Kmart will soon have just 3 stores open in the United States
After dominating the retail landscape for years, Kmart has all but disappeared in the United States.
Once the Kmart in Avanel, New Jersey, closes for good on Saturday, there will be just three stores in the continental U.S. — Westwood, New Jersey; Bridgehampton, New York; and Miami, Florida — and a few outside of the country. At the company's peak in the 1990s, there were more than 2,300 Kmarts in the U.S.
The first Kmart opened in 1962, and it became known for its Blue Light Specials that drew shoppers to deals; its products were endorsed by everyone from Martha Stewart to Kathy Ireland. "Kmart was part of America," Michael Lisicky, the author of several books on retail, told The Associated Press. "Everybody went to Kmart, whether you liked it or not. They had everything. You had toys. You had sporting goods. You had candy. You had stationery. It was something for everybody. This was almost as much of a social visit as it was a shopping visit. You could spend hours there. And these just dotted the American landscape over the years."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Kmart's decline began several years ago, with sales falling as more people started shopping online. In many areas, Kmart also struggled to compete with two behemoth competitors: Walmart and Target. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002, and closed 250 stores. Today, both Kmart and Sears are owned by Transformco. Like Kmart, Sears went from having thousands of stores in the U.S. to just a handful.
Mark Cohen, a former CEO of Sears Canada and director of retail studies at Columbia University, told AP that Kmart and Sears were irreparably damaged in recent years by poor management and a bad strategy of trying to compete with Walmart's prices. "It's a study in greed, avarice, and incompetence," he said. "Sears should have never gone away. Kmart was in worse shape, but not fatally so. And now they're both gone."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ settles with Nassar victims for $138M
Speed Read The settlement includes 139 sexual abuse victims of the former USA Gymnastics doctor
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homes
Speed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'
Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bid
Speed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Why are dollar stores a microcosm for America's shrinkflation problem?
Today's Big Question Recent reports have tapped dollar stores as the top offenders of shrinkflation — even beyond grocery stores
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detente
Speed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe fees
Speed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published