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business journalist Marcia Layton Turner offers a remarkable, no-nonsense examination of Kmart's fall. (The Miami Herald (circ: 327,000), Sept. 29, 2003)

"Kmart was Wal-Mart before there was a Wal-Mart. Originally a chain of retail stores along the lines of F.W. Woolworth's ""five and dime"" outlets, the former Kresge's evolved into the larger Kmart in 1962, with 18 ""super-stores."" Wal-Mart began the same year with a single rural Arkansas location. Kmart cruised along nicely for the first 25 years or so, but by the end of the 1970s profits began to dip, coincidental to Wal-Mart's ascendance. Business journalist Marcia Layton Turner offers a remarkable, no-nonsense examination of Kmart's fall. Her carefully documented tale relies on reporting from the trade and general press, amplified by testimony and commentary from a number of expert witnesses. It's a grim story; reading it is somewhat akin to watching a train going off a mountain, but the tragedy of Kmart is a tale of human incompetence, ignorance, greed and hubris. Here, according to Turner, are Kmart's 10 fatal mistakes: 1. Brand mismanagement; 2. Not knowing its customers; 3. Underestimating Wal-Mart; 4. Lousy locations; 5. Ignoring store appearance; 6. Technology aversion; 7. Supply chain disconnect; 8. Loss of focus; 9. Strategy du jour; 10. Repeating the same mistakes. Squeezed by thrifty and technologically savvy Wal-Mart on one side, and trendy, more fashion forward Target on the other, one wonders if the once-mighty Kmart still has a prayer. Hard to say, but if the chain's immediate history of monumental mismanagement offers any clues, it's just a matter of time before Kmart flat-lines ? barring a miracle. (The Miami Herald (circ: 327,000), Sept. 29, 2003)"

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"MARCIA LAYTON TURNER is the bestselling author of The Unofficial Guide to Starting a Small Business. Writing for and about business for many years, Turner has covered small businesses, middle market companies, and major corporations. She has written for several top magazines and Web sites, including Business 2.0 and Office.com, and was the small business ""guru"" for iVillage.com?s AboutWork site and Macmillan?s Web community. With an MBA in corporate strategy and marketing from the University of Michigan, Turner spent several years with Eastman Kodak Company in marketing and marketing communications before starting her own marketing consulting firm, which she currently manages. Through her work as a consultant, she has been profiled or quoted as a marketing and start-up expert in numerous publications. She is also a frequent speaker on business management and marketing topics, delivering presentations to local, regional, and national audiences."

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