Rise and Fall of Euclid Super Kmart 1200 Babbitt Rd

It's the Spring of 1995, and Euclid, Ohio already has a K-Mart. The one on Euclid avenue, up on the hill. The old Euclid Clarkin's. In January of 1995, Twin Valu shuttered it's hypermarket at 1200 Babbitt road, leaving almost 400 people without jobs.

Since then, the 180,000 square foot retail giant has sat vacant. City officials toy with the idea of rezoning the commercial property back to industrial use. Before Twin Valu erected it's warehouse like superstore, Addressograph Multigraph Company, a newly merged entity, opened it's plant on the site in 1932. AM International remained here until 1978, relocating to Los Angeles. The plant stayed open until October 1982.

So in 1987 the site was zoned commercial, and Twin Valu came and went. 1200 Babbitt was empty for a mere 6 months before the Super K project began. 

 Forging ahead at full speed, Kmart is aware that Supervalu closed the Euclid Twin Valu because it was losing money. $12 million later, it's Kmart's game to lose at 1200 Babbitt. Oh, and don't worry. Kmart has plans to keep the Euclid Avenue Kmart open, according to spokeswoman Michelle DeLand.
 

 But it can't all be sunshine and rainbows, can it? With the zoning issue still stuck in a gray area, the city finds out even if it rezones the site, it won't take effect until two years in. Cuyahoga County Planning Commission even suggested the land should be zoned for industrial use.

Not all are against it, though. Euclid Square Mall manager Warren Pettis thinks it could be a boon for the area's other retail establishments. 

Amongst other concerns are crime, which Kmart hoped to combat with electronic theft detection door devices, surveillance cameras, not operating 24 hours a day, and uniformed security guards. The other elephant in the room? Euclid Avenue Kmart.

Don't worry! Well, worry a little! Says Anthony L. Jablonski, who says the store won't close even after the VP of Kmart refused to sign a commitment to keep the Euclid avenue store open for 10 years. Plus, each Kmart is evaluated annually. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Kmart gained approval to make mostly cosmetic changes and small additions to the structure. Euclid Kmart aimed for an opening date of November, 1995. Euclid Kmart is FINE OK.

What's this? A hitch in the plans? Kmart requests a giant sign, and the city says try again. Back to the drawing board for Kmart architect Phil Garcia! Everyone is super optimistic that the Super K won't kill regular Euclid avenue Kmart while we sit and wait to see how the sign issue shakes out.

Oh, so Kmart came back asking for a much larger sign and the city said OK. The sign thought too large was 164 square feet, and the approved sign measures at a nice, round 300 square feet. Don Malone, a member of the P&Z commission didn't like it, but voted it through anyway. It harkens back to when people were upset about a rather tall sign for Clay Matthews Pontiac. Remember THAT GUY? 

The open date of November has now been scrapped, and Euclid Super Kmart is set to open in January or February of 1996. Oh, and we almost forgot! Euclid avenue Kmart is good as gold! 

Wednesday, February 7, 1996 was a typical February day, but in Euclid, maybe the sun shone a little brighter, because we had a Super Kmart, just like fancy ass Mentor.

You know this is Photoshopped, right?

And maybe you think we can stop right here, ride off into that chilly February 1996 sunset and know deep in our little hearts that Euclid avenue Kmart and Babbitt Super Kmart lived happily ever after.

Punny times abound as the headline cries out, "Attention Kmart Shoppers" and announces that Kmart gave Euclid the old Blue Light Special. July 31 was the last day that the Euclid avenue Kmart would be operational. They sent a letter to Mayor Paul Oyaski (modern day equivalent to breaking up via text, very shady) with the news. Economic Development director Kory Koran says everyone knew, but they wished Kmart would have been man enough to be honest. Super Kmart had been open a mere 2 months. 

So much for being evaluated yearly, I guess. Kmart execs and spokespeople, who before said there was plenty of business to go around are now all gone, and now only Kmart's Steve Pagnani says poor sales are to blame for Euclid avenue Kmart's closure. By golly, you'd almost think they lied or something.

 Employee's weren't handed jobs, but were encouraged to go apply at the new Super Kmart over on Babbitt. Although as we all know in 2025, you can't get too cozy in any position at Kmart. But that's getting ahead a bit. For the folks who did go to work at the Babbitt Super Kmart, that didn't end so spectacularly, either.

In 2002, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, the largest filed at the time. In 2003, they closed hundreds of stores including the one in Euclid with that AMAZING 60 foot pole and INCREDIBLE 300 square foot sign.

200 employees were cut lose. The store stayed open and sold off to the walls, closing April 14, 2003. Other area Kmart locations that were closed at the same time:

2975 S Arlington Rd, Akron, Ohio 44312  
4040 Medina Rd, Akron, Ohio 44333
5211 Cobblestone Rd, Elyria, Ohio 44035
919 N Lexington-Springmill Rd Mansfield, Ohio 44906
911 Sandusky Mall Blvd North. Sandusky, Ohio 44870