Sadness · 4:29am Jan 6th, 2019
Hey all. No Smash talk this time, as you can surmise. Instead, today I learned that the K-Mart in my area will be shutting down in March, and is undergoing a fire sale of sorts. A little silly you may think to be bummed out about a dying retail brand, and certainly the end appeared nigh for quite some time. But, this store at least, meant something to me.
When I moved here to the states from Germany almost eighteen years ago that K-Mart was the happening spot for me and my family to go out and get the kind of goods that the base exchange lacked. Electronics, toys, video games. I remember buying a strategy guide for Conker's Bad Fur Day one time from there. While I have visited the states throughout my childhood, this was a more intimate exposure to American retail, which I had had only glimpses of during those short visits. The height of consumerism mere miles down the road from us.
Eventually I grew up, my interests went elsewhere, and my family stopped going to K-Mart. Mainly because in the following years a Super Wal-Mart was erected practically down the street, offering so much more. And yet, that K-Mart still stuck around for over a decade. Even as other smaller businesses shut down that little retailer still chugged along. A co-worker of mine had told me it had been around since the 70s, and I had believed it to be an institution of our city, something that would stand the test of time and serve as a unique quirk to our town. But alas, money talks, and it finally ran out for them. As time inevitably runs out for all things.
This discovery on my drive to work made me feel hollow, as though I had lost a friend I had been out of touch for some years, or a family pet. Just something I assumed would always be around in my life, something I grew up in and around, and soon it will be gone. Almost as bad as how the base I moved from inevitably got shut down and turned over to the Germans in 2005, just to be demolished and paved over, erasing the wonderful trees and hang out spots that made my childhood so rich. However, I lived on that base for only seven and a half years, whereas this K-Mart has been in close proximity to me for nearly two decades. That's... that's just sobering, to say the least.
But, as with any sad parting, I will have to move on with the rest of the world, see more and more of what it has to offer to get the most out of this dwindling life of mine. And there's still a few weeks left, so I will see about visiting that K-Mart, perhaps buy some things super cheap, and bid it farewell. I may even leave a bouquet of flowers at its doorstep.
Have a wonderful night, everyone.
Huh, wow. o.O I think all the K-Marts near me closed down last year.