Original Land Survey

Kmart grand opening in Puerto Rico

in 1964 (Forbes, 2020)

Kmart grand opening in South Bend

Michigan in 1964 (South Bend 1962 was the beginning of 4 of the largest retail chains the US has seen. Though they all started the same year they each had very different trajectories. Kmart initially doing better by far, reached 2000 stores in just under 20 years. A decade later it peaked, coincidentally at the same time Amazon emerges as an online bookseller. From there, the next 2 decades would take its toll on the business

As Target, Walmart, and Amazon seamlessly merge to the online platform Kmart seems to flounder, especially in the late 90's and early 2000's. The writing was on the wall as it nosedives for the next decade, pulling out of the Canadian market, going into bankruptcy, and merging with Sears. Until their 2018 bankruptcy (again) there were around 700 Kmarts left. Since then the exact numbers

are shrouded in secrecy now that the remaining Kmarts are owned by Transform Co. The rough estimate of the amount remaining as of 2020 is around 30. Allegedly, the best financially performing Kmart is currently located Guam.