From the Trading Post to Amazon · Episode 7 of 12 · 25 min
1962: The Year Kmart, Target and Walmart All Opened
Three discount stores opened in one year, Kmart in March, Target in May, and Walmart in July 1962, and American retail never looked the same. Kmart had scale, suburban sites, and the Blue Light Special; Target sold design at discount prices; Walmart went to small towns and built distribution first. By 1990 the outsider had passed the leader, and by 2024 the last full-size mainland Kmart had closed.
Who's who
- Harry B. CunninghamKresge president who bet the company on the Kmart format
- Sam Walton+2 more episodesFounded Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962
- Douglas DaytonDayton Company executive who launched Target
- John GeisseDayton Company executive who launched Target
- Eugene FerkaufFounder of E.J. Korvette, a postwar discount pioneer
- Edward S. LampertInvestor who took control of Kmart and bought Sears in 2005
- Michael GravesArchitect whose Target housewares line made cheap chic a strategy
Where it happens
- Garden City, MichiganSite of the first Kmart, March 1962
- Roseville, MinnesotaSite of the first Target, May 1962
- Rogers, Arkansas+1 more episodeSite of the first Walmart, July 1962
- Bridgehampton, New YorkSite of the last full-size mainland Kmart, closed 2024
Timeline
- March 1, 1962First Kmart opens
- May 1, 1962First Target opens
- July 2, 1962Wal-Mart Discount City opens
- 1990Walmart passes Kmart in sales
- January 22, 2002Kmart files the largest U.S. retail bankruptcy to that date
- October 20, 2024Last full-size mainland Kmart closes
Still debated
The Blue Light Special's origin rests on company lore, dated 1965 by tradition. Whether Kmart failed through management error or because Walmart's logistics gave it costs Kmart could not copy remains argued, and sources differ slightly on opening dates.