VERNON, CT — The last remnants of a retail icon — KMart — were being removed from a Vernon commercial building Thursday.
The work is part of the building's conversion to an Ocean State Job Lot. The remaining signs reflected both the old KMart garden shop and brands popularized corporate owner Sears Holdings. At lunchtime, the Die Hard battery sign had already been killed and was at a lifeltess rest against the building. The Craftsman tools sign was nearby alfter it, too, was taken down.
By 1 p.m., just the garden shop and Kenmore appliance sign were left.
The marquis was taken down the first week in June as workers progressed on the Ocean State project. A September opening is being targeted.
The building is located in a shopping plaza off Route 30 at 295 Hartford Turnpike. Ocean State Job Lot will occupy a 40,000 square feet — that's about half the space of the old KMart.Officials said earlier this spring that the new store will create as many as 50 full-time and part-time jobs.
In late March, officials for Ocean State Job confirmed a lease agreement to open its newest store in the vacant KMart building. It will become the 28th outlet in Connecticut for the Rhode Island-based discount retailer. Ocean State Job Lot officials said a long-term lease has been signed with property owner CE Vernon II, LLC, based in Fairfield.
Ocean State Job Lot offers discounts by virtue of "opportunistic buying." Stores feature household goods, apparel, pet supplies, seasonal products like holiday items, gardening supplies, patio accessories and pool and beach supplies, kitchen and pantry "staples" and gourmet and international specialty foods. Ocean State Job Lot was founded in 1977 and currently has 139 stores in New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania with about 5,600 employees. It boasts annual sales of approximately $725 million.
The KMart store in Vernon closed in March 2019 amid financial woes experienced by Sears Holdings. Town Fair Tire, the Ann & Hope curtain and bath outlet and a Salvation Army store currently anchor the plaza. The popular Ninety-Nine restaurant sits adjacent to Route 30 in a free-standing building. A space once occupied by two different Chinese buffets is also vacant in the plaza.
Another ghost of Sears past, a former Sears Hardware outlet, sits vacant across the driveway near the Vernon Stop & Shop.
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