The last Kmart on the U.S. is tucked away at the west end of a bustling suburban shopping center in Miami, standing quiet and mostly overlooked. In this final outpost of the once-iconic company known for its “Blue Light Specials,” only the occasional shopper stops by (often out of curiosity or nostalgia) and leaves with little or even empty handed.
One of the few clients that morning was interviewed while leaving Kmart. Juan de la Madriz, an architect, had initially visited the shopping center to pick up dog kibble from PetSmart. When he noticed the Kmart, he decided to look for a gift for his newborn grandson. Ten minutes later, he left with a plushie dog and a wooden workbench for kids, spending a total of $23.
The last full-size Kmart in the 50 states closed on Sunday in Long Island, New York, leaving the downsized Miami store as the last operating location on the U.S. mainland. At its height 30 years ago, Kmart boasted around 2,500 stores. Today, only four remain –apart from their online platform–.
In another U.S. territory, Guam, a remaining Kmart stands in Tamuning on the western coast. The other three Kmarts are located in the U.S. Virgin Islands: two in St. Thomas (one at Tutu Park Mall and another at Lockhart Gardens), and the final store at the Sunny Isle Shopping Center in St. Croix.
If the Miami Kmart were a new shop, one might think it could eventually succeed with some advertising and a bit of luck. Despite its fame for chaotic aisles and general clutter, this last Kmart is ironically spotless, with all its merchandise neatly stacked and thoughtfully displayed. Nostalgic clients who remember the store’s original mayhem are taken by surprise by this uncharacteristic tidiness.
Now comparable in size to a CVS or Walgreens, this Kmart branch occupies what used to be its garden section back in its big-box days. A few years ago, an At Home department store took over the remainder of the space.
Halloween and Christmas decorations line the entryway beside dozens of unused shopping carts. A robotic voice greets visitors with a “Welcome” echoed cheerfully by one of the three employees spotted at the store. A solitary customer browses the Halloween candy.
It is hard to believe that this retail chain was once upon a time one of the most popular across the USA. Kmart was launched by the S.S. Kresge Co. in Michigan in 1962 and expanded rapidly, hitting 2,000 stores within two decades.
The retailer offered a vast range of products, from clothing and jewelry to TVs, dog food, appliances, toys, and sporting goods. By the mid-1980s, Kmart had become the nation’s second-largest retailer, just behind Sears, with stores not only in the U.S. but also in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Kmart’s decline began in that same decade when management decided to diversify by acquiring Waldenbooks, Borders Books, Builders Square, The Sports Authority, and a stake in OfficeMax. This strategy proved misguided. By the late 1990s, Kmart had sold off these acquisitions but still required $5 billion in refinancing—about $9 billion in today’s dollars.
Kmart declared bankruptcy in 2002, just as Walmart and Target ate away at its market share. Amazon was quick to rise as the e-commerce #1 retailer when Kmart online platform struggled to take off.
On top of that, the discount company faced executive pay scandals, was purchased by a hedge fund manager who stripped it of assets, and endured a disastrous 2005 merger with Sears. Experts on the subject lament that, if it weren’t for the greedy, incompetent managers, Kmart could have been the next Walmart.
In 2019, Transformco acquired Kmart and Sears out of yet another bankruptcy for $5 billion—critics argue primarily for the real estate value of the stores. At that time, 202 Kmart locations remained. Since then, the company has continued closing Kmarts, leaving Miami’s Store #3074 as the last one operating on the U.S. mainland.
If you want to read more chronicles like this, head to AP. While we have covered Kmart’s last shop and other store closures, the Associated Press offers more on all US retailers.