Kmart Closing Last Full-Size US Store in October

Kmart, once the ruling sovereign of big-box stores, will close its very last full-size location in the United States. On Oct. 20, the Kmart store in Bridgehampton, New York, will close its doors forever.

As of today, there are only two Kmart stores left in the U.S. One other Kmart, a much smaller location, is still open in Miami, Florida. Yet, this store’s format is unlike the big-box style typical of Kmart, as it is more like a convenience store selling basic necessities.

Once the 15th-largest corporation on the planet, the decline of Kmart began in the late 1990s as shopping habits changed. Consumers were being lured away by Walmart’s lower prices and Target’s trendier offerings.

Kmart eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002. In an effort to survive, Kmart merged with another retail giant, Sears, in 2005. While Kmart had been trying to make a comeback since then, seeing a Kmart store in every major town and city is no longer.

Are Sears and Kmart Still Open?

Just over 60 years after Sebastian Spering Kresge founded the original company that would become Kmart, there were 162 stores nationwide in 1966. It soon became one of the largest retailers in the United States. Three decades later, Kmart employed 350,000 people and operated 2,300 stores.

At a time when Walmart was mostly unheard of, Kmart was the place everyone went to shop. From clothes and toys to sporting goods and candy, Kmart had everything. Consumers could spend hours in a single store, eagerly waiting for the next Blue Light Special.

However, the marriage of Sears and Kmart in the early 2000s did not save either of them. After years of trying to remain relevant with shoppers, Sears Holdings filed its own bankruptcy paperwork in 2018. Transformco purchased the assets of Sears Holdings, which included Kmart stores, in 2019.

Kmart does still operate several stores in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. At last count, Sears still has 12 locations in the U.S. and one in Puerto Rico. While the new age of big-box stores is dominated by Walmart and Target, “attention, Kmart shoppers” will now only echo in the memories of consumers who remember shopping at this once-iconic store.