r/USdefaultism • u/anelectricshangrila • 19d ago

Instagram “Kmart doesn’t exist anymore”

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u/Upbeat_Leather7774 19d ago

Kmart still in New Zealand too

21

u/weaselblackberry8 19d ago

I went to one in NZ when there a few months back. It seems fancier than the ones I’ve been to in the US. But our luggage was missing, and I was hoping to find a touristy tshirt. I was amazed at how many of the tshirts were related to places in the US.

4

u/Rhain1999 Australia 18d ago

It seems fancier than the ones I’ve been to in the US

FWIW, they're completely different companies, with zero relation besides the name

2

u/weaselblackberry8 18d ago

I wonder how they ended up with the same name.

7

u/Rhain1999 Australia 18d ago

I was curious too, so I looked into it again. Turns out the Australian one started as a joint venture with the S. S. Kresge Company, which owned Kmart in the U.S.—it was about 25 years later that it divested its stake entirely, and the companies have been completely separate ever since (more than 30 years now)