Life got a little easier for busy folks in hundreds of communities across the country when Big Kmart came to town this year.

Through conversions of traditional Kmart locations and new store openings, the company was able to boast 1,245 Big Kmart stores by year-end. In fact, Big Kmart helped the company make history in 1998 when 45 new stores were opened on a single day, the result of acquiring and converting former Venture stores in Illinois, Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Big Kmart was critical to the company’s sales per square foot increasing to $222 in 1998, as first-year sales improved an average of 10 percent, with second-and third-year increases exceeding the company average.

But these numbers don’t matter to customers. What wows them are Big Kmart’s brighter, wider aisles and a store that’s been custom-designed to make shopping a more pleasant experience with associates who excel in friendliness and helpfulness.

Shoppers who just need a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread will find these items in the centrally located Kmart Pantry. Thousands of other consumable products line our Pantry shelves, including paper products, pet supplies, canned goods and cereal.

When a customer’s list extends beyond the basics, just about everything they need is at Big Kmart — and usually for the best price in town. For example, Mom can pick up a carton of orange juice, her son’s prescription, a pair of shoes for her daughter and a new garden hose in one trip. At many locations, she can also get an oil change at the Penske Automotive Center, send Grandma flowers through the Kmart Solutions electronic shopping service and pick up a pizza for dinner at the KCafé on her way out the door.

With its knockout lineup of key departments right at the front of the store — including the Kmart Pantry, women’s apparel and Martha Stewart Everyday — Big Kmart is able to hold its own even when brand new stores enter the market. Aggressive direct mail and TV advertising campaigns effectively invite consumers to discover the difference in Big Kmart’s outstanding assortments, great prices, exclusive brands and shopping convenience.

In 1999, an additional 586 stores will be converted to the Big Kmart format. For those traditional Kmart stores that are too small for the standard Big Kmart conversion, a new prototype featuring Big Kmart’s best attributes will begin to roll out to 190 locations. In the year 2000, Kmart’s entire chain will have been renovated within the past four years.