Kmart Logo PNG
The Kmart logo reflects the former grandeur of the chain’s department stores. The emblem has monumentality, reliability, and superiority over competitors. For buyers, the symbol suggests spacious areas filled with goods.
Kmart’s history began before the brand existed. In 1897, hardware salesman Sebastian Spering Kresge and John McCrory opened two five-and-ten-cent stores in Memphis and Detroit. Kresge later bought out his partner and expanded independently. By 1912, S.S. Kresge had 85 stores and annual sales of more than $10 million. In 1918, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The first Kmart opened in 1962 in Garden City, near Detroit, under company president Harry Cunningham. Seventeen more stores followed that year, while corporate sales passed $483 million. The format centered on a large self-service discount store with parking, selling clothing, appliances, groceries, and tools under one roof at lower prices.
Kmart quickly became the core of S.S. Kresge. Sales passed $1 billion in 1966, the year Sebastian Kresge died at 99. In 1976, the company opened 271 stores in one year. In 1977, with Kmart producing about 95% of revenue, the corporation officially changed its name to Kmart Corporation. In 1987, it began a long partnership with Martha Stewart.
Until November 1990, Kmart was the second-largest U.S. retailer after Sears, but Walmart later surpassed it in sales. The chain peaked in 1994 with 2,486 stores worldwide, but Walmart and Target continued to take market share. Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 22, 2002, closed 283 stores, and exited restructuring in 2003. In 2005, Kmart acquired Sears for about $12 billion, forming Sears Holdings. Sears Holdings went bankrupt in 2018, Transform SR Brands took over in 2019, and in 2024, the last large Kmart store on the U.S. mainland closed.
Meaning and History
Starting in 1897 as a 5-cent store and, from 1962, as Kmart, discount stores gradually developed into a nationwide network. In 1912, the corporation’s founder, Sebastian Spering Kresge, had 85 stores with $10 million in turnover; by 1924, it had 257. Later, his successors continued expanding, peaking in the 90s with 2,486 outlets worldwide. However, supermarkets failed to develop an effective strategy and keep prices low, leading customers to leave for Walmart and to the company’s 2002 bankruptcy filing. The new management that brought Kmart and Sears together was not interested in the brand’s prosperity, leading to a second bankruptcy in 2018.
The logo has a long history of ownership changes. The emblem has undergone six major transformations. However, the corporate letter K has always remained part of the composition.
What is Kmart?
The American chain of big-box stores was opened by the S.S. Kresge Company in 1962 and operated worldwide. Today, Transformco owns the brand, which operates 33 stores in the United States.
1962 – 1964
Since 1962, S.S. The Kresge Company began opening large department stores called Kmart. The emblem and its red-and-turquoise colors carried over into the new logo from the one S.S. Kresge used for earlier stores (two red S’s on top of each other and a capital K in turquoise representing the entrepreneur’s first and last name).
For supermarkets, only K was used, with “market” added as an abbreviation for Kresge Mart.
A red, three-dimensional K with a white stroke and a shadow formed the basis of the logo. It was easy to remember. The red color attracted attention. It personified something large-scale and promising (the area of new stores reached 7.5 thousand square meters, significantly more than Kresge had previously offered). The forward-slanted italics conveyed the brand’s movement and development.
The word “mart” originated at the center of the lower leg of the K. It sat on a white, framed plate and was written in a straight turquoise script. The inscription indicated a new store format offering a wide range of goods.
1964 – 1967
By ’64, Keymart is introducing new customer acquisition strategies. For example, special discounts in blue, Blue Light Special, with a flashing lamp in the sale section. Innovation has become a hallmark of the store, making it famous. As the store expanded and grew in popularity, the logo was slightly revised: the first letter K was made wider and longer, and the word mart was raised to the junction of the K’s legs, balancing the composition.
1967 – 1969
The new logo, introduced in 1967, shifted the emphasis from the letter K to the word “market,” making it large and the black frame around it bold. In 1960s America, people fought poverty, wages rose, benefits were distributed, and many preferred to buy goods in bulk at large stores. The big-word mart attracted attention, letting shoppers know they’d find a wide range of discounted items here. In addition, in the 66th year, the brand’s founder, Kresge, passed away, so the letter K in the emblem became irrelevant.
1969 – 1990
The company transformed and, over time, changed its name to KMart Corporation, leaving the era of Kresge behind and giving a new “breath” to the letter K, which now personified the company’s name. As a symbol of new energy, it has taken on a more intense red hue. The heavy italics made it smaller and allowed the mart prefix to merge into a single word, showing that the “K” markets had become the “Kmart” brand.
1990 – 2004
In the 80s, Kmart declined, prompting the decision to update and improve the network. In 1987, Kresge sold off its stores, which had opened before the department stores and their sister discount stores, Jupiter. Kmart changed its logo, rebuilt stores, and updated its assortment.
This time, the logo fully reflected these innovations. It consisted of a bright red letter K, inside which “mart” was written in white capital letters. The logo reflected the sale of old stamps by reducing the name to K. However, the red color gave the emblem dynamism and a sense of pressure, underscoring the company’s desire for forward-looking leadership and market dominance.
The combination of white and red conveyed novelty, a new start, a different concept, and a new approach to management. Handwriting mart symbolized necessary home purchases and was associated with a list of items available in stores.
Rebranding has borne fruit – the 90s were the most successful for the network.
2002 – 2016
Prosperity did not last long. The company filed for bankruptcy and closed 300 department stores. The logo for this period was designed for five refurbished stores, representing the brand’s future after the reorganization.
The main support line of the letter K turned gray, symbolizing bankruptcy. However, the legs of the letter were light green, like young growth on an old trunk. It pointed to preserving part of the stores. The green color of the right, forward-looking part of the logo showed the expected revival. He left the grey, desert color behind him.
The white edging of the green half pushed this part of the letter forward, separating it from the past. It shows leadership focused on reopening trading and maintaining the network. The white color symbolized a new beginning, a start from scratch.
This concept made the logo optimistic despite the difficult times.
The word “market” moved to a greenfield in the upper leg of the letter K, indicating an update to the range and prices.
The logo was not distributed to other outlets and ceased to exist after the last of the five Moreton stores closed.
2004 – today
In 2003, the bankruptcy case was closed. The old firm became Kmart Holdings Corporation. It acquired Sears in 2004 to become Sears Holdings in 2005. During the merger, Super K-marts were renamed simply K-marts, and a new logo was developed for all stores.
The emblem has two levels. At the top was a large red letter K, indicating that all stores under the brand were now united under one name. The return of the red hue symbolizes energy, transformation, and rapid development. Below, along the length of the top letter, the word Kmart appears in smaller print as the brand’s full name, as customers are used to.
In 2018, the holding company also went bankrupt, and a private company, Transformco, bought all its assets, including Kmart stores, in 2019. It continued to close stores gradually, and by 2021, only 33 Kmart outlets remained open.
Font and Colors
The emblem’s main colors are red and turquoise.
- Red – energy, movement, scale symbol.
- Turquoise – good luck and overcoming difficulties. Discount stores helped people in difficult situations buy inexpensive things. And a visit to a discount store could turn into good luck in the form of a low price on blue.
The font in the latest emblem matches Univers Next Pro 740 Extended Heavy with a slightly modified “t.”