Kmart Wants Cheap Chic Niche

By George Anderson
Cheap chic – it worked for Target and Kmart plans on making it work for itself, too.
According to a report by The New York Times, Kmart is hipper than it used to be and plans on becoming even more closely identified with products
that are both cool and inexpensive at the same time.
The retailer’s new Essential Home line of tableware, rugs, lamps, towels, bedding and furniture has made a positive impression.
Sarah Gray Miller, editor in chief of Budget Living magazine, said of the Essential Home furniture line, “It’s the best thing to happen to
affordable furniture since Ikea.”
Kim France, editor in chief of the shopping magazine Lucky thinks the new line, which is said to be a contemporary complement to the Martha
Stewart Everyday catalog of products, is a positive move by Kmart since the retailer has not sacrificed quality to get to a reasonable price point.
“They’ve got the Martha stuff covered,” she said. “The test for people is getting their hands on it. That was the delight of the Martha line: It
was all good.”
Moderator’s Comment: Is Kmart moving in the right direction under the design leadership of Lisa Schultz and Matthew Morris? Can the retailer compete
for the same space as Target?
We’re not ready to call ourselves believers in Kmart and Sears yet. We do have to acknowledge, however, that Kmart has made fairly sizeable strides since
it set up its design group in New York. –
George Anderson – Moderator
Join the Discussion!
8 Comments on "Kmart Wants Cheap Chic Niche"
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I think that this would be an interesting space for Kmart. They seem to be doing well with their brand-within-a-brand approach and actually may be better situated to sell cheap if they can become convincingly chic. It may be a long shot for this challenged retailer, but at least they are taking a step to better define themselves to the consumer.
Kmart seems to have been in a very gray area with little hope for upside. Wal-Mart and Target cover both ends of the spectrum, with Kmart in the middle, being hit on both sides. If there is a longer upside, I would believe its on the Target side of moving into the department store world with higher traffic counts. Kmart’s move towards cleaning up their offerings with higher quality and more desirable product is a point in their favor, and competition is good so this should be a good thing for all consumers.
I think they are just putting on a facade. This is the same idea they talked about a few months ago and are just recycling it again.
Personally, I have doubts about anything with “mart” in its name becoming truly hip. Target scores a bulls eye with a name that can be pronounced with a French “tar-jay” twist for a touch of suburban shabby chic. Maybe they should bring back the Kresge name! Fashion is fickle; building a business strategy on it is tricky business.
Kmart tried to “out-walmart” Wal-Mart, with disastrous results. Now they are trying to “out-target” Target…
Well, I’ll give them credit for not sticking with a bad strategy. The question is whether or not they have gone from one bad strategy to another bad strategy.
It seems to me they would be better off being their own thing instead of constantly imitating this competitor or that competitor. They need to differentiate, not emulate.
Now that Kmart has access to higher quality Sears products, this strategy may actually have a chance of succeeding. If Kmart will remodel their stores and include an extensive line of smaller ticket Sears brands, they may just pull it off.
Also Kmart needs to hire more checkers to work the front line. My local Kmart is always understaffed. I used to work there before attending college. In spite of this problem, the store is cleaner and better stocked than it used to be. There are already noticeable improvements since the merger. The Die-hard batteries and Craftsman tools are flying off the shelves!