Attention Kmart shoppers, the end is near!
The retail giant formerly known for its Blue Light Specials — flashing blue balls mounted on poles to lure shoppers to flash sales — is closing its last large-format store in the United States.
The store, located in upscale Bridgehampton, New York, on Long Island, is scheduled to close on October 20, according to Denise Rivera, an employee who answered the phone at the store late Monday. She said the manager was not present.
That would leave just one small Kmart store in Miami. It has a handful of stores in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Convert, The company, which acquired the assets of Sears and Kmart after Sears Holdings went bankrupt in 2019, did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
At its peak, there were more than 2,000 Kmart stores in the United States.
To compete with Walmart’s low prices and Target’s more trendy products, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early 2002—becoming the largest retailer in the United States to take this step—and announced it would close more than 250 stores.
A few years later, hedge fund executive Edward Lampert merged Sears and Kmart and pledged to return them to their former greatness. But the 2008 recession and the growing dominance of Amazon contributed to the diversion of that mission. Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018. and now has only a handful of stores remaining in the United States, where the company once had thousands.
