CHILLICOTHE - Anyone who has seen the viral video of Pittsburgh-area Kmart store manager Joshua Englert's final, emotional closing announcement can hear in his voice what the store meant to him.

With Chillicothe's Kmart shutting its doors for the last time Sunday, a Facebook plea from the Chillicothe Gazette revealed that area residents have a similar emotional connection to both the chain's current location and its former one where the present-day Lowe's store stands and that connection often involves family.

Community attachments

"It's because of the Super Kmart that I met my husband," said Kelley Deavers. "Ray was working as an electrician there while the new store was being built in the winter/spring of 1993-94 along with my girlfriend's boyfriend at the time. Visited the store during construction quite often and, of course, after. I considered that Kmart building pretty special as I'd never have met my husband without it."

Deavers wasn't the only respondent who found a love connection between the aisles of merchandise and in the glow of Blue Light Specials. Alex Nelson met his late wife there while a sophomore in college and the couple was married for 19 years. Danielle Steiner was working her first real job at the store while in high school and found her future husband among her fellow store employees, with the couple now in their eighth year together.

Another longtime marriage was spawned among store employees whose connections with Kmart go back to childhood.

"I met my husband, Greg Wolford, when we both worked there, and we have been married 20 years," said Ronnelle Wolford. "I loved going to the old one where Lowe's is now with my mom, Brenda Huston Atwood, and grandma, Theresa Huston. I used to get a cherry slushy and a giant pickle out of the jar that was on top of the deli counter."

Greg's aunt, Betty Butler, also worked for Kmart, manning the snack bar for several years.

Tina Ann Tolliver, who said she's hoping to join some former employees on a final walk through the store this weekend, is another who credits her time at Kmart with helping her find her soulmate.

"I don't know; there's just something about the place," she said, noting she saw several relationships blossom during her time working there from 2005 through July of last year.

Kmart was the first of seven places Tolliver applied to that hired her after leaving a small business she worked for in Waverly. She said she was struck by the friendliness of the staff and managers and she took advantage of opportunities for advancement during her years there. Saying it always felt like it was more than a job, she recalls some of the good the store and its staff was able to do for others.

"When anybody had strife in their life from losing a relative to them physically getting hurt, the store would send them flowers or attend a funeral or people would donate for a funeral," Tolliver said. "We helped other Kmarts as well. There was one further south of us in another state that had a lot of flooding one year, and (one of her managers) put together a lot of donations and drove them down there to help the Kmart employees that had lost a lot of stuff."

Of the dozens of responses to the Gazette's plea for memories of the Chillicothe Kmart, several came from current and former employees talking about a friendly work atmosphere, some of the lifelong friendships that were formed there and fond memories they carry to this day.

"I worked for Kmart in '94, I was in the deli and was pregnant with our first child," said Julie Bode. "I went back in '08 as a night shift head cashier. I worked my way through college and loved working with some of the people. My night shift cashiers were the best. We all still keep in touch as of today."

"Kmart was my first job, and it was where Lowe's is now," said Cherrie Strausbaugh. "So many memories and great people I worked with. I never will forget when Cabbage Patch Kids came out. Customers would come running in to get one and occasionally you would see adults act like children just to get one of those dolls."

"I worked there when I was a teen when 'The Lion King' first came out, and someone made a huge sign that was put in the front of the store that said 'The Loin King' instead of 'The Lion King,'" said Phil Landman. "I will never forget how hard I laughed."

Karey White's thoughts about the store go back to her childhood.

"As a kid when our mom took us, she always ran into somebody she knew and would stand and talk forever it seemed like," she said. "I also worked at the current building in the late '90s for several years and made long-lasting friendships with co-workers — one of my favorite jobs."

Store customers also have memories that still bring a smile to their face. Theresa Johnson shared a photo from 1997 showing her 2-year-old nephew making a face at a "Blue Light" special cake that she had purchased thinking it looked like Cookie Monster from Sesame Street.

"Needless to say, I was banned from buying the cakes for any toddler birthday from that point forward — blue teeth for days," she recalled. "But no one ever forgot that birthday."

"Both of my grandmothers would take me there and let me pick out a toy and get pizza when they picked me up to see me," Jaci Reed shared. "That is something I continued with my child as a treat from time to time. Even though it seems like something so small, it really stood out to me as a kid. I looked forward to those trips, as did my own child.

"As a teenager, I worked there for a short while before I moved out of town. Eight years later when I moved back home and stopped by there, it hadn't changed at all. The people were still just as friendly, and the pizza shop in the back still tasted exactly like it did when I was growing up. Say what you will, but Little Caesar's anywhere else just never tasted as good. I literally drove two hours when I was pregnant just to taste that pizza. It really is a shame to see the store go."

Luci Barnes, who worked at the store in the mid-'90s in what she called one of her favorite jobs ever doing such tasks as calling senior bingo and filling the candy racks at the checkout lanes, summed up in four simple words the feelings of many who responded for this story.

"Goodbye, old friend!" she said.