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Founded by retailer Sebastian S. Kresge in 1924, The Kresge Foundation continues to fulfill his mandate: To promote human progress.
S. S. Kresge, the founder of the company that would become Kmart, met variety-store pioneer Frank Winfield Woolworth while working as a traveling salesman and selling to all 19 of Woolworth's stores at the time. In 1897, Kresge invested $6,700 saved from his job into a five-and-dime store in Memphis, Tennessee.
The S.S. Kresge Co. grew to be the second-largest variety chain in the U.S. The stores changed as retail trends matured over the years. The company battled anti-chain store sentiment in the 1920s and 30s.
Retail chain founder Sebastian Spering Kresge was born in Bald Mount, Pennsylvania on July 31, 1867. His parents, Sebastian Sr. and Catherine Kunkle Kresge were Pennsylvania Dutch farmers. Kresge’s schooling included a four-month commercial course at Eastman’s Business College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., paid for by money he earned bee keeping.
Sebastian S. Kresge. S. S. Kresge Company. 1907–1925. Industry: Retail. Era: 1900. Kresge built the precursor to K-Mart, one of the first mass discounters. He started with ten-cent stores and developed full-fledged variety stores.
The foundation made a splash in 1926 when S.S. Kresge made additional contributions and publicly annouced the creation of the foundation. “I have donated to the foundation real estate, leaseholds and securities valued at approximately $2 million,” he wrote.
With swift expansion through the Midwest and across the nation over the next half century, the S.S. Kresge Co. would later become the iconic American department store chain, Kmart Corp.
