Poor, poor Kmart

Don't you feel sorry for that other brand?  It's that brand that never gets any respect, no matter what.

Kmart bought Sears, didn't it, not the other way?  It's amazing to me that so much has happened and Kmart is still a mess but now, Sears is more of a mess than it was.

Last year, I got a deal on an LG television.  It was a 3D, LED-backlit model with the 3D-capable Blu-Ray player and it had a good price.  Even their two year service agreement was priced well, and seemed to be useful.  I wasn't buying a $2000 tv, so I didn't have such expectations.  It didn't really overwhelm or disappoint me.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the Kmart store in Oviedo/Winter Springs, FL where I shopped when I lived in the area for 10 years.  It's likely the best Kmart store anywhere in the country.  It's clean, well-organized, and the problems are few.  The employees don't gripe constantly, and they handle exceptions exceptionally well.

Returning to the store in Richmond, IN  couldn't be a shock but it's still shocking to see how rough the store is.  Practically everything is a problem.  e.g., my mum tried to buy a Sprint phone card, and it took 3 people and they couldn't figure out how to make it work.  I bought some Arizona Iced Tea a few months ago, and one of the bottles had liquor in it.  (I should have been happy for free liquor but I just wanted iced tea.)  What was more surprising was the "oh, that happens sometimes." reply on the phone.  Why does it happen any time?

More recently (before a lot of Christmas shopping would occur) I went to the web site to buy some Joe Boxer stuff since they have a poor selection in the store.  (I remember shopping for Joe Boxer in Strawbridge & Clothier in the Philadelphia, PA area.  It was a much different brand then, but then, so is any brand Kmart touches, yes? )  In any case, I selected several items and one could not be bought, as it had sold out while I was shopping online.  I picked something else and placed my order.  I got a notice the next day that an item was being shipped from a store.  (What, they don't have these items in the warehouse?)  I got that item quite quickly from a store in Charleston, WV.  The other items took several days but shipped from the Chicago area.  I guess there isn't anything in Michigan any longer but they moved to the Sears headquarters for everything.

Does anyone believe they'll be in business in 2020?  I doubt it, unless they're servicing one Kmart at Red Bug Lake and Tuskawilla Roads in the Winter Springs/Oviedo, FL area.

Update: the Sears in Richmond, IN is closing but not the Kmart.  That's interesting.  They both have everyday pricing above other stores' pricing.  The good thing for the Kmart store is that there isn't much on that side of town.

Holy shhh...WiMAX!

Having just written about 4G or faux G this week, it's interesting to see WiMAX work well here in the Orlando, FL area.

I ran a test at speedtest.net last night and got over 10 Mbps (I've even recorded over 13.5 Mbps).  This is exceptionally good considering that I'm inside a motel room and the 3G connection is fluctuating between 3G and 1xRTT.  10 Mbps is also faster than I've seen from Verizon LTE, by about 4.8 Mbps.  What Verizon has here, I really don't know.  Sprint apparently doesn't have LTE here, as that would have connected.  I may find it somewhere else in the metropolitan area.  Hmm...Oviedo, FL certainly doesn't have access to WiMAX--it barely has 3G service in my friends' house.

It's great to see a download that would take hours, take just minutes instead.

I must say that it's great (sarcasm) to be home where the service barely works at all--and Sprint doesn't think there is a problem.