KMart Martha Stewart Television Commercial from 2004.
Kmart (sometimes stylized as K mart or kmart) is a chain of American discount department stores headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The chain purchased Sears for $11 billion in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation.[3] The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in North America, behind Walmart and Target,[4] with stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam (which houses the world's largest Kmart).[5] It also used to operate stores in Canada, Mexico, and Eastern Europe. As of January 30, 2016, the company operated a total of 941 Kmart stores.[1][6] in 49 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including 934 discount stores, averaging 95,000 sq ft (8,800 m2), and 7 Super Centers, averaging 170,000 sq ft (16,000 m2).[1]
Kmart became known for its "Blue Light Specials": they occurred at surprise moments when a store worker would light up a mobile police light and offer a discount in a specific department of the store, while announcing the discounted special over the store's public address system. At the height of Kmart's popularity, the phrase "Attention Kmart shoppers!" entered into the American pop psyche, appearing in films and other media such as Troop Beverly Hills, Six Days Seven Nights, Rain Man, Beetlejuice, Madea Goes to Jail and Dawn of the Dead.
Kmart's world headquarters was located in Troy, Michigan, in Metro Detroit, but since the purchase of Sears, it has been relocated to Hoffman Estates, Illinois in the Chicagoland area. Kmart also exists in Australia and New Zealand (see Kmart Australia), although it now has no relation to the American stores except in name, after U.S. equity in the Australian business was purchased in the late 1970s.
