Contributor Post: The End for the Van Buren Township Kmart

 The following is a SMR:MCRH Contributor Post.

This post will look at retail in Van Buren Charter Township, Wayne County, MI.

Kmart #3155

2095 Rawsonville Road, Van Buren Charter Township, MI

Driving distance and time from downtown Detroit: 31.3 miles, approx. 35 minutes

 

It's been over one year since it's closure was announced, and so, for the second SMR blog post with photos from Y4123 (a.k.a. Former Retail Employee), we will be taking a mid-closure tour with him of the Van Buren Charter Township Kmart, photos taken in November 2019.

The Van Buren Charter Township Kmart opened for business on April 8, 1974, anchoring a new strip mall across Interstate 94 from Willow Run Airport, directly along the Wayne-Washtenaw County line, midway between Belleville and Ypsilanti. The only major change the store had seen was getting the usual "Big Kmart" treatment in the late 1990's, though here even the exterior was remodeled. While escaping numerous spins of Sears Holding's /Transformco's Wheel of Closures (borrowing a term from Albertsons Florida Blog) and becoming the very last Kmart holdout in all of Wayne County (which was where Kmart first got its official start back in 1962), the Wheel of Closures eventually landed on the Van Buren Charter Township store in September of 2019.

As of fall 2020, Kmart's one-time home state of Michigan is down to a single Marshall store, where it thrives with no nearby convenient competition. For how much longer that store lasts depends on how long Eddie Lampert decides to keep his dying company running.

Next, we follow Y1423 into the interior for a look at what remains of the closing Van Buren Charter Township Kmart. Prepare for some depressing scenes.

 

Heading inside, we are greeted by loads and loads of the yellow closure markdown signs.

 

This is our view after turning to the right after first walking into the store. Housewares are on the left, and pharmacy, health & beauty, stationery and electronics are on the right.

 

Let's move into the back right corner of the store through housewares towards layaway. On the right is what was left of the grocery department. It appears that there was also an office on the mezzanine level of the backrooms.

The layaway counter was little more than a tiny alcove on the back wall in stationery.

This photo gives us a better overview at how tiny the layaway alcove was. As usual, no more new layaways were being taken due to the closing.

One more photo of the back right corner of the store before moving back towards the front.

A close-up look at the stationery department.

Here's what - used to be electronics, as indicated by the black shelving unit backs. At the time, electronics was being used to house Christmas items.

The overhead sign for mattresses (which were no longer being sold here) was added in a half-hearted 2010's modernization attempt, and sticks out like a sore thumb in this stuck-in-the-90's setting.

Here's the interior of the garden center, which still looks very much like 70's, aside from some minor alterations in the late 90's.

At this point in the closing, the garden center was used to store unsold fixtures.

Returning to the main store, we return our focus to the back right corner. Outdoor furniture is seen here, with toys on the left.

Not much left of this aisle, but get ready for some surprises...

 

A really worn and moldy bottle ("Yeah it was disgusting", Y4123 himself mentioned on the Retail Union Discord) of Mobil Clean 5000 Peformance Motor Oil sat alone on an empty shelf. This is probably from the early 2000's.

Various office fixtures were being sold in the open in the back right corner of the sales space.

A Hot Wheels showcase unit from the early 2000's. This would have been located in the toy department.

Jewelry display cases, and beyond the blue curtain was what probably would have been the Olan Mills portrait studio.

More office fixtures, including a bin of discarded price sticker "guns".

Even this car battery from 2016 was being sold.

Even more fixtures being sold, both from the offices and from the sales space.

An aisle in the houseware department.

 

Yet more fixtures out for sale, including this refrigerator from 2003.

 

A closed-off section of the back rear section of the store next to layaway.

Removals of shelving units previously in this location has revealed these 90's relics.

Returning to the front of the store, here's the old KCafe...

The pharmacy counter, which closed pretty soon after the store's closing announcement, and prescription files transferred to Walgreens #7275 on Belleville Road, one exit east on I-94.

This counter was on the other end of pharmacy.

Another uncovered stuck-to-the-floor sale flyer, this one from 2007.

These "used or reconditioned" stickers are now officially in the collection of Y4123 himself.

Filing cabinets from the office in various vintages were also being sold.

Returning to pharmacy, here is the unupdated Kmart Health Monitor Center.

Another look at the open counter in pharmacy.

Returning to the main front actionway from pharmacy, health & beauty is again to the right, and housewares to the left.

This photo was taken in grocery.

One final look at the store fixtures.

We now work our way into the clothing department.

Here's the back left corner of the clothing department.

One portion of the wall was already falling apart...

A door into the backroom.

Fitting rooms were located on the front left wall.

Another backroom door near the fitting rooms.

The checkouts at the very front end of the store. Pretty plain and dreary here...

Thank you for shopping Kmart for 45 years. The store's thank-you sign is of the pre-Big Kmart variety, which in itself is pretty interesting. And with that, we conclude Y4123's tour of the Van Buren Township Kmart.

And that's all we have today. Until next time....