Kmart

Kmart (sometimes stylized as K-Mart) was an American company. Its headquarters were in Illinois. The company purchased Sears in 2005. It formed a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. Today, Transformco operates both Kmart and Sears after Sears Holdings went bankrupt in 2019. 
Kmart is a Discount department store chain founded in Garden City, Michigan in 1962. It was founded by Sebastian S. Kresge as a counterpart to his Kresge dime store chain. While Kresge ceased operations in 1987, Kmart has maintained thousands of stores in the United States. The chain used to operate in Canada, Mexico, and Czechoslovakia (later the Czech and Slovak Republics), but pulled out of those markets in the 1990s. An Australian division, which also included locations in New Zealand; was also spun off in the 1990s and, though still under the Kmart name, is no longer affiliated. Kmart also planned to open stores in The United Kingdom Including Leeds, London, Manchester & Reading, Ireland was also planned to get locations around the same time as well but was halted before the plan went further into development. In 2005, Kmart merged with Sears.
== History ==
Kresge formed the Kresge Five-and-Dime stores in the early 1900s. He had worked at Woolworth's Five-and-Dime. After that, in 1912, he formed the S. S. Kresge Company. In 1962, the first Kmart opened. Kresge died four years later. Kmart became really popular in the 70s. After that, it fell because of competition with Walmart and Target. In 1990, Little Caesars Pizza Station opened its first in-store Kmart restaurant in Rochester, Michigan. So in the 90s, they bought Borders, Payless Drug, OfficeMax and the Sports Authority. This did not prove successful, so everything was spun off. In July 2000, Kmart closed 72 underperforming stores due to poor sales, and the company announced a planned major restructuring, in which Kmart would invest in new customer check-out and new inventory management technology and other related systems as well.
In 2001, Kmart opened several new Super Kmart Center stores as part of Kmart's plan to expand their Super Kmart Center store portfolio, along with Kmart trying to make groceries available at stores as well. However, due to Kmart filing for bankruptcy in January 2002, Kmart was unable to open any more new Super Kmart Center stores, and any of the Super Kmart Center stores that were under construction during Kmart's 2002 bankruptcy were halted, no matter how close the stores were to completion. Sears merged with Kmart in 2005, after Kmart went bankrupt. After the merger, Kmart was part of Sears Holdings Corporation until 2019.
In 2019, Sears Holdings went bankrupt and ended operations. Transformco was incorporated and purchased most Kmart and Sears locations. Transformco continues to run both Kmart and Sears today. 
== Kmart's End ==
After Kmart's' 2002 bankruptcy, Kmart began to close many of their stores. After they went bankrupt again in 2018, they closed the majority of their remaining stores. On October 20th, 2024, the Bridgehampton Kmart closed, which makes the Miami location the last mainland Kmart in the United States. 
Outside of mainland United States, there are 4 Kmart locations in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 
== Store Concepts ==
=== Current ===
*Kmart- discount chain. The first Kmart opened in Garden City, Michigan in 1962, which closed in 2017. Uses an original logo and a newer logo on some stores.
===Former===
*Big Kmart - discount chain that offers more products, such as a small grocery department, home fashions, children's apparel, and consumables. Similar to Target Greatland Concepts. Entrance is similar to regular Kmart stores. The first Big Kmart opened in Chicago, Illinois on April 23, 1997. 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. The last Big Kmart operating, in Marshall, Michigan, closed on November 18, 2021, and was also the last Kmart operating in the state.
*Kmart Supercenter - hypermarket chain with full grocery department, two entrances and a food court. The first Super Kmart opened in Medina, Ohio in 1991, which closed in 2012. The second ground-up Super Kmart Center opened in Montrose, Ohio in 1992, featuring an in-store video rental center, and an in-store carryout Chinese restaurant, but closed in 2009. The Last Super Kmart Center in Warren, Ohio, closed on April 8, 2018.
*KDollar- dollar store
*K-Café - in-store restaurant
*Kwash - attached to store laundromat
*Kmart Express - chain of gas stations/convenience stores. Another concept with the same name was tested in Puerto Rico as a mall pickup location.
*American Fare - hypermarket chain (the name would remain as Kmart's store brand)
*Builders Square - home improvement store
*Borders Books - bookstore chain
*Jupiter Discount - deep discount store
*Kmart Food Stores - supermarket chain
*Kmart Chef- restaurant
*Kresge's Five-and-Dime - variety chain
*Makro - warehouse club chain
*OfficeMax - office supplies store
*Office Square - office supplies store
*PACE Membership Warehouse - warehouse club
*PayLess Drugs - pharmacy
*Sports Authority - sporting goods store
*Variety Outlet - closeout chain
*Waldenbooks - bookstore chain
=== Countries Operated ===
* Australia/New Zealand - Kmart Australia, now a separate company
* Canada - Kmart Canada, acquired by Zellers in 1998
* Czechoslovakia - Entered the market in 1992, left in 1996
* United States - Continues to operate
* Mexico - Entered the market in 1994, left in 1997
* Singapore - Entered the market in 1994, left in 1996
=== Countries Planned ===
* Ireland - Never came to fruition
* United Kingdom - Never came to fruition
* Caribbean - The construction of stores were halted because of the 2002 bankruptcy 
== Locations ==
== See also ==
*Kmart Canada - former Canadian division
*Kmart Supercenter - Hypermarket chain
* Sears - owner
* Walmart - competitor
* Target - competitor
== External links == 
* Official website
* Kmart on the USA Store fanon Wiki
Category:Discount stores
Category:Superstores
Category:Big-Box Stores
Category:Department stores
Category:Retailers
Category:Hypermarkets
Category:Retailers that filed for bankruptcy
Category:Mall Retailers
Category:Baby stores
Category:Kids clothing stores
Category:Kids stores
Category:Toy stores
Category:Electronic Stores
Category:Hardware Stores
Category:Women's clothing stores
Category:Men's clothing stores
Category:Retailers by type
Category:Sears
Category:Soon to be Defunct
Category:North America
Category:Companies
Category:Franchises
Category:Brands
Category:USA
Category:Stores
Category:Companies founded in the United States