Bridgehampton’s Kmart, the chain’s last big U.S. store, closing in October

It was the last of its kind.

The Kmart in Bridgehampton — the only full-size Kmart store left in America — is shutting down. A store employee reached by phone confirmed that the closure was announced internally over the weekend.

The store will close on Oct. 20, the employee confirmed. Closing sales featuring deep discounts have already kicked off. They include 40 percent off on all clothing and shoes, 20 percent off on pantry items, and up to 20 percent off on cosmetics.

The once-dominant, big-box department store brand has only one other store operating in the 50 states, a smaller scaled store in Miami. The brand also has four stores in U.S. territories — three in the U.S. Virgin Islands and one in Guam.

Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002, then merged with Sears in 2005. Sears filed filed for bankruptcy in 2018, and was acquired by Kmart’s current parent company, Transform. The deal led to closure of scores of Kmarts, including longstanding ones in Farmingville in 2019 and Bohemia in 2020.

Kmart was founded 125 years ago as Kresge’s. The first Kmart store opened in 1962. In its heyday during 1980′ and 1990’s, the iconic brand had more than 2,000 stores.

_{Top photo: Kmart in Bridgehampton (Google Photos, 2024).}