When I was growing up way back, Kmart and Sears were among the first places to ransack on Black Friday. I guess ya can't bring the dead from the past after all. Only fond memories.
Blue light specials. Yes, they had a blue light on top of a pole about 6’ tall that flashed at the location of the *special*.
Black Friday should now be called Black November. There's less crowds than traditionally seen because stores now run Black Friday specials for 2-3 weeks before the actual day. There's still a bit more volume on the actual BF day, but it will never go back to the way it was unless sellers go back to the parochial method of having their deals on just that one day.
I remember them. They were between department stores like J.C. Penny and really thrifty stores like Odd Lots (Remember them?). They have long been replaced by Walmart, Target and even Amazon. Their bags used to be the best, the most sturdy and the biggest that could hold a lot of stuff. My mom used to use those Kmart bags to put my gym clothes in and of course you can imagine the teasing that I got. Good old times.
LOL I go back even further than that. In the 60's we had Kresge's and Woolworth's dept stores,TG&Y five and dime and Otasco stores. Interesting watching American retail evolve/transition from the old west to what it is today.
I definitely can remember K-Mart. I am originally from Maine and the last two K-marts there just closed about three years ago so it does not take a great memory to recall that. They were always pretty dumpy. Lots of chain retail stores and fast food places learned that you had to do a makeover/upgrade every X number of years but as I recall with a Kmart what you got when it opened was pretty much what you were going to ever get.