There’s a new Santa Claus

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/kentucky-man-buys-kmart-inventory-gives-away-220043176.html

 

 

 

 

In early May of this year, a Kentucky man bought every last inventory item that a Kmart store had in Kentucky. Due to the store closing in only a couple of days,  Rankin Paynter decided it would be best to buy everything the store had left and give it away to charity. He donated all items, from office supplies to clothing to Clark County Community Services. He was an unprivileged boy when he was younger only owning a pair of summer slippers as shoes. Now that he makes enough money to buy $200,000 worth of Kmart inventory, he is giving back to those in need.

 

With Kmart store not selling enough to make up for their cost of goods, they are being forced to close down several stores across the country. Their inventory is just sitting in the warehouse or backroom or even their front of the store without selling. Because Kmart still has debt to pay, they are forced to liquidate everything they have, starting with inventory, to pay off their heavy loans. The cost of holding inventory is higher than having just in time inventory like DELL is known to have started.

 

Even though there are several factors feeding into their decreasing sales, Kmart’s lack of efficient inventory management is costing them a lot more than just sales.

12 thoughts on “There’s a new Santa Claus

  1. I found this article really interesting. I think that it’s great what the guy did and bought all of kmarts inventory. Not only did he buy everything, but gave it to charity to needy people. It’s really sad that Kmart is doing so bad and having to shut down many stores. My cousin is the head hr at Sears holdings and when they bought Kmart they thought they could help them from closing down no they have, but now they are not doing so well. Hopefully Kmart will be be able to pick up.

  2. The title caught my eye on this one. I am actually surprise I have not read something like this before. Overall very interesting article, maybe KMart should adapt to some of the management strategies we have talked about in class!

  3. Considering the fact that Kmart has had a rough time adapting to the changing market it is not surprising to me that many of there stores including this one are closing down. I am happy to see that people such as this man are taking advantage of there “going out of business” deals but I am still unsure as to what the key point of this post is? Perhaps the fact that the companies poor management skills have lead to improper inventory thus miss leading forecasters as to how the Kmart was really doing.

  4. I have not seen a KMart in a while, the one near my house closed down a few years ago. i find it very admirable as to what Rankin Paynter has done. It should teach wal mart corporation, dominicks, jewel how to be charitable during the holidays.

  5. K Mart has been in its decline stage of its PLC analysis for a long time. It is about time that they start shutting down stores and selling of their inventory to help cover their cost inventory and wages. On a side note, what an awesome guy to help out his community! we all know that many people would not take the time and effort to do such a nice gesture.

  6. What a generous deed this man is doing! Kudos to him. As for K-mart, it’s unfortunate that it isn’t generating much sales due its competition with its competitors. Maybe K-mart out to change their management strategy if they ought to stay in business longer.

  7. Very interesting very helpful man he helped people in need and also helped Kmart with will selling their inventory to pay off their debts. This is one of the reasons I think inventory equals cash and also why forecasting inventory is important because ordering so much inventory doesn’t help at all because you have to make what is the demand of the item and how the item is selling before spending so much cash on inventory that will sit there and not sell and just build up debt.

  8. After reading this article I am amazed at how one person can make such a big impact on their community. KMart’s lack of knowledge in inventory management is their own fault. Had they done better, then those stores wouldn’t be closing and people wouldn’t be losing their jobs. What this man did was very generous and thoughtful during the holiday season. In regards to inventory, I agree with some of comments about how inventory is considered money. The longer it’s held on to, the less it is worth. I personally don’t shop at this store but can imagine that had the company managed better, they would be a major competitor to Walmart and Target. Very interesting article and a nice way to start the holiday season.

  9. Running these big box stores like K-Mart must be a tough business. With so many different kinds of inventory, it must be hard to keep track of what is in demand and what will just be sitting on the shelves. That is why K-Mart failed, a failure to keep track of their inventory. Perhaps they would have done better had they forecast-ed appropriately and paid attention to trends in the market. Regardless, if only every K-Mart had a guy like this one to take care of all of the excess inventory, then maybe they would succeed.

  10. This is very interesting article especially after reading about Rankin Paynter’s big heart. It is amazing to read a rags to riches story with the main character giving back. It is more amazing to read that K-Mart is failing due to overstocking their inventory. We also learned in class that inventory needed to be forecast properly and obviously K-Mart failed to note market trends and its effect on demand. Whatever the case maybe K-Mart seriously dropped the ball.

  11. It is always uplifting to see that ordinary people are giving back, especially during the holidays. In regards to Kmart’s poor business practices I am not terribly surprised. It appears that over the years Kmart and their parent Sears Holdings has made many poor strategic decisions and they have not been able to keep up in a hyper competitive environment. While companies like Target and Wal Mart have been killing Kmart in distribution and inventory control practices they have also been revamping their stores and investing millions of dollars into the in store shopping experience. Kmart has stubbornly refused to invest in their stores and it has caused declining sales over the years. Hopefully Kmart will be able to take advantage of a better and more robust e-commerce strategy and avoid liquidating inventory like they had to with this store in Kentucky.

  12. This story was very interesting and touched my heart! Kmart seems to have some management issues since their sales could not cover the cost of goods sold. The company had much outstanding debt and sitting inventory in stores while not being sold. It’s sad the poor management forced them to close stores, but this story still shows there’s good people out there when this man purchased the inventory and gave it to charity. Not only does this help other people but it helps Kmart too.

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