Uploaded May 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Located in Westwood NJ, there remains a relic of a bygone era: a K-Mart that remains mostly unchanged since Sears' heyday as a (somewhat) big box retailer.
Westwood's is one of only four remaining K-Marts in northern New Jersey, and unlike many others Sears and K-Marts, this location has seen little in the the way of updating or renovations. Not that I'm complaining! I only hope it sticks around, as there really aren't any other alternatives for those of us needing basic household items, food, and clothing without a visit to the other two elephants in the room of big box retail.
This video was inspired by Vwestlife's many videos documenting older businesses that are either closing, approaching the end of their life, or are otherwise healthy contenders in the world of retail but have an overall "vintage" and "retro" quality about them that deserves to be preserved in video form.
This video was a spur-of-the-moment type deal, and as such the only thing I had on me capable of recording anything approaching half-decent video quality was an iPhone 4s I use occasionally as a glorified iPod. What it lacks in video quality is made up for with the inconspicuous video recording it affords. One odd thing I did notice, however, was ghosting during several portions of the video after rendering it. The video the iPhone records is in fact progressive, and all the settings on the video editor side of things were confirmed to be configured for progressive video. The ghosting was most noticeable during the outdoor garden department scene. If I didn't know any better, I'd believe the video was at one point interlaced and then subsequently deinterlaced by blending both fields together, thus causing the ghosting. The only thing I can ascribe to this anomalous behavior is the iPhone's use of variable frame rate recording--at least it's the only reason that somewhat makes sense.
I'd also like to tender my most sincere apology for the dreadful video quality. It didn't look THAT bad after rendering, but YouTube's compression really had its way with the video. In addition, I'd like to further apologize for the odd and awkward camera angles at times. Attempting to film inconspicuously in a store is easier than it sounds.
Located in Westwood NJ, there remains a relic of a bygone era: a K-Mart that remains mostly unchanged since Sears' heyday as a (somewhat) big box retailer.
Westwood's is one of only four remaining K-Marts in northern New Jersey, and unlike many others Sears and K-Marts, this location has seen little in the the way of updating or renovations. Not that I'm complaining! I only hope it sticks around, as there really aren't any other alternatives for those of us needing basic household items, food, and clothing without a visit to the other two elephants in the room of big box retail.
This video was inspired by Vwestlife's many videos documenting older businesses that are either closing, approaching the end of their life, or are otherwise healthy contenders in the world of retail but have an overall "vintage" and "retro" quality about them that deserves to be preserved in video form.
This video was a spur-of-the-moment type deal, and as such the only thing I had on me capable of recording anything approaching half-decent video quality was an iPhone 4s I use occasionally as a glorified iPod. What it lacks in video quality is made up for with the inconspicuous video recording it affords. One odd thing I did notice, however, was ghosting during several portions of the video after rendering it. The video the iPhone records is in fact progressive, and all the settings on the video editor side of things were confirmed to be configured for progressive video. The ghosting was most noticeable during the outdoor garden department scene. If I didn't know any better, I'd believe the video was at one point interlaced and then subsequently deinterlaced by blending both fields together, thus causing the ghosting. The only thing I can ascribe to this anomalous behavior is the iPhone's use of variable frame rate recording--at least it's the only reason that somewhat makes sense.
I'd also like to tender my most sincere apology for the dreadful video quality. It didn't look THAT bad after rendering, but YouTube's compression really had its way with the video. In addition, I'd like to further apologize for the odd and awkward camera angles at times. Attempting to film inconspicuously in a store is easier than it sounds.
