Retail Matters Podcast: Kmart: America’s Iconic Retailer Closes Doors on Last U.S Store

Kmart joins the list of once iconic retailers, such as Toys “R” Us, RadioShack, Pier 1, Bed Bath & Beyond and most of what’s left of Kmart’s corporate sibling Sears, once-successful chains that used to populate America’s malls and shopping centers but have ended up in retailing’s graveyard in recent years.

Shoppers fondly remember shopping at Kmart or other now defunct stores, but a combination of competition from bigger and better retailers, bad management, failed acquisitions by hedge funds and private equity firms and changing shopping behavior have combined to kill the stores they once loved.