Kmart was born as the S.S Kresge Company in 1899. The company was founded by Sebastian Spurling Kresge.

He started his career working with another giant retailer named John McCrory in Memphis, Tennessee.

However, after the partners went separate ways, Kresge became the store’s sole owner. Soon, he built several stores in eight cities between Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Kresge’s stores expanded steadily from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Then, in 1962, retail pioneer Harry Cunningham drove the retailer into the large-scale discount market with the construction of the first full-sized Kmart in Michigan.