Business
In its heyday, there were more than 2,000 Kmarts in the United States
NEW YORK (AP) — Attention, Kmart shoppers, the end is near!
The then-retail giant known for its Blue Light Specials — featuring a flashing blue orb attached to a pole that lures shoppers into a flash sale — is closing its last full-scale store in the mainland United States.
The store, located in swank Bridgehampton, New York, on Long Island, is scheduled to close on Oct. 20, according to Denise Rivera, an employee who answered the phone at the store late Monday. The manager was not available, she said.
That will leave just one small Kmart store in Miami. It has a handful of stores in Guam and the US Virgin Islands.
Transformco, the company that bought Sears and Kmart’s assets out of Sears Holdings’ bankruptcy in 2019, did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
In its heyday, there were more than 2,000 Kmarts in the United States
Struggling to compete with Walmart’s low prices and Target’s trendier offerings, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early 2002—becoming the largest U.S. retailer to take that step—and announced it would close more than 250 stores.
A few years later, hedge fund manager Edward Lampert combined Sears and Kmart, promising to return them to their former greatness. But the 2008 recession and Amazon’s increasing dominance helped derail that mission. Sears filed for Chapter 11 in 2018 and now has only a handful of stores left in the U.S., where it once had thousands.
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