Kmart's Bedtime Story

Why can’t all Kmarts look like the two I visited last night?

The Astor Place store in New York City, conveniently located next to the most recent street-scene shooting of the “Sex and the City” movie, looked sharp. Even after a day of retailing, assortments looked fresh, and mostly full, as the press ascended to the third floor home furnishings departments where Kmart unveiled an expanded Martha Stewart Everyday line and a new house label, Abbey Hill, intended as a better-best traditionally elegant alternative to Martha’s more homespun good-better-best merchandise.

At Astor Place, a transition spot between the Greenwich Village East and West, Kmart showcased 500-thread count Martha Stewart sheet sets from $68.99 to $91.99; 400-thread count duvet sets for $80.99; and 5-star bath towels for $11.49. For the Abbey Hill line, top line sheet sets of 250-thread count retail for $22.99 to $57.99; towels sell from $4.99 to $14.99. To help customers feel the difference among the sheet offerings, swatches of different thread counts hang from gondola shelves. The merchandise, including bath accessories, is a winner. And as someone who already sleeps on some Martha Stewart sheets, I can vouch for their quality, at least in previous incarnations of the assortment.

Kmart has placed the new merchandise in all its stores nationwide at a time when Wal-Mart has retreated from a foray into top-tier home furnishings in many of its units. Perhaps Kmart believes it can keep its stores looking smart enough to validate the higher price points. No doubt, Kmart hopes to attract more well-heeled consumers to buy sheets and towels. Even as Kmart upgrades, the market keeps going higher and higher. Bed Bath & Beyond, among others, sells a 1,000-thread count sheet for more money than a full set retails for at Kmart.

Kmart’s challenge will be one it has faced for decades, namely, making the in-store experience complement the upscale merchandise it wants to sell. At Astor Place, despite the intense foot traffic of an urban location with access to the subway, Kmart was up to the challenge, at least last night. So on my way home, I decided to stop by the White Plains, N.Y., store. It was 8:30 p.m., and the store also looked fantastic. Nothing out of place. Gondolas fully stocked. Then I remembered—White Plains is the store where Eddie Lampert, chairman/CEO of Sears Holding Corp., parent company of Kmart, shops. If any store was going to be picture perfect, it was going to be White Plains.

Will the other roughly 1,400 Kmarts look as good? I hope so, or Martha’s and Abbey Hill’s bedroom textiles will be part of a retail nightmare.

—Murray Forseter

Movie Business at Chain Store Age

Manhattan’s retail scene played a big role in the popular television show “Sex and the City” and it looks like more of the same in the highly anticipated movie version, which is currently being filmed outside Chain Store Age’s headquarters here on 55th Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan. In fact, our building has been blocked off and the screams from the fans are echoing through the halls here.

As is evidenced by the photo above, all of the girls (left to right: Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall) are back and they are busy at one of their favorite past times: shopping. They are shown here coming out of the very high-end Walter Steiger store and walking north on Park, stopping just short of our building’s entrance. We all knew there would be at least one shoe-shopping scene in the film. After all, our favorite gal, Carrie, had a closet full of them.

I can’t take credit for this fabulous picture. It comes from our senior desk editor Barbara Hagan, who bravely maneuvered past the film crews for this shot. Although everyone was being shoo’d away from the set—as if we’re in their way when we just want to leave the building—I’m impressed with Barbara’s picture-taking skills. Let’s hope she doesn’t leave us now for PEOPLE.

— Samantha Murphy

NRTA Conference Notes

We who work in, and report on, retail tend to gloss over the impact of lease administrators. Each year, when I attend the National Retail Tenants Association (NRTA) conference, I am reminded of the power this group of retail headquarters staffers holds on the profitability of the individual units and the chain as a whole.

I’m blogging from the site of this year’s conference—the J.W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson, Ariz. I have attended a full day of sessions with about 600 lease administrators, controllers, attorneys and staff accountants from most of the top chains across all categories of retail. I’ve chatted with lease administrators from Footlocker, PetSmart, Target, Dress Barn, Chico’s, Best Buy, Toys “R” Us and more—and all told me they attend this conference not to be passively instructed, but to actively share best practices among their peers. The goal, they say, is to take back new understanding and improved methods to their respective home bases.

The atmosphere here is reminiscent of an all-star football game, in which top players from a variety of teams come together each year to practice as a team, learn as a team, play as a team.

And, by doing so, they individually and collectively increase their strength and skill.

—Katherine Field