Vancouver, WA Kmart closing after 35 years

Moderator: Groceteria

Post Reply
Super S
Veteran
Posts: 463
Joined: 07 Jan 2006 00:40

Vancouver, WA Kmart closing after 35 years

Post by Super S »

http://www.columbian.com/news/2009/nov/ ... ill-close/

The article includes a black & white interior photo of opening day 1975.
User avatar
Andrew T.
Veteran
Posts: 689
Joined: 18 Oct 2007 14:26
Location: Minnesota's attic, Canada
Contact:

Re: Vancouver, WA Kmart closing after 35 years

Post by Andrew T. »

*sigh* Yet another Kmart bites the dust...

In the old photo, you can catch a glimpse of the (mostly) green and white decor package that predated Kmart's orange interior look of the late '70s and early '80s.

Several layers of strata are visible on the exterior of the building, too. The store has the jutting, ribbed overhang that most mid-to-late '70s Kmart stores have. The arched sign backing would have been added in the midst of Kmart's reimaging of the early '90s (likely at the same time the front windows were blocked up), and the pattern of horizontal stripes would have had a break in the middle just wide enough to accommodate the early '90s "K" logo. The "Big Kmart" sign would have been swapped in several years after that.

The place looks almost identical to the store in east Green Bay that closed last summer.
"The pale pastels which have been featured in most food stores during the past 20 years are no longer in tune with the mood of the 1970s."
Andrew Turnbull
Super S
Veteran
Posts: 463
Joined: 07 Jan 2006 00:40

Re: Vancouver, WA Kmart closing after 35 years

Post by Super S »

Worth noting also is that about 2-3 years ago this Kmart did away with its restaurant and converted it to additional retail space, as did most of the Portland area Kmart stores. The store itself was nothing special, basically a typical old Kmart. One oddity about this site is that there is a Maaco auto body shop tucked in right behind this store which you can not see from the road at all.
Post Reply