About a year has passed since Kmart closed for good in West Duluth. Countless times since — maybe up to a couple times each week — I’ve wanted to go to Kmart for something or other. I live in Morgan Park and don’t drive. I used to hop the bus to go to Kmart.
When we learned Kmart was closing, it was devastating. One could get just about anything there, from “soup to nuts,” prescriptions included. Even if you went for something in particular, it was almost guaranteed you’d come home with extras. At one point, a rewards club started, and you wanted to go back even more.
I used to have just enough time to get off the bus; get over to Super One; run to the dollar store, post office, and Kmart; and get back to the bus home. Couldn’t come home without popping in to Kmart.
Since Kmart closed, I don’t think two or three days pass without someone saying, “Gosh, I sure miss Kmart.”
There are many who don’t drive or can’t drive; having Kmart in West Duluth was a blessing. There’s online shopping, but there are also, believe it or not, thousands of elderly not into the computer era. They feel like they have to go without or get a friend or neighbor to take them to a store or pick stuff up for them.
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Many people feel confident that if the old Kmart building could get a facelift and turned into a mini Walmart, it would thrive. Maybe two-thirds could be clothes and household goods and a third groceries. All we can do is hope the right eyes see this and jump in and give us a hand. I speak for many others when I say it would be greatly appreciated.
Yvonne Baer
Duluth
