KMART CORPORATION stock certificate

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KMART CORPORATION stock certificate:
$79.95

Kmart Corporation
Stock Certificate

This is an authentic stock certificate from the Kmart Corporation. Fantastic vignette of three executives in front of an office building. Issued in 2003 before the cancellation of outstanding shares. (These are KM shares but Kmart later traded under KMRT. before merging with Sears (S). ) The combined company, called Sears Holdings Corporation, trades on the Nasdaq National Market under the stock symbol SHLD.

Kmart Corporation is a discount retailer and a general merchandise retailer. The Company operates in the general merchandise retailing industry through 1,829 Kmart discount stores with locations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands and Guam, as of January 29, 2003, and through its e-commerce shopping site. On January 22, 2002, Kmart and 37 of its United States subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws, and, subsequently, obtained an exit financing facility. On January 28, 2003, the court approved the closure of 326 stores located in 40 states, which number was later reduced to 316 stores, or approximately 17%, of the Company\'s 1,829 stores. In May 2003, the Company emerged from Chapter 11 protection.

A brief history:
1899: Sebastian Kresge founds S.S. Kresge Co. in the Detroit area, later to become Kmart.
1918 - S.S. Kresge Co. becomes publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
1962: Kresge opens its first discount store as Kmart in Garden City.
1966 - Sales top $1 billion. S.S. Kresge runs 915 stores, including 162 Kmarts.
1972 - Company moves headquarters to Troy, Mich.
1977 - S.S. Kresge Co. changes its name to Kmart Corp
1984 - Kmart purchases Walden Book Co. and Home Centers of America.
1984-92: Kmart buys several businesses, including Builders Square in 1984, the Sports Authority in 1990, a 90-percent stake in OfficeMax in 1991 and Borders bookstores in 1992.
1991: Kmart opens the first Super Kmart Center.
1994-95: Kmart has a brush with bankruptcy amid falling earnings. It sells or spins off OfficeMax, the Sports Authority, Pace Membership Warehouse and Borders. More than 200 stores close and Chief Executive Joseph Antonini, architect of the diversification strategy, is replaced by Floyd Hall.
1997: Kmart launches the Martha Stewart bed and bath product line.
1999: Kmart signs pacts to distribute groceries in all stores;
2000: Charles Conaway is named chairman and chief executive officer in May. He announces a restructuring plan to make stores, inventories and information systems more productive. Some 72 stores close, affecting about 5,000 employees.
August 2001: Kmart cuts prices to compete with Wal-Mart. Posts a fiscal second-quarter loss of $22 million and cites pricing pressures.
Nov. 8, 2001: October\'s same-store sales fall 4.4 percent.
Nov. 27, 2001: Kmart reports a loss of $224 million for its fiscal third quarter that ended Oct. 31.
Dec. 14, 2001: Moody\'s cuts Kmart debt of $4.7 billion in bonds to junk status.
Jan. 2, 2002: Prudential Securities analyst Wayne Hood recommends selling Kmart stock.
Jan. 10: Kmart reports December same-store sales fell 1 percent, warns that earnings will be below expectations and talks with lenders on supplemental financing.
Jan. 11: Moody\'s cuts Kmart\'s debt rating again.
Jan. 14: The board of directors begins meeting to discuss Kmart\'s financial options, including bankruptcy. Moody\'s and S&P both cut Kmart\'s debt ratings again.
Jan. 16: Moody\'s and S&P again cut Kmart\'s debt ratings. Kmart bonds slide to levels that signal a bankruptcy filing could be imminent.
Jan. 17: Kmart announces it has ousted its president, Mark Schwartz, and named director James Adamson as chairman. Conaway remains chief executive.
Jan. 21: Fleming Companies Inc. of Dallas, the exclusive food supplier for Kmart\'s 2,114 stores, suspends shipments because it says the Troy retailer owes it $78 million.
Jan. 22: Kmart files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Chicago. The retailer also secures $2 billion in financing with a group of banks. Ronald Hutchinson is named chief restructuring officer. Stock closes below $1.
Jan. 24: Fleming and PepsiCo resume shipping to Kmart after a judge allows the retailer to pay its critical vendors.
Jan. 25: Kmart and the Securities and Exchange Commission launch separate investigations into an anonymous letter alleging accounting problems.
Feb. 13: Kmart has its first court hearing since it filed for Chapter 11 status.
Feb. 28: Chairman Jim Adamson is a no-show at a Kmart-sponsored media breakfast.
March 6: Kmart receives final court approval for its $2-billion debtor-in-possession financing. It is also allowed to give 9,950 employees, including certain vice presidents, store managers and pharmacists, bonuses for staying with the company during reorganization.
March 8: Kmart announces it will close 284 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, a move that will affect 22,000 employees.

March 2005
Shareholders signed off on Kmart Holding\'s (KMRT) $12.3 billion acquisition of Sears Roebuck (S), clearing the way for the two struggling rivals to combine into the nation\'s third-biggest retailer Final approval came in back-to-back meetings at Sears\' headquarters.

The combined company will be called Sears Holdings Corporation. The companies said Sears Holdings stock is expected to start trading on the Nasdaq National Market under the stock symbol SHLD.

Very rare modern issue!!! Great retail piece for the collector or person with an interest in the company.