Kmart (Johnsonverse)

Kmart Corporation (/ˈkeɪmɑːrt/ KAY-mart, doing business as Kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, United States. The company was incorporated in 1899 as S. S. Kresge Corporation and renamed Kmart Corporation in 1977. The first store with the Kmart name opened in 1962 in Garden City, Michigan. Kmart operates over 3,000 stores globally, including 2,640 in the United States. Since 1998, Kmart has been a subsidiary of Johnson Industries through its Johnson Stores unit.
== History ==
=== Early years ===
S. S. Kresge, the founder of the company that would become Kmart, met variety-store pioneer Frank Winfield Woolworth while working as a traveling salesman and selling to all 19 of Woolworth's stores at the time. In 1897, Kresge invested $6,700 saved from his job into a five-and-dime store in Memphis, Tennessee. He jointly owned the first store with his former tinware customer, John McCrory. Kresge and McCrory added a second store in downtown Detroit the following year. These were the first S.S. Kresge stores. After two years of partnership, he traded McCrory his share in the Memphis store, plus $3,000, for full ownership of the Detroit store, and formed the Kresge & Wilson Company with his brother-in-law, Charles J. Wilson.
In 1912, Kresge incorporated the S.S. Kresge Company in Delaware with 85 stores. In 1916, Kresge incorporated a new S.S. Kresge Company in Michigan and took over the operations of the original company; the new company in Michigan is the modern day Kmart company. The company was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange on May 23, 1918. During World War I, Kresge experimented with raising the limit on prices in his stores to $1. By 1924, Kresge was worth approximately $375 million and owned real estate of the approximate value of $100 million. Growth early in the 20th century remained brisk, with 257 stores in 1924, rising to 597 stores by 1929. Kresge retired as president in 1925. The Great Depression reduced profitability and resulted in store closings, with the number rising to 682 in 1940. After the war, shopping patterns changed and many customers moved out of the cities into the suburbs.
=== 1960s–1970s ===
Under the leadership of executive Harry Cunningham, S.S. Kresge Company opened the first Kmart-named store, at 27,000 square feet (2,500 square meters), which was referred to by Kresge as a "bantam" Kmart and was in fact originally intended to be a Kresge store until late in the planning process, on January 25, 1962, in San Fernando, California, just six months before the first Walmart opened, while the first ground-up full-size Kmart with 80,000 square feet (7,400 square meters), opened on March 1, 1962, in Garden City, Michigan. Cunningham and Sam Walton were both inspired by Ann & Hope, which they each visited in 1961. Sixteen more Kmart stores opened in 1962. Kmart Foods, a now-defunct chain of Kmart supermarkets, opened in that decade. Though the store chain continued to open Kmart branded stores, the store chain was still officially called S.S. Kresge Company.
Company founder Kresge died on October 18, 1966, at age 99.
Around the time of the opening of the first Kmart, some poorly performing S.S. Kresge stores were converted to a new "Jupiter Discount Stores" brand, which was conceived as a bare-bones, deep discount outfit. During the 1970s, Kmart put a number of competing retailers out of business. Kresge, Jupiter and Kmart stores mainly competed with other store chains like Zayre, Ames, Bradlees, Caldor, Hills, and those that were operated by MMG-McCrory Stores (McCrory, McLellan, H.L. Green, J.J. Newberry, S.H. Kress, TG&Y, Silver's and eventually G.C. Murphy Co.). In 1977, S.S. Kresge Company changed its name to K Mart Corporation.
=== 1980s ===
In 1980, Vice Chairman Bernard M. Fauber was elected as the chairman and as the CEO of Kmart.
In 1981, the 2,000th Kmart store opened. By the end of 1981, there were 2,055 Kmart stores across the United States and Canada.
In 1987, the Kmart Corporation sold its remaining 76 Kresge and Jupiter stores in the United States to McCrory Stores, and the brands were almost entirely discontinued, although Canadian Kresge and Jupiter stores continued to operate until 1994.
Kmart experimented with co-branding in 1985, when the in-store cafeteria at the store in Canton, Michigan, was converted to a Wendy's.
Until November 1990, when it was passed by Walmart, Kmart was the second-largest retailer in the United States, after Sears. During the 1980s, the company's fortunes began to change; many of Kmart's stores were considered to be outdated and in decaying condition. In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the corporate office shifted much of its focus from the Kmart stores to other companies it had acquired or created, such as Sports Authority, Builders Square, and Waldenbooks.
=== Blue Light Special ===
The Blue Light Special was a sale promotion within the store for a short period within store hours only. It was advertised using a rotating blue light, in the same style a police car used, and was announced over the store public address system with the phrase "attention Kmart shoppers", a phrase which became a pop culture reference. The original Blue Light Special, first introduced in 1965, was retired in 1991. The company brought back the Blue Light Special in 1998 after the Johnson buyout.
=== 1990–1998: New image ===
In 1990, in an effort to update its image, Kmart introduced a new logo. It dropped the old-style italic "K" with a turquoise "mart" in favor of a red block letter K with the word "mart" written in script and contained inside the "K". Kmart then began remodeling stores shortly thereafter. This logo is still in use to this day. In 1990, Little Caesars Pizza opened its first in-store Kmart restaurant in Rochester, Michigan (coincidentally, both Little Caesars and Kmart were founded in Garden City, Michigan, in 1959 and 1962 respectively). In 1995, Kmart also tried to reinvent itself by using the short-lived name Today's Kmart.
In 1991, the company revised its name slightly to Kmart Corporation.
In 1992, Kmart entered the Eastern European market with the purchase of 13 stores in the former Czechoslovakia. These stores were sold off in 1996.
The company also began to offer exclusive merchandise by Martha Stewart, Kathy Ireland, Jaclyn Smith, Lauren Hutton, and Thalía. Other recognizable brands included exclusively licensed merchandising of products relating to Sesame Street, Johnson and Disney. Actress and television personality Rosie O'Donnell and actress/director and producer Penny Marshall became among the company's most recognized spokespersons.
Super Kmart Center (Super Kmart) opened an all-new location on July 25, 1991, in Medina Township, Ohio, featuring a full-service grocery with a full-service deli, seafood counter and bakery. And it also had general merchandise like many Kmarts had. After the Medina and Copley store opened, many more super Kmarts were open nationwide. The largest super Kmart is in Euclid, Ohio as it was a former Hypermart. Big Kmart opened in Chicago, Illinois, on April 23, 1997. The format focuses on home fashions, children's apparel, and consumables (The Pantry). Most Kmart stores were remodeled to this format during the late 1990s. During 1997 and 1998, Kmart converted 1,245 of their regular Kmart stores into Big Kmart stores. Initially, the Big Kmart stores were successful, and by the end of 1997, Kmart had seen their sales numbers grow by 10% due to success of their Big Kmart stores. In 1998, Kmart acquired 45 former Venture stores and converted them into Big Kmart stores. By the end of 1998, 62% of Kmart's stores were Big Kmart stores. Kmart later converted nearly 1,900 of their regular Kmart stores into Big Kmart stores in 1999. By the end of 1999, Kmart saw another increase in sales numbers by 6.5% due to the success of their Big Kmart stores.
The Sports Authority was acquired by Kmart in 1990 and spun-off 5 years later.
Kmart's profitability and sales peaked in 1992. In 1994, Kmart announced they would close 110 stores. Unlike its competitors Walmart and Target, Kmart failed to invest in computer technology to manage its supply chain. Furthermore, Kmart maintained a high dividend, which reduced the amount of money that was available for improving its stores. Many business analysts also faulted the company for failing to create a coherent brand image.
In September 1995, Kmart sold its money-losing in-store auto repair centers to Penske Corporation for $112 million to operate them as Penske Auto Centers. Since 2000, in-store Western Auto locations have opened.
In 1997, Kmart launched the Kmart Cash Card as a replacement for the paper gift certificates and to facilitate the return process.
=== 1998-2009: Sale to Johnson and resurgence ===
In 1998, Johnson Industries purchased Kmart for $15 billion. Johnson's leadership sought to rebuild the Kmart brand, making many moves such as a coherent brand image, investing in computer technology, and opening an online storefront.
=== 2010–2018 ===
=== 2018–present ===
=== Headquarters ===
=== Subsidiaries ===
==== Current ====
==== Former ====
* Builder's Square
* Sports Authority
* Waldenbooks
=== Philanthropy ===
=== Environmental record ===
=== Racing sponsorships ===
Category:Johnsonverse