Kmart Corporation. Sears Holdings, the parent company of Kmart, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018. S. S. Kresge, the founder of the company that would become Kmart, met variety-store pioneer Frank Winfield Woolworth while working as a traveling salesman and selling to all 19 of Woolworth's stores at the time. In 1897 Kresge invested $6,700 saved from his job into a five-and-dime store in Memphis, Tennessee. He jointly owned the first store with his former tinware customer, John McCrory. Kresge and McCrory added a second store in downtown Detroit the following year. These were the first S.S. Kresge stores.
Kresge Building (Augusta, Maine) Kresge Building (Augusta, Maine) The Kresge Block is a historic commercial building at 241-249 Water Street in downtown Augusta, Maine. Built in 1932 to house a department store, it is a distinctive and rare local example of commercial Moderne architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The Kresge Block is located on the east side of Water Street, Augusta's principal commercial thoroughfare, a bit south of the center of the block between Bridge and Front Streets. It is a two-story masonry structure, built out of brick and granite. The ground floor has two storefronts