The Fair Store the store would be completed on that site in 1897. The Fair Store promoted itself as a Discount Department Store in the early 1900s. In 1915, a booklet published by the store stated "The Fair Store is still, as it always has been and undoubtedly always will be, the store of the people, the down-town shopping center for the Savers, the market place for the Thrifty." In 1925 the business was sold to a syndicate headed by S.S. Kresge (predecessor firm of Kmart). Under its management, branches were opened on Milwaukee Avenue (1929), in Oak Park, Illinois (1929), at the
Kresge College S. S. Kresge department store at the entrance to the college, but this idea met too much resistance. Kresge College is currently home to several co-ops (Music Co-Op, Natural Foods Co-op, Photo Co-op, Garden Co-op) as well as the social justice organization, Common Grounds. Residential housing themes include the Writer's House and the Eco-Village. One of the alumni of Kresge, Marti Noxon, went on to produce "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and managed to sneak in-joke references to Kresge as well as Santa Cruz into many of the scripts, most recently in the "Angel" spin-off where a supporting character (Eve) is