radio playing.
The layout of the store was confusing and awkward. Furniture was placed everywhere, and clothes for men, women, and children were completely scattered across two floors.
After making my way through two of the three floors of the Sears store, I headed downstairs to see what the new Kmart was like.
At the bottom of the escalator were appliances, electronics, and home and garden products. So far, no Kmart in sight.
Like the floors upstairs, it was disorganized and generally underwhelming.
Most of the Sears part of the store seemed completely neglected.
I finally found the Kmart, which was tucked into the back corner of the lower level.
It had a totally different atmosphere from the Sears part of the store. It was much more upbeat, and it was relatively busy, especially compared to the rest of the store.
Almost everything was fully stocked and organized. It sold health and beauty products, household cleaning supplies ...
... snacks and groceries ...
... clothes, toys, pet food, and other everyday products.
Because it was all branded as Kmart, it felt like I was in a different store entirely, not just in a remodeled Sears.
The biggest downside to the new Kmart was that you couldn't pay for Kmart and Sears purchases together. Each had to be paid for at their respective registers, which seemed to defeat the purpose of the one-stop shop. You still had to wait in line twice and make two separate transactions.
Even though it was annoying to have to do your shopping at Kmart and Sears separately, the Kmart definitely added a lot of convenience by offering everyday products like groceries, beauty products, and cleaning supplies to the existing Sears, which was a pretty depressing place to shop.
However, it's still unclear if it will actually make a difference in helping the struggling chain.
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