Kmart Closing Last Full-Size Store In America
Despite once being considered one of the largest discount retail stores in the United States, Kmart is finally closing the doors to its last full-size store of its kind in the country.
According to two employees at the New York-based retail store, shoppers won’t have long to continue to browse through the store before it shuts down permanently.
On October 20, the store, which is located in Bridgehampton, New York, on Long Island, will turn off the warming glow of its giant storefront K for the final time, closing out another chapter in the decaying world of big box retail stores in America.
Only Kmart Left
As the only remaining big box Kmart left in America, the store in Bridgehampton found an odd home in what is considered as one of the wealthiest towns in the country.
Located in the heart of the Hamptons, a popular destination for luxurious lifestyles and first-class restaurants and shops, the town of Bridgehampton somehow managed to hold onto one of the most iconic discount retail stores that America has ever seen.
In late 2023, the Kmart in Bridgehampton was given the honor of becoming the final full-size store in the country when a Westwood, New Jersey Kmart closed up shop for good.
Real Estate Company Confirming
As of September 25, Transformco, the company that currently owns Kmart, has yet to confirm or deny news of the store’s closure.
However, Kimco Realty, the real estate investment trust that owns Bridgehampton Commons, where the Kmart is located, confirmed that the retail store is in fact leaving the shopping center in late October.
Currently, Kmart occupies the largest property in the Bridgehampton Commons, coming in at about 90,000 square feet, nearly 30,000 square feet larger than the shopping center’s second largest tenant, King Kullen.
Still Have Smaller Stores
Despite the impending closure of its final full-size store in the U.S. mainland, Kmart is still hanging onto faint signs of life, with a small Kmart store still operating in Kendall, Florida, just outside of Miami.
While the reduced-sized store bears the name of the former retail giant, it doesn’t carry the full line of offerings of a full-size store, instead operating with a limited inventory of merchandise.
After struggling to hit financial goals, the Florida-based Kmart downsized in March 2023, revealing a smaller store in the garden area that was located next to the previous retail space.
Since 1962
In 1962, the S.S. Kresge Company opened its first Kmart store in Garden City, Michigan, striking a gold mine by creating a retail store in a time when Americans were eager to save a buck or two and skip the occasional costliness of mom and pop shops.
Just 20 years later, the S.S. Kresge Company, now known as the Kmart Corporation, saw the opening of its 2,000th store across the United States and Canada. By 1994, the Kmart Corporation reached the peak of its retail greatness, with nearly 2,500 stores spread out across the globe.
Sears Merger Didn’t Work
But as the retail store giant entered the new millennium, its ship began to take on water very quickly.
Despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002, the store continued to flounder when it announced a merger with Sears in a desperate bid to keep both stores afloat.
However, by 2019, Sears had completely gone under and Kmart was forced to declare bankruptcy for a second time, ultimately leading to its own sinking.
Source: CNN
