Smoking at Walmart/Kmart Snack Bars

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Ephrata1966
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Smoking at Walmart/Kmart Snack Bars

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Does anyone remember crowded smoking sections at Wal-Mart/Walmart snack bars as late as the 90's? I was surprised they had smoking in at least their "Radio Grill" cafes that were new in 1996, and replaced a few McDonald's. Very few of these are left. What is kind of ironic is that their stores built in the 70's had no snack bars, and I doubt smoking was allowed in the stores. These look like ashtrays on the Kmart restaurant tables, but this was 1976: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ei2Ik5quiI0/S ... t+1976.jpg

I suspect the very store pictured was a former Grant City, which would have just closed. This photo is actually from their 1976 annual report, when the company was still called SS Kresge. That would change the next year.
wnetmacman
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Re: Smoking at Walmart/Kmart Snack Bars

Post by wnetmacman »

Ephrata1966 wrote:Does anyone remember crowded smoking sections at Wal-Mart/Walmart snack bars as late as the 90's? I was surprised they had smoking in at least their "Radio Grill" cafes that were new in 1996, and replaced a few McDonald's. Very few of these are left. What is kind of ironic is that their stores built in the 70's had no snack bars, and I doubt smoking was allowed in the stores.
Snack Bars were later additions to Wal-Mart stores. After 1981, if the store had room, it had a snack bar. Smoking would have been according to local ordinances
I suspect the very store pictured was a former Grant City, which would have just closed. This photo is actually from their 1976 annual report, when the company was still called SS Kresge. That would change the next year.
If the annual report was from 1976, it can't be a former Grant City. A 1976 annual report would have covered calendar year 1975. Kmart didn't take over any of these stores until 1976. The light coming from the left of the picture would have been from the store. 7xxx level Kmarts had a recessed snack bar, and this would have been characteristic of this.
Scott Greer
Ephrata1966
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Re: Smoking at Walmart/Kmart Snack Bars

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Interesting. What does 7xxx mean?
wnetmacman
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Re: Smoking at Walmart/Kmart Snack Bars

Post by wnetmacman »

Ephrata1966 wrote:Interesting. What does 7xxx mean?
In Kmart's early years, stores were numbered by their footprint. There were four levels of numbering.

4xxx refers to their largest stores. Usually 88,000-100,000 square feet, with an adjoining grocery. Auto Centers could be attached or in the parking lot in a separate building. Cafeterias were on the back wall, but sticking out into the sales area. Usually in the largest metro areas. Garden City, MI is store 4000.

3xxx was the second level. Usually 79,000-87,000 square feet. May have a grocery, may not. Almost always had an auto center attached. Could be a hybrid of a 7xxx store as well. Usually suburbs of large metro areas or mid sized areas.

7xxx were 70,000 to 80,000 square feet. These stores always stood alone or in a shopping center. Almost all had an auto center attached. Cafeterias were sunken into the back wall of the store. Usually in towns from 20,000-80,000.

9xxx stores were a special breed. Started by Robert Dewar in the mid 70's. These stores were as small as 40,000 square feet. If they had an auto center, it was very small. Never had cafeterias, but had the delis in the front. The stores were in smaller towns, from 10,000-28,000. Also, many of these stores were in malls.
Scott Greer
Ephrata1966
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Re: Smoking at Walmart/Kmart Snack Bars

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Garden City, MI? You mean their first store?

Are you familiar with the empty Kmart in Saginaw? The one at Fort Saginaw Mall? What size would it be? This store opened in 1966, closed in 2004 as a Big K, and had a Kmart Foods. The place sat close to Dixie Highway, home of the infamous Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, IL (near Chicago) that also opened in 1966. But there are breaks in that road.

Does this Kmart look slightly small for a 1975 store?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42444189@N04/4594349991/

Even in 1990, after it moved from a 70's store (paired with a Kroger greenhouse), the Wal-Mart/Walmart in The Woodlands, TX had a VERY limited snack bar. This also "stuck out" but from the front wall. The snack bar itself was literally just two partial walls with seating in between. Their "non-smoking" section was a joke, just being against one wall, and the pharmacy was right on the other side! You could even see smoke floating above the wall! At some point after I moved away in 2001, the store had a McDonald's added (by the entrance?) Funnily enough, it had the hyphen logo until the end. I think the original store (now Big Lots) used "Discount City" in its name. The store has since relocated again to a Supercenter, which drove the Kroger out of business.
Super S
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Re: Smoking at Walmart/Kmart Snack Bars

Post by Super S »

I know that the Kelso, WA Target store used to allow smoking in the snack bar for several years after it opened in the early 1990s. You could see the smoke along the wall.
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