K-Mart in the 70's

[jwyblejr]

I remember K-Mart was mostly frowned upon when I was younger. The other kids would say "you shop there?" like you were the scum of the earth or something like that.

[nvmbrsdoom5]

That sounds familar....I will ask my roommate Willie about it when I talk to him, he's likely to recall this, he was very into Mego and model kits when he was a kid too.

[supercrazy]

Wow. Funny how times change. Have you ever been to Brady's This Is It in Gary. I remember as a kid they had a lot of mego figures, aurora models, the lone ranger many other toys. That was a good store.

[nvmbrsdoom5]

The mall in Merrillville (Southlake Mall) is still there, and happy to report that the Toys 'R Us is still there as well In fact it's one of the only TRUs left in the area, as the one in Lansing/Calumet City is gone as well as the ones in the South Chicago area :(

[supercrazy]

The one in Gary was just like the old mall. So we would sometimes go to Merryville to the mall and Toys R Us over there. My dad used to work at Inland Steel in East Chicago Indiana so we wouldn't go out a whole lot. Wow I was born in Gary at Methodist Hospital. I went to Ivanho Elementary and Beckman junior high. I also attended a few other schools but don't remember the names. I had two best friends Daniel and David. I live on Tyler street down from the bakery and the hospital. Zayre was a great store also. I purchased my first magnetic batman there.

[nvmbrsdoom5]

I remember K-Mart quite well as a kid. Most of the time my parents would leave us in the family station wagon knowing if they took us inside it would be a living hell for them. It was great though when we would go inside. Megos, star wars, dungeons and dragons, duncan batmobiles. Great stuff. I always loved going to K-Mart, Jewel, and Zarye. I lived in Gary Indiana as a kid and we had great stores close to home. I miss being a kid and I will go back if they ever make time machines. I also remember my father going to a mom and pop store as a kid and buying me a mego penguin and joker. I broke the penguin in less that five minutes. He was a type 1. My dad then went back to the store and bought me another one. It would be so nice if dc direct and marvel would bring mego back for one more run even if was for a short run at that. It is time for everyone here to petition. We mego crazed people need our childhood back.

I grew up, and still currently reside, in Southside Chicago literally walking distance from Hammond, IN., and I can recall going to a Zayre out towards Gary as a kid! Probably the K-Mart as well. My current roommate grew up in Gary too, on Buchanan street. Several years back he gave me the remnants of his Star Wars figure collection and still had a bunch of the backer cards for them, many of which have Zayre, RISS, K-Mart and Mays price-tags on them. Do you recall what shopping malls you frequented as a child, if any?

[nvmbrsdoom5]

I'm fairly sure that I bought a lunchbox or two from K-Mart back then. I always wanted the Marvel SuperHeroes one from the mid-Seventies, and never got it. Maybe someday.
I definitely can recall the large displays of back-to-school stuff they'd have every August/September.

As for the smell of K-Mart, it doesn't surprise me that you have flashbacks when you have certain smells. I think they say that your sense of smell is most closely tied to memory. Even today, if I smell a certain plastic scent it will instantly bring back memories of opening certain toys when I was a kid.

[brannon86]

K-Mart

Do you guys remember when K-Mart had wall to wall metal lunch boxes at the beginning of each school year? They must had a lunch box out for every prime time show and every Saturday morning cartoon and live action show that was on at the time....Decisions, decisions, Ha

[brannon86]

K-Mart

Yes, that would be awesome. Just step into the time machine, and go back, look around, and feel the vibe again, but you know what, you would have to go back as a kid, the way you were back then, or else it would not be the same either. You would see it all with adult eyes....

[supercrazy]

You are correct. You wouldn't notice though walking in to the K-Mart here. It still looks the same as it did when I moved here in 1984. Not sure what it looked like before that but it still has the weird music and it takes me back everytime I walk into the store. Someone needs to make a working time machine so we can take turns going back just for even a minute. Who knows maybe none of us will want to come back.

[brannon86]

K-mart

Yes, there are 1 or 2 in my state, but no K-Mart in my home town now. Hasnt been for probably 10 years now, and thats the SUPER one, not the original one that came here in the early-mid 70's. That one went out in the late 80's. I think around 88 I beleive....Yes, K-mart, or any other store(if it still exist) will never be the same, ha, because its not the 70's anymore. Different times and vibe these days....Im just glad I was a kid in that era....

[supercrazy]

Here in Harlingen Texas near where I live. They still have K-Mart. They still have the section where they serve icees and popcorn and hotdogs. The only problem with this store is that they are more expensive than other stores I go to. This will be the downfall here. You will not draw in customers with outrages prices but in the 70's it was a great store.

[brannon86]

k-Mart

About the smell of K-Mart. I remember that also. It did have a certain smell to it, especially back then. I also remember the smells of the popcorn and icees and other foods they had at the counter. And who can forget the BLUE LIGHT SPECIALS. Attention K-Mart Shoppers. On Isle 4 we have Mego figures on sale. Ha, Yeah, those were the days.

Sometimes, I smell something, and it takes me back to a moment in time. Ever happen to you?

[palitoy]

My best K Mart memory was walking in and finding a whole aisle of Black Hole figures buck a piece, Humanoid, Old Bob, Star included.

Yesterday while coming back from the Buffalo airport I noticed the K Mart I haunted since the eighties had closed, I lamented it's loss and my son said "What's a K-Mart?". In Canada, K Mart folded in 1997.

[brannon86]

K-Mart

Yes we do....