AARP Eye Center
Kmart is closing its' last full-size store, located in Bridgehampton, New York,
on October 20, 2024 [CNN]
Erhm, today. โน๏ธ
Kmart shoppers bid a wistful farewell to the last outpost of a once-beloved โmainstayโ
'With the store closing Sunday, Kmart joins the list of once iconic retailers, such as Toys โRโ Us, RadioShack, Pier 1, Bed Bath & Beyond and most of whatโs left of Kmartโs corporate sibling Sears, once-successful chains that used to populate Americaโs malls and shopping centers but have ended up in retailingโs graveyard in recent years.' [CNN]
๐Kmart in the 70s & 80s - Why We LOVED IT [YouTube]
๐Why Kmart Was So Special [YouTube]
๐People shopping at a Kmart store in 1992 [YouTube]
๐Shopping at a Kmart store in 1999 [YouTube]
And, who could forget these gem commercials [filed under: 'what were they thinking?' Yet, hilarious!]:
๐Kmart - Shipped My Pants (Trousers) Commercial [YouTube]
๐Ship My Pants Kmart Commercial [YouTube]
________________________________________________
About Kmart [WIKI]:
The first K-Mart on opening day in Garden City. (1962). This 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.
_____________________________________________________________
What made Kmart so memorable for me (and many others) was its distinctive intercom Muzak!
โจ This guy uploaded a collection of 1989 โ 1993 Kmart background music [boingboing.com] *
โจ Attention Kmart Shoppers [YouTube Channel] *
I say, 'Let's blast some Kmart MUZAK,' and reminisce about our old friend, โก๏ธ โจ Kmart โจ.
๐Kmart (S.S. Kresge) 08-09-1964, Record no. 123 [YouTube]
๐Kmart (S.S. Kresge) c.1966, Record no. 155 [YouTube]
๐Kmart 1973 Reel to Reel [YouTube]
๐Kmart - In Store Reel to Reel Music/Ads - Week of July 11, 1988 [YouTube]
MUZAK: Fades out.
[*Please note: The Kmart library archive on Archive.org is currently unavailable (TBA). I will update this post when it's back online. 'The Kmart archive is so offline, it needs a layaway plan to get back online.' ๐]
_____________________________________________________________
Goodbye, Kmart. We'll never forget you. Never, never, never. ๐
"I downloaded AARP Perks to assist in staying connected and never missing out on a discount!" -LeeshaD341679
