Kmart Corporation store numbering: Difference between revisions

The '''[[Kmart Corporation]]''' assigned categorically separated and (in most cases) unique numbers to identify each of its stores across different chains and branded banners. This numbering system originated when the corporation was known as the '''S.S. Kresge Company''', and was modified numerous times to accommodate the company's evolving set of retail businesses. In particular, all [[Kmart]] stores were uniquely assigned four-digit numbers starting with 3, 4, 7, or 9,. initiallyThe accordingchoice toof this first digit followed a complexconsistent pattern based on the stores' size, butbeginning duringin the 1990s1970s, but the consistencycompany's extensive program of thisexpansions, patternremodelings, wasand mostlyreplacements during the 1990s largely ignored this lostsystem.

Since the original #4000 numbering range for Kmart stores in the United States was almost completely used up by 1972, new full-size Kmart stores were assigned numbers starting with #3000. To accommodate this, the six Kresge stores in Puerto Rico were reassigned to have numbers starting with #1900.<ref name=directory-65/><ref name=directory-73/> Because the other new ranges were associated with smaller-sized Kmarts, the Group 3 range came to refer to standard and larger-sized Kmarts, {{convert|84000|sqft|m2}} to {{convert|95000|sqft|m2}} or more.

The 3000–3999 range was used extensively for new Kmart stores for the next three decades. 997 of the 1,000 possible store numbers in this range are known to have been used by stores, the last being [[Kmart 3990|Kmart #3990]] in [[Passaic, New Jersey]], which opened in 2000. These "Group 3" stores were typically distinctly larger than Group 7 and Group 9 "mini-Kmarts" in the 1970s and 1980s, but Kmart's programs of store expansion and remodeling in the 1990s made thethis pattern largely unrecognizable.<ref name=kmart-spreadsheet>[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bQbJ704l5I8hkf4hUNa7IyYzGW5I3CIBYmqigrRLD7g/edit "Kmart latest"] [[Bluepages:Spreadsheets|spreadsheet]]</ref>

Numbers starting with #4700 began to be assigned to new Kmart stores in 1991.<ref name=kmart-spreadsheet/> Although all Jupiter stores had been sold or liquidated by 1988, the company continued to avoid reusing numbers in this range. Numbers starting with #4900 were specifically assigned to [[:Category:Super Kmart Center]]s, but Super Kmart stores also received numbers in several other ranges.<ref name=kmart-spreadsheet/>

Numbers starting with #5000 were assigned to [[:Category:S.S. Kresge stores in Canada|S.S. Kresge stores in Canada]]. Unlike in the United States, Jupiter Discount Stores in Canada were not given different numbers when they were converted from Kresge stores, but instead kept the numbers they had previously used. The highest known number in this range was [[S.S. Kresge 5110|store #5110]], which opened in 1964.<ref name=kresge-spreadsheet/>