Quick Hit: 

Kmart, once a retail giant with over 2,300 stores, is set to close its last full-size store in Bridgehampton, New York, on October 20. After the closure, only a smaller location in Miami, Florida, will remain operational in the U.S., along with stores in U.S. territories.

Key Details:

• The Bridgehampton, NY, store is scheduled to close on October 20, 2024.
• Kimco Realty Corp., which owns the shopping center, confirmed the closure.
• Kmart will continue to operate stores in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

Diving Deeper:

Kmart, once a household name in American retail, will close its last full-size store in Bridgehampton, New York, on October 20, 2024. This marks the end of an era for the once-dominant department store chain, which boasted over 2,300 locations at its peak in the 1990s. Kimco Realty Corp., the owner of the shopping center housing the store, confirmed the closure, although no specific reasons were provided.

Kmart's remaining footprint in the U.S. will be reduced to a smaller store in Miami, Florida. According to an August report from the *Miami Herald*, this location is much smaller than the traditional Kmart stores, resembling the size of a convenience store.

Outside the mainland U.S., Kmart will continue to operate a handful of stores in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. These locations, however, are a far cry from the company's former vast network.

Kmart was founded in 1899 by Sebastian Spering Kresge as a five-and-dime store in Detroit, Michigan. The first official Kmart opened in 1962 in Garden City, Michigan, and rapidly expanded, with 162 stores by 1966. By the 1990s, the retailer employed 350,000 workers and was one of the largest discount retailers in the country.