Kmart’s “Blue Light Special” – I remember those days
Kmart was born in 1899 as the S.S. Kresge Company. The company was founded by Sebastian Spurling Kresge.
He began his career in Memphis, Tennessee, working for another well-known businessman named John McCrory.
However, after the partners parted ways, Kresge became the sole owner of the store. He soon opened dozens of stores in eight cities between Chicago and Pittsburgh.
Kresge’s stores expanded gradually from the 1920s to the 1960s. In 1962, retail pioneer Harry Cunningham led the retailer to a major discount market where Michigan’s first large-scale Kmart was built.
Two Kmart stores opened when the first Walmart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas. Walmart founders Harry Cunningham and Sam Walton sponsored the Rhode-based Anne and Hope stores.
In 1965, a Kmart advertisement featured “Blue Light Blue”.
“Attention Kmart Shoppers” became a loudspeaker announcement to alert shoppers.
S.S. until 1976 Kresge broke a record by opening 271 stores in one year. It also became the first retailer to reach sales of 17 million square meters in one year. In its heyday, Kmart sold products endorsed by celebrities like Jaclyn Smith and Martha Stewart. By 1977, approximately 95 percent of SS Kresge’s sales were made by Kmart stores, and it soon changed its name to Kmart Corporation to reflect this.
