Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Closings and Openings in Memphis and the Mid-South

Today's post highlights Shelby County, TN, retail... and then some.
While I do have a blog post planned for this weekend anyway (that I hope you guys will stay tuned for!), I figured I might as well post some breaking news as it's, well, breaking. Kmart is dropping their oft-used axe on another round of stores, this time with twenty plus confirmed: see this link for more.


The final remaining store in the Memphis metropolitan area on Austin Peay, formerly a Super Kmart Center and pictured above, is among those closing, as well as the Greenville, MS, store. I mention that store because I recently did a photo tour there; technically, it isn't actually within the county graphic of the Mid-South that makes up our logo and therefore our coverage area. While the Corinth, MS, store is not on the list, I have to wonder if it will wind up on it... also, I'm thinking (but not 100% certain) that that store may be the last Kmart left in the entire Mid-South as defined here for blogging purposes. EDIT - Also closing is the Sears on Poplar Avenue in Memphis. UPDATE: ONLY the Poplar Ave. Sears is closing. The Memphis Kmart is remaining open this round of closures.



Elsewhere, there is a new store opening in Shelby County: Designer Shoe Warehouse is prepping a second location (their other being in Germantown) across from Wolfchase Galleria, in what is left untenanted of a closed OfficeMax. Above is the store as it appeared in July 2015 when Five Below was constructing their store; below, in December, with Five Below now open and the remainder of the former OfficeMax still mostly intact. I imagine DSW will alter that, though. Per the MBJ, look for them to open in early May. Additionally, the new Walmart Supercenter in Horn Lake, MS, is projected to open by next month, according to WMC Action News 5.


Last but not least, I wanted to take the time to give some free publicity to the aforementioned Memphis Business Journal website. As much as I wish I could, I don't have the time or resources to report every store opening, closure, or relocation in the Mid-South, so I really encourage you to check out the MBJ's Retailing and Restaurants page. There, you can be up-to-date on the latest retail news in the metro market (though for the moment, it appears as if this Kmart news is a first alert here on the blog - thanks AFB for the tip!).

I'll try to make it to the Memphis Kmart before it closes to get a photo tour there. In the meantime, look for a photo tour of the Horn Lake Rite Aid to be posted this holiday weekend. Until then, have fun exploring the retail world (growing or shrinking as it may be...) wherever you are!

Retail Retell

7 comments:

  1. That list is a pretty good resource for finding closing Kmart/Sears stores. They usually get posted there pretty fast, in some cases before the local news outlets get around to reporting it. Glad to have been able to inform you of the closings, but sad to have had to report closings.

    Also, I believe the Jonesboro, AR Kmart falls in your coverage area. It looks like Craighead County is in the map in your logo.

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    1. I feel you. Unfortunately, I think it was inevitable...

      Cool, thanks for checking! I just didn't do my homework on all that XD The Memphis, Corinth, and Greenville Kmarts are the only ones I've known about in the area. Now that you mention it though, I should've known there was one in Jonesboro since l_dawg has been posting pics of it!

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    2. Along with the help of others, I try to keep that list up to date. Hence the reason I sometimes even use question marks!

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  2. Don't know if you caught this or not. Sears on Poplar across from Oak Court is closing (presumably to make way for that Nordstrom Rack): http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2016/01/14/sears-to-close-poplar-avenue-location.html

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    1. I did, thanks! See, MBJ is a great site :P AFB actually told me about that before I saw that article, though. I edited it into the post (although I now see it autocorrected Poplar to Polar...). As for why it's closing, I think it's a happy coincidence for Nordstrom Rack, but I don't think they're the cause - seems like they would've been contented to share the space with Sears as planned/mentioned. No, I just think this is a regular Sears closing... if anything is to blame it's its involvement in the REIT.

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  3. Is there a MidSouth Hardware at 46 Flicker St. ion Memphis? They have a sales web site that doesn't offer account setup.

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    1. I'm not certain if there is such a store at that location or not. This blog is not affiliated with any business, so I'm afraid I'm not much help with your issue.

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