Kmart Grabs Online Spotlight from BlueLight

Kmart reintroduced BlueLight.com with the Kmart brand name and URL on Tuesday. The site promotes in-store deals and offers an online copy of the company’s advertising circulars that go out in daily newspapers, reports ZDNet.com.

“One of our new goals is to strengthen ties with our parent company,” BlueLight.com spokeswoman Abigail Jacobs says. “We’re hoping to present a joint image online or offline.”

BlueLight will remain the name of Kmart’s online subsidiary and of Internet service it offers, according to Ms. Jacobs. Currently, customers who access Kmart.com are redirected to BlueLight.com, but the company plans to make Kmart.com the default URL soon, she says.

Moderator Comment: What do you think of Kmart’s latest
action concerning BlueLight.com?

You may hear quite a bit of sobbing sounds coming from
behind closed doors today. Do not be alarmed. It is the sound of Kmart stakeholders
pushed to their emotional and financial brink.

We remember wondering when Kmart launched BlueLight.com
why a retailer that had invested millions in marketing its name would not want
to reinforce that branding action with its online venture. The answer was simple.
The Kmart name carried so many negative connotations with consumers that management
felt it needed a new name to make the site work.

Today’s solution: Build greater association between the
moderately successful BlueLight operation and the bankrupt Kmart brand name.
Pass us a tissue, please. [George
Anderson – Moderator
]

BrainTrust

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