Kmart: Fall of a Retailing Giant

In 1918, Kresge was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. During the First World War and the Great Economic Depression, the company's low prices model kept it running. By the mid-1920s, Sebastian opened the forerunner of today's discount stores in the form of stores that sold items for $ 1 or less. In 1929, the company's Canadian subsidiary, S.S. Kresge Company, Ltd. was founded. By the end of the year, it ran 19 stores in Canada. In 1937, Kresge opened a store in the first suburban shopping center in the US, the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. As more companies entered the retailing arena and competition intensified, Kresge launched a newspaper advertising program that became highly popular and successful.

In 1959, Harry B. Cunningham (Cunningham), a seasoned retailing expert, became the President of Kresge. Cunningham decided to launch a discount department store to help the company's stores stand apart from the rest of the players. Thus, the first Kmart store was opened in Garden City, Michigan, in 1962. In that same year, 17 more Kmart stores were opened. These stores contributed a major chunk of the company's sales of $ 483 million for that year. In 1966, Kmart recorded $ 1 billion in revenues for the first time through its 915 stores, of which 162 were Kmart stores. In 1968, Kmart (Australia) Ltd. was set up in association with G. J. Coles & Coy Ltd. of Australia, with Kresge holding 51% of the venture's equity...