Kmart Australia

History

Kmart Australia Limited was created out of a joint venture between G.J Coles & Coy Limited (Coles) and the S.S. Kresge Company, owner of Kmart USA. Kresge owned 51% of the common stock in the company and Coles owned the remaining 49%; together they began to develop Kmart stores in Australia in 1968.

The first store was opened on 30 April 1969 in Burwood East, in Melbourne. On opening day it was estimated that 40,000 people passed through the checkouts, and the store took in over $97,000 (equivalent to A$ in ) of profit. Because of the number of people that were coming through the store the doors had to be closed 45 minutes after the opening as a safety measure. The store was opened by Mrs HB Cunningham, wife of the president and chairman of the S.S. Kresge Company. The site was renovated in 2010 to be a shopping centre known as Burwood One; Kmart still operates a store at the new centre.[[File:MeridianDunedin.jpg|thumb|Kmart was an [[anchor tenant]] of the [[Meridian Mall, Dunedin]], New Zealand.]]

1978–2006: Coles era

In 1978, Kresge (from 1977 known as the Kmart Corporation) exchanged its 51% stake in Kmart Australia for a 20% stake in G.J. Coles & Coy (later Coles Myer). In November 1994, Kresge/Kmart Corporation divested its 21.5% stake in Coles Myer.

In 1988, Kmart expanded to New Zealand with their store in Henderson, a suburb in Auckland.

In 2006, Coles Group announced plans to integrate Kmart, Bi-Lo, and Coles Group liquor brands into larger format stores. The first re-branded store was planned to open in 2007, and 40 stores were planned to be made into Coles Superstores, these mostly being former Super K stores which had been divided into separate Coles and Kmart stores a decade earlier. By March 2007, the plans for these superstores were deferred pending the sale of Coles Group to Wesfarmers. In August 2007, Wesfarmers confirmed that the superstore format would not proceed.

In July 2007, Wesfarmers acquired the Coles Group for A$22 billion.

2007–present: Wesfarmers ownership

In August 2007, Wesfarmers said it would consider selling all or part of Kmart, or converting some stores to Target stores. Wesfarmers took control of Coles Group in November 2007 and by March 2008 had decided to retain Kmart and invest A$300m in the chain over the next five years.

After poor performance in 2009, the 2010 financial year saw a large increase in profitability, with the chain reporting revenue of A$4.02 billion (equivalent to A$ in ) and an EBIT of A$190 million (equivalent to A$ in ), an increase in EBIT of over 74%. This increase was achieved under the leadership of Guy Russo, a former McDonald's executive. Russo scrapped 'percentage discount' sales and well-known name brands, in favour of drastically reduced prices, a streamlined product offering, store-branded products, and on-trend pieces. Kmart also rearranged its stores to eliminate traditional department divisions such as “electronics” in favour of thematic groupings such as “kitchen”, and relocated checkouts from the front of the store to the centre, a move which drew much criticism from shoppers.

On 15 November 2012, Australia's first multi-level Kmart opened in Adelaide's Rundle Mall.

By August 2015, Kmart had 214 stores trading across Australia – 52 in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, 47 in Victoria, 41 in Queensland, 23 in Western Australia, 15 in South Australia, five in Tasmania and two in the Northern Territory. There were 20 stores in New Zealand. In 2015, Kmart also introduced self-checkouts, which have now been rolled out to all Kmart stores.

In August 2017, Wesfarmers purchased the use of the Kmart brand name in Australia and New Zealand for $100 million, ending a long-term licensing agreement between Coles and Sears for use of the Kmart name.

In 2018, all Kmart stores ceased trading of DVDs, CDs, video games, televisions, video game consoles, DVD players and CD players, using the floor space in stores for more children's products and homewares. The home entertainment department had been popular with shoppers, and the decision to scrap it was blamed for Kmart's profit slump from $415 million in 2017 to as low as $385 million in 2018.

During 2020 and 2021, following falling sales and profit within the Target brand, Kmart Group converted 92 Target locations to the Kmart brand, while closing other Target stores. This included Target Country stores, which were converted to K-Hubs.

In July 2023, Wesfarmers announced an internal reorganisation of Kmart and Target, with the merger of many back-of-house processes, to create "two brands, one business".

Store formats

Current store formats

Anko

In the United States, Kmart operated a discount department and an online store from October 2018 to mid-2020 which sold Anko-branded products. In the Philippines, the company opened its first store at Robinsons Galleria in 2023, followed by a second location at Alabang Town Center in May 2025, coinciding with the launch of its mobile app and Anko Club loyalty program. Unlike traditional points-based systems, the Anko Club offers access to exclusive events, VIP experiences, and community challenges. The opening event, attended by brand ambassador Anne Curtis, marked part of a broader strategy to grow Anko’s presence in Southeast Asia. A third store is scheduled to open at Trinoma in Quezon City in July 2025.

Kmart

Kmart stores include merchandise in three distinct categories, being 'home' (kitchenwares, bedding, furniture, pet supplies, photographic developing, camping and fishing goods, sporting goods, small appliances, storage and home organisation, stationery, books, garden supplies, automotive equipment, lighting, hardware, and luggage), 'clothing' (apparel and footwear, and cosmetics), and 'kids' (children's entertainment and toys, confectionery, cards and party goods). In 2013, Kmart began a rollout of new store layouts. Garden plant sections were removed, and back of store areas were cut back. Floorspace was expanded and the height of displays was increased. The stores were given more of a "department store" feel as front-of-store checkouts were replaced with an area to pay at the centre of the store.

Kmart 24 Hour

Kmart 24 Hour stores are similar to regular Kmart stores, except that they are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, never closing other than on some public holidays, or during events. These stores are not visually different apart from a "24 Hours" logo in red appearing next to the Kmart logo.

K Hub

K Hub is the brand being used for smaller rural locations that have replaced Target Country stores. They offer a smaller range of Kmart products, while allowing customers to 'click & collect' and return both Kmart and Target products. As of 2021, K Hub has 52 stores.

Former store formats

ColMart

ColMart was a joint Coles New World supermarket and variety store located in Whyalla, South Australia in the 1980s.

Girl Xpress

Girl Xpress was planned as a clothing store chain for young urban women. A concept store was trialled at Burwood East, Victoria from 2005, however was later discontinued. Girl Xpress has been retained however, as a Kmart house brand.

Holly's Restaurant

During the 1980s and 1990s, every Kmart store had a Holly's in-store restaurant. Starting from around the mid-late 1990's, they were progressively shut down across the country, with the last Holly's at Kmart Horsham closing down on 25 June 2010.

Kmart Clearance Centre

Kmart Clearance Centre was a briefly trialled clearance centre concept at Ringwood from November 2006 until June 2007.

Kmart Food

Kmart Food was a chain of supermarkets initially opened adjacent to Kmart discount department stores. By June 1975 there were 21 Kmart Food supermarkets The supermarkets were rebranded as Coles New World supermarkets during the 1976 financial year.

Kmart Garden Supercentre

Kmart Garden Supercentre was specialised in garden, plants and garden furniture. Most of these stores were standalone, "big box" stores in a warehouse format that sold Kmart manufactured or branded outdoor living items. From 1999 to 2007 there were six nurseries, four in Victoria (Chadstone, Campbellfield, Narre Warren, and Taylors Lakes), plus Windsor (Queensland) and Casula (New South Wales). In 2007 Kmart closed its Windsor store and its Chadstone, Casula, Narre Warren and Taylors Lakes stores were renamed into Flower Power Garden Centre. In 2013, Flower Power closed all its nurseries which were formerly Kmart nurseries with the sole exception of the Campbellfield store, (the only store integrated with an existing Kmart store) which was downsized instead, claiming the concept did not fit its future business strategy. In 2016, this store was also shut down and transformed and it was replaced by Aldi (which opened in August 2017).

Kmart Photos

Kmart Photos originally processed analog film and printed photographs. The centres also allowed Hewlett-Packard's Snapfish customers to collect online orders. The photo centres operated in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard from 2009, after Kmart ended a 30-year partnership with Kodak Australia, to early 2014, when Kmart began a company-wide switch from the Hewlett-Packard powered Minilab system back to a Kodak-powered Minilab system. Kmart photos no longer exists as a standalone brand.

Kmart Tyre and Auto Service

Super Kmart

Super Kmart was a hypermarket concept launched in the 1983 financial year with four stores (two in New South Wales and one each in Western Australia and Victoria). The concept consisted of approximately 9,000 square metres comprising a Kmart discount department store and supermarket within one retail space. Super Kmart was expanded to 34 locations by 1990 when the concept was discontinued and the stores split into separate Kmart discount department stores and Coles New World supermarkets. However at some former Super Kmart locations it took several years for the split wall to be installed between Kmart & Coles. The stores had been operated under an independent division and the cost of duplicating administration functions as well as lower sales results compared to separate Kmart and Coles New World supermarket lead to the discontinuation of the concept.

Anko

Anko is Kmart Australia's house brand: an evolution of the “&Co” branding it had previously used for individual departments such as “Kids&Co”, “Home&Co” and “Clothing&Co”. Introduced in 2019 to celebrate Kmart's 50th anniversary, Anko also means “A New Kind Of”, representing the company's changed philosophy since 2008. A 2024 article by The Australian reported that 85 per cent of products in Kmart stores are Anko brand. Anko has the largest market share in the home and toys, menswear, womenswear and childrenswear categories in Australia.

Target Australia began stocking Anko products in 2024. Anko is also an international brand: Kmart has made arrangements to sell its products in other department stores in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Canada. In March 2023, Zellers began stocking Anko products after obtaining exclusive distribution rights to the brand in Canada. In November 2024, Kmart opened an Anko store in the Philippines, its first in Asia. Anko products are also sold online in India through Amazon and Flipkart.

The low prices, new stylishness and fast turnover of Kmart's own-brand designs sparked an online subculture of amateur home renovators and decorators, many of whom were suburban women, who used social media to show how they were styling their Kmart purchases and incorporating them into DIY projects that became known as “Kmart hacks”, along the lines of the “IKEA hacks” online community which had existed since 2006. Traditional media coverage praising particular “Kmart hacks” and other clever consumer tips by “Kmart mums” further popularised Kmart as a place to source luxury-styled products at low prices.

Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal

The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal is an annual Christmas gift appeal run by Kmart and The Salvation Army since 1988. The concept first came about when Eve Mitchell, a team member from the Kmart store in Noarlunga suggested Kmart use its network of stores as gift collection points, assisting charity groups at Christmas. As of the 35th appeal in 2022, the event has raised over $5.6 million and delivered 10 million gifts to those in need. Target joined the appeal in 2024.

References

References

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