Attention Kmart Shoppers! – Life in America
Kmart, was born as the S.S. Kresge Co. in 1899. The company was founded by Sebastian Sperling Kresge who started his career working with another giant retailer named John McCrory in Memphis, TN.
The two partners eventually went their separate ways, and Kresge was left the sole owner of his own five and dime store. By 1907 S.S. Kresge stores operated in eight cities between Chicago and Pittsburgh.
With Kresge as the president through the 1920s and chairman of the board through the 1960s, his store expanded steadily. During World War 2, inflation caused his store to raise prices up to a 15 cent limit.
In 1962, retail pioneer Harry Cunningham, now president of Kresge’s, drove the retailer into the large-scale discount market with the construction of the first full sized Kmart store in Garden City, Michigan.
2 Kmart locations had opened by the time the first Walmart store opened in Rogers, AR. Both Harry Cunnigham and Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, were inspired by another store named Ann & Hope, based in Rhode Island.
In 1965, the Blue Light Special was introduced to advertise products on sale. “Attention Kmart Shoppers” became the announcement heard over the loudspeaker to alert shoppers.
By 1976, S.S. Kresge made history by opening 271 Kmart stores in one year. It became the first-ever retailer to launch 17 million square feet of sales space in a single year.
In 1977, nearly 95 percent of S.S. Kresge Company sales were generated by Kmart stores. The company officially changed its name to Kmart Corporation to reflect this.
By 1990, Kmart was the second largest retailer in the United States behind Sears. Later that year, it would be surpassed by Walmart. Many of the stores had become run down and needed updating. So, Kmart underwent a major new plan to revive the chain, with a new logo and a $3.5 billion dollar makeover.
Kmarts sales peaked in 1992, and slowly declined due to competition with Walmart and Target. From Super Kmart Centers to Big Kmarts, and even with star power from Martha Stewart, it was not enough and sales never recovered.
By 2002, Kmart had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and in 2003, 326 stores closed. In an effort to combine retail power, Kmart even bought struggling Sears in 2005. Over the next decade, stores continued to underperform which led to more closures.
By 2020, both stores were still hanging on by a thread. Less than 50 Kmart stores are still open across the country, in what some retail experts refer to as a slow motion liquidation.
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