S. S. Kresge though he later stopped contributions. Numerous places have been named after 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
Kresge-Newark and its Breakfast With Santa sold out early each season. In the 1940s the firm opened a multi-story parking garage, 1 block from its store. The garage located at the corner of Raymond Blvd, and Central Avenue was the only structure of its type in downtown Newark that was run by a department store. Bamberger's and Hahne's offered small surface lots next to their stores. With the opening of the garage, Kresge-Newark used the motto, "easiest to reach, pleasantness to shop in". This motto was related to not only the parking garage, but its (2) subway entrances, and numerous bus