What a surprise.
K-Mart Files for Chapter 11 Ridgecrest, CA is a rather remote location. The nearest full blown shopping mall is 80 miles away, so if we need anything "right now" it typically means a trip to the local Wal-Mart or K-Mart. I don't really like Wal-Mart, but I hate K-Mart. The prices are about the same as Wally World, but there's never anyone around and even if there are, they don't know enough about their own store to answer questions. Even during Christmas crunch time, two weeks before THE DAY, on a Saturday, you will not find more than TWO cashiers working. Oh... and the cashiers always seem to be missing significant amounts of teeth and have that far away look of one that would rather be sitting at home in the trailer park, watching soaps and pining away for her boyfriend who is serving 18 months for drunk and disorderly.
I used to hear that the K-Mart in Ridgecrest was basically a management training site and that they weren't really expecting this store to do well. I accepted the story until I saw the K-Mart in Annandale, VA. It's every bit as screwed up as this one in Ridgecrest.
My only guess is that the Big K is fouled up nationwide.
Am I happy about this? Sure. Maybe we'll get a Target in Ridgecrest. Not that I give a wit about Target. It just means that my wife won't be dragging me into K-Mart ever again.