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
L.A. Joe Department Store L.A. Joe Department Store L.A. Joe Department Store was a chain of Charleston, West Virginia based discount department stores that existed until June, 1992. L.A. Joe was the retail brand name of Retail Acquisition Corporation which at its peak owned 70 discount department stores throughout West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Retail Acquisition Corp/L.A. Joe purchased the struggling Heck's Department Store chain in 1990. The company experienced $19.5 billion in losses between 1990 and 1991, and in 1991 liquidated 22 of its stores under Chapter 11. By June 1992, the remainder of the stores had been liquidated. Creditors