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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1929 (As S.S Kresge Canada)[1] 1963 (Kmart) |
| Founder | S. S. Kresge |
| Fate | Sold to Hudson's Bay Company and merged with Zellers |
Number of locations | 112 (1998) [2] |
Areas served | Canada |
| Products | Clothing, shoes, linen and bedding, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, toys, food. |
Number of employees | 12,600 (1998) |
| Parent | Kmart Corporation |
| Website | web |
History edit
The company that would eventually become Kmart, the S.S. Kresge Co., opened its first location in 1929 at 27 King Street West in Kitchener, Ontario[3]. By the end of the year, a total of 19 stores were open by the end of the year.
In 1997, Kmart sold its Canadian subsidiary to an investor group that consisted of York Management Services, Capital D’Amerique CDPQ Inc, and Cherokee Ventures Canada Inc for $185 million, and kept a 12.5% equity interest in Kmart Canada. At the end of the year, Kmart Canada closed 10 stores and fired 756 employees.[4] Soon after, the Hudson's Bay Company purchased the company for $265 million, which made the company the largest owner of discount stores in Canada. Kmart Canada was merged with their then 298-store Zellers chain in order to better compete with Walmart [5].
Legacy edit
As of 2017, Kmart still operates in the United States as a subsidiary of Sears Holdings, despite having prolonged financial problems. Many leases of Zellers stores were bought up by Target in 2011, which effectively ended the chain's national presence. As a result of this, along with the liquidation of Target Canada in 2015, a few former Kmart locations have briefly served as locations of Target and Walmart.
Slogans edit
- Canadas Saving Place 1984
References edit
- ^ "A Look at Kmart's History". Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ^ Bostelaar, Robert. "Canada's Big Box graveyard: Target joins illustrious company". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ^ "Kmart Canada History". Kmart Canada. Kmart Corporation. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ^ "Kmart Canada to Close 10 Stores, Fire 756". The Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- ^ "Kmart In Canada" (PDF).