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Try to find a remaining Kmart superstore on the franchise’s store locator page and chances are there are no stores within at least 100 miles.
That is unless you live in one of the wealthiest towns in America. The relic of a bygone era of sprawling mega-marts has closed nearly every remaining location across the world, save three remaining locations in the U.S. that happen to be in some of the wealthiest parts of the country.
The town of Bridgehampton, where the median home price is $3.8 million, according to Zillow, is home to one of the three remaining Kmarts. The Miami location sits in a strip mall that boasts a discount pharmacy, Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree store. And the company will close its New Jersey location within the coming weeks, according to NewJersey.com.
A representative for the company didn’t respond to a request for comment on Friday about its remaining stores and whether they would soon close.
Kmart boasted thousands of stores in the early 2000s, around the time the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002. It was the largest-ever bankruptcy for a retailer at the time. Kmart later acquired Sears for $11 billion, and the two continued their downward spiral that remains today.
In recent years, Kmart has served a role as a budget retailer in neighborhoods throughout the country, only to announce sometimes abrupt closures on its march toward disappearing from the U.S. entirely. But a couple of notable holdouts remain, including in Bridgehampton.
Real estate professionals on Long Island told The Real Deal the store is among a relative few that caters to the year-round residents who make the Hamptons run.
“It’s supply and demand,” Corcoran real estate agent Carol Sharks told The Real Deal. “In the Hamptons, any sort of discount item is hard to come by. Not everybody in the Hamptons is the 1 percent, and they need places to shop too.”
Other real estate professionals told the outlet the struggling company’s lease wasn’t for sale, indicating the discount department store would continue to serve the haughty community.
