S.S. Kresge legacy timeline

Key dates in the life and business of S.S. Kresge

1867 – On July 31, Sebastian Spering Kresge is born near Scranton in Bald Mount, Pa. A few years later the family later moves to a farm in Gilbert.

1888 – S.S. studies at Eastman Business College. He also leads Monroe County in beekeeping, and works several jobs to repay a tuition loan from his father.

1892 – S.S. becomes a traveling tinware salesman and saves $8,000 to invest in his own business.

1897 – S.S. enters the five and ten cent retail business with J.G. McCory, but the partnership was short lived.

1899- S.S. becomes the owner of a Detroit store marking the official start of the company.

1912 – The S.S. Kresge Company goes public. There were now 85 stores with $10.3 million in sales.

1915 – S.S. builds the Kresge Building in Detroit and a home on Boston Boulevard for his first wife and five children.

1924 – With an initial donation of $1.3 million, S.S. creates the Kresge Foundation for “the benefit of mankind.” The Company also celebrates its 25th anniversary.

1925 –S.S. steps down as president and general manager, but remains its chairman.

1928 – S.S. marries his third wife Clara Swaine and moves to her Green Gables estate in Mountainhome.

1938 – Now in its 40th year, the S.S. Kresge Company operates 742 Kresge stores.

1962 – The first Kmart discount store opens in Garden City, Mich.

1966 – October 16, S.S. Kresge dies at the age of 99 at East Stroudsburg General Hospital. His son Stanley succeeds him as chairman.

1974 – The company operates 935 Kmarts, 380 Kresge stores and 98 Jupiter stores. Total sales reach $6.79 billion.

1977 – The Kresge Company changes its name to Kmart Corporation, as Kmart stores now account for 94.5 percent of sales and expansion continues.

1990 – With $32.1 billion in sales, Kmart is surpassed by Walmart with sales of $32.6 billion.

2002 – The Kmart Company files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

2004 – In an $11 billion deal, Kmart and Sears merge to become the Sears Holdings Corporation.

2014 – Kmart’s U.S. sales slide to $12.07 billion from $13.19 billion in 2013, as 234 Kmart stores are shuttered, reducing the count to 979.

2015 – Another 77 Kmart stores are slated for closure, including Mount Pocono.

Sources: The S.S. Kresge Story by Stanley S. Kresge and Steve Spilos; The Millionaire Among Us by Wolden Magann and public filings of the Sears Holdings Corporation.