DECATUR - Trips to the Big K are becoming rare for Joan Willis.

When she heard some Kmarts were closing, she figured it was only a matter of time before others followed suit. So the 76-year-old Deca ;tur resident started weaning herself early, making only occasional trips to the store.

As it turns out, Decatur's remaining store on Pershing Road has survived.

But one of its advertising tactics, combined with recent news reports on the company, are leaving some customers confused about whether the local Big K will eventually kick the bucket.

"You'd almost think they were (closing)," said Decatur resident Sarah Zientara, 21, who will often shop for cat food at the store.

Though the store might be bringing in customers interested in a bargain, lawn signs ad ;vertising a recent jewelry sale were confusing because they resembled going-out-of-business sale signs, she said. (To promote a sale around Halloween, a person in a werewolf costume also tried to get passing cars in the parking lot.)

Combine those visuals with news stories about Home Depot and Sears stores moving into old Kmart locations and add Wednesday's Kmart/Sears merger, and it's not just the Kmart consumer who is a little unclear about the future of the discount retailer.

"There are many layers of confusion," said Madhu Viswanathan, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Illinois. Viswanathan studies consumer behavior.

Kmart's strategy in its competition with Wal-Mart and Target - and its identity as a retailer - is unclear, he said. And in a retail field with fewer and fewer players, Kmart is "going to have to climb a mountain," he said, considering that the leading discount retailers have clearer roles in consumers' minds.

Local Kmart management directed questions about the store to its corporate office; a message left Wednesday at the corporate office went unanswered.

Amy Hoak can be reached at ahoak@;herald-review.com or 421-7972.