type subsidiary industry retail founded 1899 ; 117 years ago 1899 as ss kresge corporation 1962 as kmart chain 1977 renamed kmart corporation garden city michigan u.s. founder s. s. kresge headquarters hoffman estates illinois u.s. number of locations 944 fy 2016 1 2 area served united states products clothing shoes linen and bedding jewelry beauty products electronics toys food . revenue us 25.146 billion 2015 shc 1 parent sears holdings website kmart.com kmart sometimes stylized as k mart or kmart is a chain of big box department stores headquartered in hoffman estates illinois united states . the chain purchased sears for 11 billion in 2005 forming a new corporation under the name sears holdings corporation . 3 the company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest big box chain in north america behind walmart and target 4 with stores in the u.s. puerto rico the u.s. virgin islands and guam which houses the world s largest kmart . 5 it also used to operate stores in canada mexico and eastern europe . as of january 30 2016 update the company operated a total of 941 kmart stores 1 6 in 49 states guam puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands including 934 discount stores averaging 95 000 sq ft 8 800 m2 and a super center averaging 170 000 sq ft 16 000 m2 . 1 kmart became known for its blue light specials they occurred at surprise moments when a store worker would light up a mobile police light and offer a discount in a specific department of the store while announcing the discounted special over the store s public address system . at the height of kmart s popularity the phrase attention kmart shoppers entered into the american pop psyche appearing in films and other media such as troop beverly hills six days seven nights rain man beetlejuice madea goes to jail and dawn of the dead . kmart s world headquarters was located in troy michigan in metro detroit but since the purchase of sears it has been relocated to hoffman estates illinois in the chicagoland area . kmart also exists in australia and new zealand see kmart australia although it now has no relation to the american stores except in name after u.s. equity in the australian business was purchased in the late 1970s . contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 1960s 1970s 1.3 1980s 1.4 1990 2002 new image 1.5 2002 09 collapse and merger with sears 1.6 2010 present continued decline 2 corporate affairs 2.1 logos 2.2 mascot 2.3 headquarters 2.4 subsidiaries 2.4.1 current 2.4.2 former 2.5 philanthropy 2.6 environmental record 2.7 animal welfare concerns 2.8 racing sponsorships 3 international 3.1 canada 3.2 australia and new zealand 3.3 europe 3.4 mexico 3.5 caribbean 4 ceos 5 see also 6 references 7 bibliography 8 external links history edit early history edit s. s. kresge the founder of the company that would become kmart met variety store pioneer frank woolworth while working as a traveling salesman and selling to all nineteen of woolworth s stores at the time . 7 in 1897 kresge invested 8 000 equivalent to 228 thousand in 2016 saved from his job in joint ownership with his friend john mccrory of a five and dime store in memphis to which they added another in downtown detroit the following year ; these were the first s.s. kresge stores . 8 9 10 after two years of partnership he paid mccrory 3 000 equivalent to 85.3 thousand in 2016 and gave up his share in the memphis store for full ownership of the detroit store and formed the kresge & wilson company with his brother in law charles j. wilson . 9 10 1940s postcard of kresge store in springfield massachusetts in 1912 kresge incorporated the s.s. kresge corporation with eighty five stores . the company was first listed on the new york stock exchange on may 23 1918 . during world war i kresge experimented with raising the limit on prices in his stores to 1 equivalent to 16.00 in 2016 . by 1924 kresge was worth approximately 375 million equivalent to 5.18 billion in 2016 and owned real estate of the approximate value of 100 million see farid es sultaneh v. commissioner 160 f. 2d 812 2d cir . 1947 . early century growth remained brisk with 257 stores in 1924 growing to 597 stores operating in 1929 . kresge retired as president in 1925 . the great depression reduced profitability and resulted in store closings with the number reduced to 682 in 1940 . after the war shopping patterns changed and many customers moved out of the cities into the suburbs . the kresge company followed them and closed and merged many urban stores so that by 1954 the total number of stores in the us had declined to 616 . citation needed 1960s 1970s edit garden city kmart under the leadership of executive harry cunningham s.s. kresge corp. opened the first kmart store on march 1 1962 in garden city michigan 11 just four months before the first walmart opened . this store is still in operation . eighteen kmart stores opened that year . kmart foods a now defunct chain of kmart supermarkets opened in that decade . company founder kresge died on october 18 1966 . 12 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 had their main competition from other variety chains such as zayre ames hill s and those 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 corporation changed its name to kmart corporation . 1980s edit in 1987 the kmart corporation sold its remaining kresge and jupiter stores in the united states to mccrory stores and the brands were almost entirely discontinued although canadian kresge and jupiter stores continued to operate until 1994 . kmart experimented with co branding in 1985 when the in store cafeteria at the store in canton michigan was converted to a wendy s. 13 14 until november 1990 when it was passed by walmart kmart was the second largest retailer in the us after sears . 15 during the 1980s the company s fortunes began to change ; many of kmart s stores were considered to be outdated and in decaying condition . in the late 1980s and into the 1990s the corporate office shifted much of its focus from the kmart stores to other companies it had acquired or created such as sports authority builders square and waldenbooks . the original blue light special first introduced in 1965 16 was retired in 1991 . 17 the company brought back the blue light special in 2001 but again discontinued it in 2002 . the concept was briefly revived in 2005 though kmart at that time had no plans to use the concept long term . 18 blue light specials were revived again in 2009 on saturdays offering surprise hour long sales on selected merchandise but was discontinued again . blue light specials were revived once again in november 2015 . 16 1990 2002 new image edit in 1990 in an effort to update its image kmart introduced a new logo . it dropped the old style italic k with a turquoise mart in favor of a red block letter k with the word mart written in script and contained inside the k. kmart then began remodeling stores shortly thereafter but most were not remodeled until the mid 1990s and some have not been completely renovated yet . this logo was replaced in 2004 with the current logo . in the very early 1990s little caesars pizza opened its first in store kmart restaurants . coincidentally both little caesars and kmart were founded in garden city michigan in 1959 and 1962 respectively . in the early 1990s kmart also tried to reinvent itself by using the short lived name today s kmart . the company also began to offer exclusive merchandise by martha stewart kathy ireland jaclyn smith lauren hutton and thal a. other recognizable brands included exclusively licensed merchandising of products relating to sesame street and disney . actress and television personality rosie o donnell and actor director and producer penny marshall became among the company s most recognized spokespersons . the exterior of the first super kmart center store in medina ohio as it appears after its closure . kmart super center super kmart opened a 147 000 sq ft 13 700 m2 location in 1991 in medina ohio featuring a full service grocery store and general merchandise . 19 however this location was downsized in 2011 and was one of a number of kmarts closed in early 2012 due to dismal christmas 2011 sales . 20 the second ground up kmart super center opened in montrose ohio featuring the chain s first full scale video rental center and a carryout chinese menu . 21 this location has also closed . most kmart super centers range in size from 140 000 sq ft 13 000 m2 to 190 000 sq ft 18 000 m2 . current locations feature in house bakeries fresh meats and seafood and a full delicatessen . 22 big kmart opened in chicago illinois on april 23 1997 . the format focuses on home fashions children s apparel and consumables pantry . 22 most kmart stores were remodeled to this format during the 1990s and most of them have been converted back to regular kmart stores with the new logo introduction . the sports authority was acquired by kmart in 1990 and spun off 5 years later . kmart s profitability and sales peaked in 1992 and have since declined due to competition with walmart target and internet shopping . 23 in 1994 kmart closed 110 stores . citation needed unlike its competitors walmart and target it had failed to invest in computer technology to manage its supply chain . citation needed furthermore kmart maintained a high dividend which reduced the amount of money available for improving its stores . citation needed many business analysts also faulted the corporation for failing to create a coherent brand image . citation needed 2002 09 collapse and merger with sears edit on january 22 2002 kmart filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the leadership of its then chairman chuck conaway and president mark schwartz . 24 25 conaway who had had success building up the cvs corporation had accepted an offer to take the helm at kmart along with a loan of 5 million equivalent to 6.58 million in 2016 . in a scandal similar to that involving enron conaway and schwartz were accused of misleading shareholders and other company officials about the company s financial crisis while making millions and allegedly spending the company s money on airplanes houses boats and other luxuries . at a conference for kmart employees january 22 conaway accepted full blame for the financial disaster . as kmart emerged from bankruptcy conaway was forced to step down and was asked to pay back all the loans he had taken . after dismissing conaway and schwartz kmart closed more than 300 stores in the u.s. including all the kmart stores in alaska and laid off around 34 000 workers as part of the restructuring process . 26 kmart introduced five prototype stores with a new logo layout and lime green and gray color scheme one in white lake township michigan a quasi rural community near detroit michigan and four in central illinois peoria pekin morton and washington . the new layout was touted as having wider aisles and improved selection and lighting