Attention Kmart Shoppers, Only 3 Stores Remain Open in the United States!

By Kaitlyn | Staff Writer

Apr 12, 2022 @ 9:00 AM MDT

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Kmart Storefront

The latest Kmart news is heartbreaking especially if you grew up in the 90’s! 💔

Back in the 1990’s, Kmart was booming with over 2,000 stores nationwide. From kitchen appliances to baby items to Martha Stewart-branded furniture, towels and other home decor, it seemed to be dominating the shopping industry with affordable pricing and quality items.

But that reality is long gone as another New Jersey Kmart location is set to close and once it does, there will only be three (3) Kmart locations left in the entire United States.

The latest closure of the Avenel, New Jersey location is set to close its doors on April 16th. It’s filled with “store closing” and “everything must go” signs. Due to the incredible popularity of Target, Walmart, and Amazon, Kmart has had a hard time keeping up.

sears

Although Kmart was launched before Walmart, it first experienced onlinepetitor-related struggles in 2002. According to NPR, Kmart had a difficult time keeping up with Walmart’s super low prices and Target’s trendy offerings and this led to Kmart filing for Bankruptcy and closure of 250 stores.

Martha Stewart even considering buying Kmart decades ago and in 2015, she admitted to having regrets about not doing so. “We thought about buying it, but we didn’t do it, and we should have,” Stewart said in an interview with The Associated Press. “That could have been our store – KMartha!” Can you imagine how different the story would be if Martha had bought Kmart?!

Sears, which was experiencing similar struggles, merged with Kmart in hopes to make a onlineeback but Sears filed for Bankruptcy as well years later and now only has a handful of stores as well.

The last three Kmarts standing are located in Westwood, New Jersey, Bridgehampton, New York, and Miami, Florida.

What are your thoughts regarding this news? Do you have memories of shopping at Kmart and/or snagging any Blue Light Specials?

About the writer:

Kaitlyn has a Bachelor's Degree from St. John's University with 2 years of writing experience for LinkedIn, Celeb Magazine, and other various publications.

Join The Discussion

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Natural _Niky April 12, 2022 at 9:06 am MST

Definitely remember my mom having purchased a lot of things from Kmart! My clothes, and I remember standing in the layaway line for long periods of time with my sister and or my mom.

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Lolie April 12, 2022 at 9:12 am MST

So sad! It was a great store and had layaway I used to use.

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lauramolina April 12, 2022 at 9:28 am MST

So sad! I miss Kmart and Sears!

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Anne April 12, 2022 at 9:29 am MST

Gosh. I remember onlineing here to find the posts to play SYWR games and earn points. I would get so many offers I could go to Kmart and Sears and get cart loads of items. I still have my $3 clearance coat that I always get onlinepliments on. Even before the SyWR program I remember how reliable Kmart and Sears were. Kmart was once the nations largest employer. So unbelievable it is down to 3 stores.

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Bloss April 12, 2022 at 9:32 am MST

I miss SYWR! We got tons of freebies from that program, it was the good old days.

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Momof3superkids April 12, 2022 at 10:30 am MST

I remember getting all my kids socks, mittens etc from Kmart for almost free using reward points. It was fun!

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Me April 12, 2022 at 9:59 am MST

Yes, very sad. I also loved those SYW games and points. One Christmas I woke up to winning one of the $135 sweepstakes prizes. That was probably the ONLY time I have won anything that big. I was able to get myself a bike with that reward! Awesome.

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Kimberann1 April 12, 2022 at 9:39 am MST

I remember going with my mom and Babci on Sunday afternoons and waiting for blue light specials. Great memories!

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Jo Ann April 12, 2022 at 9:45 am MST

And Kohls will be next. Both onlinepanies have mismanaged themselves into extinction.

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Emily April 12, 2022 at 11:44 am MST

Yikes I hope not! But I do shop there much less than I used to. The coupon limits and eliminating free shipping with the 30% off for most and not letting everyone us the 30% has slowed me way down on ordering. Their in store clearance is nowhere as good as it used to be. I still love it though.

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animity April 12, 2022 at 12:03 pm MST

This is so true. I rarely shop at Kohls now because it felt like you had to buy a “membership” (their credit card) to get any of the good deals. The games you have to play to get free shipping is also ridiculous. I would tack on JCP to that list. The JCP next to us is just weird and carries really ugly clothes. Sad to see these onlinepanies struggle so much.

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Lana April 12, 2022 at 2:10 pm MST

I’d love to know who at Kohls thinks their pricing games are a good idea and why everyone else who works there is afraid to tell them it’s stupid. I don’t go to Kohls anymore because of their stupid price games. Last few times I was there for an Amazon return and walked around trying to use my coupon everything I would buy was “Buy 1 get 1 50% off”. That’s not a sale at all since Kohls prices are totally jacked up. I’m done with Kohls. Would not miss them if they closed.

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marsnolazco April 12, 2022 at 9:55 am MST

And here I thought they were all gone! I miss Them both

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dylanfan April 12, 2022 at 9:57 am MST

Sears ruined it by buying them. I don’t support Walmart so there’s only target left for me to go to.

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youdoyou April 12, 2022 at 12:04 pm MST

Target isn’t much better…I was just thinking about this the other day. They are all horrible…:(.

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bradjim April 12, 2022 at 1:13 pm MST

Kmart bought Sears.

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paul April 12, 2022 at 10:03 am MST

Well… if you find your loss too much and have a bunch of airline miles about to expire, you can, always fly out to Australia or New Zealand. Apparently, they’re the Holy Roman Empire of Kmart. Kmart is still a living and breathing brand, in the lands down under. Anyway, no matter what, we can be sure that Velda Plendor will be there, to make the last announcements, when the lights go out, at the last North American Kmart. She has been blackballed, by the Wilderness Girls organization, and no one else will hire her.

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kadysiga April 12, 2022 at 11:07 am MST

🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Emily April 12, 2022 at 11:45 am MST

Ok that was hilarious

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Suzmorea April 12, 2022 at 11:58 am MST

This was awesome to read 😆

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Materof6 April 12, 2022 at 6:35 pm MST

I LOVED (and still do!) Troop Beverly Hills! Awesome post, Paul. Lol! I bought a lot of my older children’s clothes (2006-2009ish) at K-Mart before they went belly-up. I thought they were every bit as cute and good quality as Gymboree, but a fraction of the cost. I miss those! Thanks Hip2Save.

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MamaBella April 12, 2022 at 10:04 am MST

I feel fortunate that I live within driving distance to one of the KMarts that are still open- definitely going to visit soon just to give them business! Hey, maybe I’m onto something here- we all start a movement to support the remaining locations?

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bigmamajo April 12, 2022 at 10:04 am MST

I remember as a child going to Kmart and getting the premade Kmart subs, that was always a treat!

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Memories April 12, 2022 at 11:37 am MST

Oh my gosh, yes! I remember those! Not all stores sold them around here, only one that I recall, but we’d go there once in a while and get them for lunch when we were done shopping.

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SJ April 12, 2022 at 8:33 pm MST

We used to get the Torpedo subs (they also had small ham sandwiches), but I miss the ice cream sandwiches that had flat cones for the cookies. It was also where I acquired the beginning of my collection of 45’s. They were under a dollar in the 1960’s.

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tt April 12, 2022 at 10:44 am MST

I def remember the layaways! That’s the only way my parents could afford to get us our school clothing and christmas gifts.

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tt April 12, 2022 at 10:46 am MST

Oh and the one I had growing up had a little cesars and an ICEE machine…it was always a treat to get that too

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Princess'Mom April 12, 2022 at 11:38 am MST

Now I can’t wait to go to Miami again, will definitely go shop at KMart while we’re there! Nostalgia! lol

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JenB April 12, 2022 at 11:38 am MST

Several years ago I did SYWR and played the games all the time. I won a Playstation 4! I had a hard time finding things to spend my points on in store. The furniture at Kmart looked cheap, the dish towels felt horrible. The cosmetics aisle had a lot of cheap items that looked like they would break. Walmart has low prices but their items are still good quality.

Kmart and Sears suffered because of mismanagement from the hedge fund owner who bought them.

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Emily April 12, 2022 at 11:42 am MST

We used to drive 45 minutes to shop at Kmart 😂. The town next to us got a Walmart when I was in elementary school but we would still drive sometimes to go to Kmart. Before that, the town next to us only had a sky city (my favorite) and about 30-50 minutes away was a roses which is still open somehow. Anyone remember sky city or roses?

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Darla April 12, 2022 at 12:26 pm MST

Rose’s , yes. And TG & Y

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kspwife859 April 12, 2022 at 1:40 pm MST

Oh my yes! Roses and TG&Y were amazing!! Childhood gold right there! Our Rose’s had an ice cream shop in it. That’s where I fell in love with Superman ice cream. Anyone remember?

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paul April 12, 2022 at 4:24 pm MST

There’s a Roses Express, here. It opened in the old Big Lots space. I used to love TG&Y. I, specifically, remember my nearest location was open, into the 90’s, because I used to buy Star Trek collector cards there, when I was in college.

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Suzmorea April 12, 2022 at 12:00 pm MST

Oh my gosh that’s how I did lay-a-way for Christmas for my 24 yr old when she was tiny. Wow!! I feel old right now 😳

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Brandi April 12, 2022 at 12:30 pm MST

I remember the smell of popcorn walking in and getting excited about my mom picking up our layaway. We couldn’t afford name brands so Kmart was our store for back to school shopping. Finished up with a ride on the electric horse carousel out front. 🥰 Online shopping is killing retail stores. 💔

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Sue April 12, 2022 at 12:44 pm MST

I had forgotten about the popcorn & carousel until reading your post. And we did my back to school shopping there as well.

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Brandi April 12, 2022 at 12:58 pm MST

🥰🥰🥰

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Ashley April 12, 2022 at 12:42 pm MST

I worked at Kmart for a few years during part of high school and college. Even then, everyone would ask if the store was closing and that was before they all started shutting down. That particular store did end up closing a number of years ago and the rest in my area weren’t too far behind it. I remember the days of double coupons (BEFORE the coupon limit even!) and eventually SYWR … and after typing that, I just realized that Kmart is where my passion for couponing began! Sad to see that it’s the end of an era.

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Maggie April 12, 2022 at 1:12 pm MST

It’s the only store I still miss

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Lora April 12, 2022 at 2:03 pm MST

I worked at Kmart in high school. I have had customers that made me cry and some that made my day. It has made me appreciate retail workers more. I always try to be nice to them even if they don’t have the best customer service skills.

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Browniesmomma April 12, 2022 at 3:58 pm MST

I remember going in as a child. The popcorn, frozen coke, sub sandwiches, and a cold deli! As I got older I worked at mine for a while. After that I was getting good deals on stuff for granddaughter. Then it all stopped and closed down ☹️. The rewards were nice, but started to have a catch to them. Still it was sad to see it go.

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5pink1blue April 12, 2022 at 4:00 pm MST

Didn’t shop Kmart too much as a kid but definitely as an adult for all the coupon deals and points. Anyone shop at Hills? That was our back to school go to.

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smoresto April 12, 2022 at 4:46 pm MST

Bring these stores back please. I miss them! Where are the last three located? Maybe I’ll take a road trip lol.

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Sherrys100 April 12, 2022 at 11:02 pm MST

I can remember blue light specials as a kid with my mom. It was my favorite place to get my gold or white gold earrings. They were the cheapest place to get jewelry. I still wear my favorite Kmart earrings every day! I loved the rewards! I got so much stuff with those rewards.

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Susan April 13, 2022 at 1:58 pm MST

This is really bad even though Walmart beat Kmart at the last minute on sales I still enjoyed Kmart as well I grew up with Kmart

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Maxine Corniffe April 13, 2022 at 2:21 pm MST

I love to shop at Kmart store I get everywhere I need and very good qualities.
I missed those nice sheets if good quality, bathroom rugs, curtains, children clothes, slippers buy one get one at half price.
The good quality things that I used to get at Kmart I cannot get them again, it is a shame that so many Kmart stores have to closed.

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