Kmart offers unemployment discount
Posted
Jul 02 2009, 05:24 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Several car companies have offered to make monthly payments for new auto buyers who lose jobs. Hyundai even has a program to take some vehicles back if their owners can’t find work.
The Kmart division of Sears (SHLD) is joining the parade of firms hoping to aid those down on their luck. According to the Financial Times, the program will start in Michigan, the hardest-hit state where joblessness is above 14%. It is also the home of Kmart’s former parent.
The paper writes that Kmart will give unemployed people in Michigan a “Smart Assist Savings” card for six months, which gets them 20% off the store’s private label goods.
The new savings package is not completely selfless. Kmart caters to the lower end of the middle classes, a segment of the economy that has been especially hard hit as corporations cut costs. Kmart has probably lost many of its customers completely and believes that the new incentives will bring these people back.
The offer is impressive even if Kmart ultimately makes money on the unemployed customers. Many of the jobless in Michigan will not find work in the state -- ever. They are faced with relocating even though they may not have the money to move. Sears and Kmart get a gold star for outstanding behavior.
Top Stocks blogger Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.
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