It’s no longer news that the remaining Kmart store in USA will close soon. The last full-size outlet at the Bridgehampton Common Mall in Bridgehampton, New York, is set to close by October. US Kimco Realty manages the Bridgehampton Commons and other shopping centers that housed Kmart stores.
Two Kmart employees at the Bridgehampton Commons table shared that the outlet will stop accepting shoppers on October 20. US Kimco Realty has also confirmed the closure claim, stating that the discount retailer will soon cease operating at the Bridgehampton shopping center.
A Reddit user claimed in a post that Target wants to nab Kmart’s Bridgehampton location after the discount retailer moves out. The Reddit post included a picture of signs reading “ Store Closing Sale” and “Everything Must Go.” This post inferred that the photo originated from within Kmart’s Bridgehampton outlet. However, a Target spokesperson cleared the air during a recent interview. Target clarified that they would be glad to have the Bridgehampton location. However, no official proceedings have yet been made to indicate that this would happen.
However, Transformco, Kmart’s parent company, has yet to issue an official statement. Despite the closure of Kmart’s last full-size outlet, the discount retailer still has a downsized store operating in Miami, Florida. Counting the Bridgehampton and Miami outlets, Transformco operates six Kmart locations still open in 2024.
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Kmart’s History and Expansion
Kmart, the discount retail chain we know today, is an offshoot of entities that started in the 1890s. Sebastian S. Kresge founded two small chains of department stores, the S.S. Kresge Company and the Kresge-Newark department store. However, the first store with the Kmart name was opened in Garden City, Michigan, four years before Kresge’s 1966 demise.
Kresge was president of one of the first largest chains of department stores in the United States. He manned the helm from the company’s inception until 1925. However, Kresge remained on Kmart’s board until his passing. Kresge also had a significant interest in real estate investments, with his portfolio attaining a valuation of $100 million in 1924.
The 2005 Sears Merger
The burning question today is: “Is Kmart still in business?” A progressive response should give a comprehensive answer. During its glory days, Kmart operated thousands of retail outlets across the United States. However, other investors, like Costco and the Walmart family, soon adopted the retail chain business model and started contesting with Kmart for market share. By 2002, Kmart’s leadership in the retail discount industry became unsustainable. So, Kresge’s brainchild filed for bankruptcy in 2002. So far, multiple efforts have been made to revive Kmart to its previous winning ways, but it was mostly futile.
For example, after completing a $11 billion buyout, Sears finalized a merger with Kmart in 2005, officially transforming the ailing organization into Sears Holding Corporation. However, by 2018, the company filed for another round of bankruptcy as the adopting company, Sears, was struggling for survival at the time.
The Sears bankruptcy saga in 2018 caused the company to cut its losses by selling off hundreds of remaining Kmart stores to Transformco in 2019. Unfortunately, the remaining Kmart stores have been experiencing an existential crisis ever since, with one closure after another.
It is worth noting that there are still scores of Kmart outlets in places like Australia and New Zealand. There’s a back story to the hundreds of remaining Kmart stores in Oceania. While scaling the Kmart brand in the ‘60s, Kresge partnered with an Australian retail firm to start a franchise. However, Kresge sold his stake in the alliance to his Australian partner for reasons best known to him.
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Where Are the 3 remaining Kmart Stores Located?
There are three Kmart outlets in the Caribbean, specifically in the U.S. Virgin Islands (one in St. Croix and two in St. Thomas). However, those three Kmart stores are not the only ones still operating in the United States.
For example, in the contiguous US, only the Miami Kmart outlet will operate after the Bridgehampton location closes on October 20. Also, employees are turning the operational wheels of one remaining Kmart store in Guam’s island territory.
The flame of Kmart’s existence may indeed be slowly dying out. However, people and communities still relish the many memories of the once-biggest retail chain in the United States. Customers who still have nostalgic ties to the chain must travel long distances to visit the remaining Kmart stores. Equally, former staff of the discount retailer recount what working in the stores was like. Kmart gave life to a new facet of American consumerism that folks never knew existed. It was on the back of this revelation that big names in the retail industry, like Walmart, cashed out to become all-time giants.