Showing posts with label Kmart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kmart. Show all posts

Friday, January 5, 2018

Are Kmart's days numbered on Astor Place?


[Image via]

The Real Deal reports that Facebook and Vornado Realty Trust are in talks to expand the social media giant's presence at 770 Broadway, the landmarked building on Astor Place.

Per The Real Deal:

Vornado ... recently paid roughly $46 million to Kmart – whose department store occupies about 30,000 square feet on the ground, mezzanine and lower-level of the building – in what appears to be a buyout of the retailer’s lease, according to city property records. Observers said it’s unlikely that Vornado boss Steve Roth would take such a risk without a replacement tenant lined up, and speculated that Facebook could be looking to make a splash with a high-profile storefront, a la Microsoft’s store on Fifth Avenue.

A Vornado rep declined to comment.

The building — the former Wanamaker’s department store — is also home to J Crew, Nielsen and Oath, the subsidiary of Verizon that serves as the umbrella company for AOL and Yahoo!

This location was not listed among the 64 Kmart stores that the company will close this year, per an announcement yesterday.

Kmart opened — to some WTF groans — on Astor Place in 1996.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Dreaming of a Bluelight Christmas



It's that time of year again, at least at Kmart on Astor Place... (hopefully the Halloween stuff is still out) ... thanks to @supagirl13 for the photo...

Monday, March 13, 2017

Monday's parting shot



Pre-storm shopping fatigue at Kmart on Astor Place... photo by Lola Sáenz

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Happy 1st day of fall



And with that we give you this scene from the Kmart on Astor Place... EVG regular Daniel Root took the photo this past weekend. An EVG Facebook friend said that the holiday trees have actually been up since August.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Noted



Ideas for your dorm room via Kmart on Astor Place.

No idea what product is in the tube...and if that is supposed to be part of the display...



And in case you were wondering, NYU's Fall Welcome Week begins on Aug. 28.

Photo by Edmund John Dunn

Thursday, November 20, 2014

It's flu season



And EVG reader Riian Kant-McCormick reminds us that we can stop by Kmart on Astor Place for our Nicki Minaj® influenza vaccine...

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Breaking: Kmart reminds us of the drunken revelry to come in two months


Two months out from St. Patrick's Day, and Kmart on Astor Place is ready for the action with this nifty display of cliches... noted, warily, by EVG regular William Klayer...

Friday, September 9, 2011

Looking at Kmart's subtle new ad campaign

We nearly wandered into Second Avenue traffic to look at this new ad campaign from Kmart, featuring a site dubbed Show Us What You Got.


Apparently, Kmart's ad team nixed "Let's See That Vagina" and "Hey, This is My Dick."


Dov, it's your move.

When Paul Richard curated an art exhibit in the Astor Place Kmart

[Image via PaulRichard.net]

This talk about Kmart reminded me of Kmart's history on Astor Place ... That and the fact that I brought up the now-defunct Kcafe in the comments last week... here's an article from the Times, dated July 8, 1999, titled: "Corn Dogs, White Sales and . . . Modern Art?; In East Village, Atypical Kmart Gives a Nod to Irony as Its Cafe Becomes a Gallery."

The story looks at an art show by Paul Richard inside the Kcafe.

To the story!

You can put a Kmart in the East Village, but you can't keep the East Village out of Kmart.

When the behemoth discount store arrived on Astor Place in 1996 — much to the chagrin of many neighborhood eccentrics — corporate officials knew they would have to adjust. They expected the people with green hair and nose rings who now stroll through the aisles of polyester pants and plastic kitchenware. They knew the handy spacemaker shelf organizers would sell better than the pitchforks in the garden center. They axed the auto department and stocked up on tacky glittery nail polish.

So maybe it should not be so surprising to find an art exhibit on the walls of the KCafe.

And later!

In some ways, having a Kmart in Astor Place at all is a kind of self-parody. The teen-agers with tattooed arms and the actresses with cellular telephones strapped to their ears look odd among the stacks of faux-wood furniture and knockoff Knicks T-shirts. But while officials refused to release sales figures, [Kmart executive Greg] Abraham said the store increased revenue 25 percent from 1997 to 1998 by tweaking its inventory: More clothing for juniors, less of lines like Jaclyn Smith's. Lots of makeup and exercise equipment, not so much fishing gear. Paint sells well, as does Martha Stewart's line of bed and bath items.

"Whether you're a hip person or not, there's a lot of basic essentials that people need," Mr. Abraham said. "We're just trying to tailor to those."

You can read the whole article here.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Special K


EV Grieve reader Pedro notes that the above display window at the Kmart on Astor Place has been empty for some time. However, they left up the "I Love K" window graphic. After more than a week, it's still there. Says Pedro: "Perhaps Kmart has moved into the Ketamine business for all the NYUers in the neighborhood? I bet it would dramatically improve their earnings and margins!"

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Kmart beats Duane Reade to the next holiday

In an important news item from yesterday, we noted that Duane Reade already put out their Valentine's Day goods.

Well! EV Grieve reader Anthony sent along this photo taken on Dec. 27 outside everyone's favorite mass merchandising company on Astor Place...