I Bought a K-Mart

Chapter Three

The next Saturday, I closed the store early. I brought in the MCF renovation team to begin modernizing the Kmart. I left most of the minor details up to my good friend and architect Tom Arlis, as architecture and interior design wasn't my strong suit.

"Tom," I said, "Take me through your design plan again."

Tom replied, "On the outside, Kmart will look like Kmart. On the inside, we'll blend the modern luxury of MCF with the nostalgia of Kmart. We'll start by annexing the old Sports Authority store. There, we'll include all the fancy stuff that MCF is known for, like the MCafe, a playground, a few small chain restaurants, a full vegan salad bar, and all that stuff. The rest of the store will be your typical Kmart."

"And the cost?" I asked.

"3.5 million dollars!" said Arliss, "But this store makes that in two months, so we'll turn a profit in no time! Especially with the holiday season coming up!"

"How long will this take?" I asked.

"If I don't have this project done by Halloween, then cut my salary!" said Arliss.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Sure!" said Arliss. "We just renovated an entire Walmart Supercenter in Edgartown for $5 million in just under three months. This store plus the old Sports Authority is half the size of that place!"

"Okay," I said.

"One more thing: Your boy Trent said he wants to throw a block party every weekend this October so we can still make some money while the store gets renovated. I took the liberty of preparing for that this past week. I hope you don't mind," said Arliss.

"It's alright!" I said, "I should give Trent a promotion for that idea. He's too young to be a manager, but maybe he can get a Maintenance Lead salary."

Arliss said, "Great! If you show up tomorrow, the parking lot will be a full block party full of Kmart nostalgia, discounted stuff, kids activities, and all that stuff. I need your approval for a radio ad though."

"Done," I said, "You make that happen, Tom!"