Kmart (often spelled as "K-Mart") is a chain of department stores in the United States,
Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. The chain merged with Sears
in 2005, creating the Sears Holdings Corporation. Kmart also exists in Australia
and New Zealand (see Kmart Australia), although it now shares no current
relation with the American stores except in name after US equity in the Australian
business was purchased in the late 1970s. It is the third biggest discount
store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and Target. Kmart's world headquarters
was located in Troy, Michigan in a sprawling complex which, since Kmart's
relocation to Illinois, has been slated for demolition.
Kmart became known
for its "Blue Light Specials." They occurred at surprise moments when a store
worker would light up a mobile police light and offer a discount in a specific
department of the store. The phrase "attention Kmart shoppers" also entered
into the American pop psyche.
Sebastian S. Kresge, who had previously
founded the S. S. Kresge dime store chain, opened the first Kmart store on March
1, 1962 in Garden City, Michigan and named Kmart after himself; this store
is still in operation to this day. A total of eighteen Kmart stores opened that
year. Kmart Foods, a now defunct chain of Kmart supermarkets, opened in that same
decade. During the 1970s, Kmart put a number of competing retailers out of
business. In 1977, S. S. Kresge Corporation changed its name to Kmart Corporation.
In 1987, the Kmart Corporation sold its remaining Kresge and Jupiter stores
in the United States to McCrory Stores, although Canadian Kresge stores continued
to operate until 1994. |
