S. S. Kresge S. S. Kresge Sebastian Spering Kresge (July 31, 1867 – October 18, 1966) was an American businessman. He created and owned two chains of department stores, the S. S. Kresge Company, one of the 20th century's largest discount retail organizations, and the Kresge-Newark traditional department store chain. The discounter was renamed the Kmart Corporation in 1977 and evolved into today's Sears Holdings Corporation, parent of Kmart and Sears. Kresge was born near Allentown, Pennsylvania, the son of Sebastian Kresge and the former Catherine Kunkle. Living on the family farm in Kresgeville (named for his ancestors) until he was 21 years
Kresge-Newark in turn leased the top two floors of its flagship store to the Western Electric Company for use as office space. Kresge-Newark also took a lead in many civic improvements and was active in the early planning of the Gateway Center (which opened long after the store's demise). The store also formed an alliance with Asbury Park-based Steinbach. In 1964 with it clear that his heirs had no desire to take over the department store business, the Kresge Foundation sold the stores to David Chase, and they were rebranded Chase-Newark. In 1967 Chase-Newark announced it was closing, and four selling