Harry Cunningham to design a discount store. Walton added that Cunningham should be remembered as one of the leading retailers of all time. Cunningham and Walton both visited, and were impressed by, the early and innovative discounter Ann & Hope in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Harry Cunningham Harry B. Cunningham (1907 in Pennsylvania – November 11, 1992 in North Palm Beach, Florida) was an American businessman and retailer who founded Kmart in 1962, along with S. S. Kresge. Cunningham had a vision to convert the retail chain into a discounter. At the time, Cunningham was sharply criticized by some, including Kresge shareholders, as
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