S.S. Kresge Company

Sebastian Spering Kresge began his retailing empire in 1899 when he gained full ownership of a store in Detroit. S.S. Kresge Co. opened its first store in Buffalo in 1911 at 388 Main St. The last Kresge store in the Western N.Y. area closed Dec. 30, 1981.

Retail company based in Detroit, Michigan.

Signs on the front of the first S.S. Kresge store, opened in 1899 in Detroit, read "BIG 5 and 10c STORE CROCKERY HOUSE FURNISHINGS NOTHING OVER 10 CENTS IN STORE." It was owned by Sebastian S. Kresge, a resourceful, hardworking man of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, who had first seen the potential for such stores when he worked as a traveling tinware salesman in the 1890s. One of his customers was Frank Woolworth, who had opened the first 5 & 10c store in 1875. Kresge was anxious to become involved in the dime store industry, and did so with the savings he had accumulated during his traveling salesman days. By 1912, he owned a chain of 85 dime stores and incorporated in Delaware as the S.S. Kresge Company. After reincorporating four years later in Michigan, Kresge's company went on to become the second largest chain of its kind in the world and in 1966, the year the founder died, had over 900 outlets.

The dime store industry had its heyday in the years around World War I, but thereafter inflation began to make the selling of goods at a dime less feasible. In the 1930s and 1940s, Kresge dime stores became Kresge variety stores, in which a much wider choice of goods was offered for sale prices that ranged up to $100. By 1950, that portion of the retail market that had formerly been serviced by dime stores was primarily serviced by variety stores.

In the 1950s, the variety store industry was confronted with two major problems: the growth of suburbs and its effect on downtown neighborhood stores, and the emergence of discount department stores. Variety store sales dropped alarmingly, particularly during the years 1955-1960, and companies tried to devise ways of counteracting the downward spiral. S.S. Kresge Company began to open more and more new stores in the suburbs and, recognizing the new trend toward and cost advantages of self-service, converted many existing stores. It carefully studied its discount competitors, and in the early 1960s, made the decision to enter the field itself. The first K mart store opened in 1962 and was so successful that by 1966 there were 122 stores. In addition, the company created the Jupiter Discount Division which was responsible for the conversion of older variety stores that were experiencing financial difficulty into outlets that sold a limited range of fast-selling goods. The K mart, Jupiter, and S.S. Kresge variety stores combined led to record sales and profits for the company as it became the fastest growing of the major U.S. retailers.