The rise of digital retailers like Amazon has led to the death of hundreds of retailers around the country, from mom-and-pop shops to big box retail giants. Of the latter, few brands have had a steeper fall than Kmart. Founded in 1899 by S. S. Kresge, the store revolutionized the way customers shopped, and became one of the most ubiquitous companied in the United States all the way up through the 1990s. Yesterday, though, a New Jersey location announced its closure — a move that will leave only three stores left. And people who grew up at a time when Kmarts were everywhere…well, they’re not OK.
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The decline started in the 1990s, as Walmart started to rise in popularity and Kmart started to develop a reputation for stores that were dingy and products that were lower-quality. They tried to rebrand and diversify, but ultimately never got fully back on their feet, with most locations shutting down by 2018.
You can see a pretty good breakdown of Kmart’s decline below via Bright Sun Films.
Among the moves that broke Kmart was a merger with Sears in 2004. Once the largest (Sears) and second-largest (Kmart) retailers in the U.S., the pair would now drag one another down. By the late 2010s, there weren’t many Sears stores left, either, and these days, both are owned by a holding company, having changed hands a few times since 2018.
The trajectory feels familiar to people of a certain age. Iconic retailers like Radio Shack, Circuit City, Office Max (formerly a Kmart property), and Blockbuster Video have had the same thing happen in recent years. Even Family Video, which outlived Blockbuster by years through a savvy business model that minimized store costs, not only closed their stores, but killed off their website recently too. At least there’s one Blockbuster left!
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