Kmart is closing its' last full-size store, located in Bridgehampton, New York,

Kmart shoppers bid a wistful farewell to the last outpost of a once-beloved 'mainstay'

'With the store closing Sunday, Kmart joins the list of once iconic retailers, such as Toys "R" Us, RadioShack, Pier 1, Bed Bath & Beyond and most of what's left of Kmart's corporate sibling Sears, once-successful chains that used to populate America's malls and shopping centers but have ended up in retailing's graveyard in recent years.' [CNN]

And, who could forget these gem commercials [filed under: 'what were they thinking?' Yet, hilarious!]:

The first K-Mart on opening day in Garden City. (1962). This store, at 27,000 square feet (2,500 square meters), which was referred to by Kresge as a "bantam" Kmart and was in fact originally intended to be a Kresge store until late in the planning process, on January 25, 1962, in San Fernando, California, just six months before the first Walmart opened, while the first ground-up full-size Kmart with 80,000 square feet (7,400 square meters), opened on March 1, 1962, in Garden City, Michigan. Cunningham and Sam Walton were both inspired by Ann & Hope, which they each visited in 1961. Sixteen more Kmart stores opened in 1962. Kmart Foods, a now-defunct chain of Kmart supermarkets, opened in that decade. Though the store chain continued to open Kmart branded stores, the store chain was still officially called S.S. Kresge Company.

Around the time of the opening of the first Kmart, some poorly performing S.S. Kresge stores were converted to a new "Jupiter Discount Stores" brand, which was conceived as a bare-bones, deep discount outfit. During the 1970s, Kmart put a number of competing retailers out of business. Kresge, Jupiter and Kmart stores mainly competed with other store chains like Zayre, Ames, Bradlees, Caldor, Hills, and those that were operated by MMG-McCrory Stores (McCrory, McLellan, H.L. Green, J.J. Newberry, S.H. Kress, TG&Y, Silver's and eventually G.C. Murphy Co.). In 1977, S.S. Kresge Company changed its name to K Mart Corporation.

What made Kmart so memorable for me (and many others) was its distinctive intercom Muzak!

I say, 'Let's blast some Kmart MUZAK,' and reminisce about our old friend, Kmart .

[*Please note: The Kmart library archive on Archive.org is currently unavailable (TBA). I will update this post when it's back online. 'The Kmart archive is so offline, it needs a layaway plan to get back online.' ]

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Goodbye, Kmart. We'll never forget you. Never, never, never.