Observed earlier while driving through St. Petersburg’s post-Tropical Storm Frances landscape on this Labor Day:

- The local K-Mart was closed.

- The nearby Target was open. Need I mention that its parking lot was jam-packed?

If ever there was a snapshot of the different directions that these big-box retailers are heading, this is it. Anyone thinking of sinking some money into K-Mart in light of their recent reorganization and renewed marketing efforts might as well forget it; it doesn’t look like its management has gotten any smarter.

The equation is pretty simple: Rotten weather + forced home confinement + aborted holiday weekend = Anxious consumers chomping at the bit to spend some money. Target understands this, K-Mart apparently doesn’t.