Requiem for K's
One of the greatest phrases in the English language is “going out of business sale.” It’s right up there with “I do,” “it’s a boy/girl,” and “we find the defendant ‘not guilty.’” All sorts of bargains can be found when a business liquidates, from merchandise, to display cases, to fixtures, just in case you want to decorate a room in the “retail store” motif.
Des Moines is losing its K’s Merchandise.* I hate seeing small businesses closing. Someone poured their lives and life savings into a business, only to see both wasted away in a short time. I feel sorry when I see a new restaurant open in a location that used to be another restaurant before it failed just like the half-dozen restaurants before it. I want to buy a sympathy lunch from that cheese steak place down the road before they close, but I rarely eat out for lunch.
K’s Merchandise is not a true small business, although it is still family owned. It’s a medium-sized regional business, which helps it appear faceless, alleviating the guilt and letting me concentrate on the sweet satisfaction of beating out hundreds of other customers to buy merchandise at steep discounts from a chain desperate to get out of town. K’s Merchandise is like a big-box store, except with about a quarter of the inventory and prices a shade higher. They also sell higher end items like furniture, jewelry, and electronics, along with collectible, figurines, bric-a-brac, and other dust collectors. Another key difference is the store is usually empty (Wal-Mart sells more in the 3am hour than K’s Merchandise does in a weekend) so the employees are always happy to help just to have something to do.
K’s Merchandise has always been a favorite place of mine to shop. They offer good prices on better merchandise than the big box stores offer. We bought the kids’ changing table from them, and they haven’t destroyed it yet except for that one drawer. We bought our glider chair from them in a memorable day after Thanksgiving crush. Our first purchase from them was Ellie’s engagement ring, where we found the benefits of a good price, a unique setting, and everyone assumes it came from the much swankier Kay Jewelers when we say we bought it from “K’s.”
Now they’re closing their Des Moines location. The ubiquitous “guy holding a sign on a street corner” delivered the bad news, prompting me to wonder, “Where to they find these guys? Temp agency?” I visited their store the night I learned they were closing. I found the parking lot packed for the first time since the fourth Friday in November of last year. Inside I discovered that they’re taking their time to clear out the merchandise, offering small discounts at first, and ratcheting them up as the boxes get a little more scuffed from handling. I did find a See ‘n Say to replace Abbie’s older version that was a victim of an unfortunate spit-up incident. Otherwise I found absolutely nothing else that interested me at their current prices.
The next day I visited again, this time with Ellie. We picked up a couple more toys for Christmas presents, and scouted out a few pieces of furniture to purchase when the discounts grow steeper. The store won’t close for a couple months, so we’ll have to check back often. I’m sure we’ll buy a couple more toys at each visit.
* The entire chain is closing its doors.
Des Moines is losing its K’s Merchandise.* I hate seeing small businesses closing. Someone poured their lives and life savings into a business, only to see both wasted away in a short time. I feel sorry when I see a new restaurant open in a location that used to be another restaurant before it failed just like the half-dozen restaurants before it. I want to buy a sympathy lunch from that cheese steak place down the road before they close, but I rarely eat out for lunch.
K’s Merchandise is not a true small business, although it is still family owned. It’s a medium-sized regional business, which helps it appear faceless, alleviating the guilt and letting me concentrate on the sweet satisfaction of beating out hundreds of other customers to buy merchandise at steep discounts from a chain desperate to get out of town. K’s Merchandise is like a big-box store, except with about a quarter of the inventory and prices a shade higher. They also sell higher end items like furniture, jewelry, and electronics, along with collectible, figurines, bric-a-brac, and other dust collectors. Another key difference is the store is usually empty (Wal-Mart sells more in the 3am hour than K’s Merchandise does in a weekend) so the employees are always happy to help just to have something to do.
K’s Merchandise has always been a favorite place of mine to shop. They offer good prices on better merchandise than the big box stores offer. We bought the kids’ changing table from them, and they haven’t destroyed it yet except for that one drawer. We bought our glider chair from them in a memorable day after Thanksgiving crush. Our first purchase from them was Ellie’s engagement ring, where we found the benefits of a good price, a unique setting, and everyone assumes it came from the much swankier Kay Jewelers when we say we bought it from “K’s.”
Now they’re closing their Des Moines location. The ubiquitous “guy holding a sign on a street corner” delivered the bad news, prompting me to wonder, “Where to they find these guys? Temp agency?” I visited their store the night I learned they were closing. I found the parking lot packed for the first time since the fourth Friday in November of last year. Inside I discovered that they’re taking their time to clear out the merchandise, offering small discounts at first, and ratcheting them up as the boxes get a little more scuffed from handling. I did find a See ‘n Say to replace Abbie’s older version that was a victim of an unfortunate spit-up incident. Otherwise I found absolutely nothing else that interested me at their current prices.
The next day I visited again, this time with Ellie. We picked up a couple more toys for Christmas presents, and scouted out a few pieces of furniture to purchase when the discounts grow steeper. The store won’t close for a couple months, so we’ll have to check back often. I’m sure we’ll buy a couple more toys at each visit.
* The entire chain is closing its doors.
posted by Matt at
11:49 PM
1 Comments:
There is this one corner in my mom's neighborhood with a Little Ceasar's Pizza. The guy there is always holding a sign that says "hot and ready." It always makes me wonder if prostitutes could use that sign too!
Patty
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Anonymous, at 12:25 PM
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