The Future is Green

Kmart Corp. (Troy, Mich.) will unveil its new “Store of the Future” this week in White Lake, Mich.

Among the changes, designed by Arnell Group (New York-based division of the Omnicom Group), are:

á a gray and lime-green 'K'logo to replace the former fire-engine-red color;

á wider aisles, lower shelves, brighter lights;

á the movement of Kmart's bigger-name brands — Martha Stewart, Joe Boxer, Disney, Sesame Street, etc. — to the front of the store, instead of being spread out throughout the store.

The mass-merchant discount retailer, in bankruptcy since January, said it plans to open just one prototype at this time, and to test the new logo on only four other stores. CEO James Adamson says the company will study the prototype and focus on changes that boost sales the most. The success of the new store will determine the extent of renovations throughout the chain. “If it's the wider aisles that are really a home run,” says Adamson, “it's not difficult to take that out to 1800 stores.”

Kmart is also changing its inventory-allocation procedures, giving more control to store managers in how much of certain items they can order.

Though Kmart is calling its new campaign the “Store of the Future” in an attempt to convince its employees and the public that it does have a future, it has posted losses of more than $2.5 billion since its January bankruptcy filing and had same-store sales decreases of 12 percent in August, the last month for which figures are available.

Still, Adamson insists Kmart is “on the fast track” to emerge from Chapter 11 in early spring 2003, quicker than its original July target.