Those Huge Air Vents At Kmart

[MirrersTrucking]

Kinda an off kilter topic, but I was walking through a Tractor Supply in Greenville, SC today, when I happened to look up at the ceiling. Lo and behold, there were 4 of the huge AC vents that seemed to be in every Kmart.I remember these things creeping me out as a kid, and as we all know, even in the mid eighties, most Kmart store felt old, dirty and creepy. I am kinda fascinated by these monsterous devices that only Kmart had. Am I the only one???

Please feel free to use this as a Kmart Discussion topic as well.

[SpaceGhost]

While not Houston specific.. I know the exact ones you're talking about. They are indeed huge and round. They look slightly like the Target logo. Also they sat slightly outside of the ceiling and overlapped the tiles. They tended to get dusty quickly. A bunch of former Kmarts still have them. A good Houston example is the go-kart track "Track 21" You can check it out here.

[foxmulder]

That was always something that stood out for me about kmart. You can often spot a reused Kmart location with them. 

[MikeRichardson]

Yes. There was a Kmart at FM 1960 @ Kuykendahl (later a Hobby Lobby, now it's empty/?????) that had these air vents. We didn't go there a lot, and it closed down after Kmart bought the Venture stores. But I remember it was definitely an old style Kmart, dating to the 80's or earlier.

 

Also, there was another old style one I remember. It was off I-45 near Fry Rd. We only went there a couple of times, when Kmart was shutting down in Houston. Not sure what it is now.

[blue92]

While not Houston specific.. I know the exact ones you're talking about. They are indeed huge and round. They look slightly like the Target logo. Also they sat slightly outside of the ceiling and overlapped the tiles. They tended to get dusty quickly. A bunch of former Kmarts still have them. A good Houston example is the go-kart track "Track 21" You can check it out here.

 

Those are air-conditioning heating vents. Lots of stores had those kind of vents.

Edited November 19, 2015 by blue92

[foxmulder]

Those are air-conditioning heating vents. Lots of stores had those kind of vents.

Not that big... LOL

[IronTiger]

I was at the local Asian market when I spotted one of them. The 1970s ones are huge, at least 4 feet across.

[SpaceGhost]

I was at the local Asian market when I spotted one of them. The 1970s ones are huge, at least 4 feet across.

 

A bit of research on the topic says that the reason they used these gigantic vents was that the air handlers were directly connected to a single vent. This allowed them to use single vents and not have to install duct work, and multiple vents. The downside was that all the nasty dirt that built up around one single point.

[zaphod]

I feel like I am raising the dead here, but I have a similar childhood memory and associate those things with Kmart too. Also older Krogers would have the intake vents in the middle of the store that would suck up all the mylar balloons that escaped the floral section. They'd float there and spin around helplessly like prey.