Illinois Down To Just One Kmart

The parent company of the Sears and Kmart chains announced another store is closing, leaving Illinois with just one Kmart.

The blue Icees, the bags of popcorn, a fiberglass pony ride and endless Kmart 'Blue Light' specials are almost completely gone. Those were some of my best memories of growing up.

Suburban Bridgeview will lose their Kmart store in mid-December, according to wgntv.com. That leaves the Des Plaines location as the only Kmart store in Illinois

In 1995, there were three Kmart stores in Rockford alone, now there will only be one in the entire state.

An Icee and a pony ride are not my only Kmart memories. In the Summer of 1995, 97ZOK hosted an autograph/meet & greet session with All-4-One, at the State St. Kmart before their show at the Coronado Performing Arts Center.

Kmart tried some things to stay viable, like the commercial below. Because of Amazon's success, many retailers have offered the convenience of shipping, in hopes of remaining competitive. Clearly, it didn't help keep Kmart in the game, but it did become one of my all time favorite TV commercials.