Sebastian Spering Kresge, was an American businessman and was the founder
of the S. S. Kresge Company, one of the 20th century's largest retail
organizations. The company was renamed the Kmart Corporation in 1977, and
evolved into today's Sears Holdings Corporation, parent of Kmart and Sears.
Biography Kresge was born in Bald Mountain, the
son of Sebastian Kresge and the former Catherine Kunkle.
Living on the family farm until he was 21 years old, he was educated in the
local public schools, the Fairview Academy, in Brodheadsville,
Pennsylvania, and at the Eastman Business College, from which he
graduated in March, 1889. Following his graduation, he clerked in
a hardware store for two years, then worked as a traveling salesman from 1892
to 1897. On March 20, 1897, Kresge began working
for James G. McCrory at a five and ten cent store in Memphis, Tennessee. He
continued there for two years. In 1899, he founded his company, with Charles J.
Wilson, with an $8,000 investment in two five-and-ten-cent stores; one was in
downtown Detroit, Michigan. In 1912, he incorporated the S.S. Kresge
Corporation with 85 stores. The company was first listed on the New York Stock
Exchange on May 23, 1918. During World War I, Kresge experimented with raising
the limit on prices in his stores to $1. By 1924, Kresge was worth approximately
$375,000,000 and owned real estate of the approximate value of $100,000,000.
He was married and divorced at least twice by 1928.
Kresge and his family were members of Detroit's North Methodist Episcopal
Church. He held membership in organizations including four Masonic
lodges and the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the
Young Men's Christian Association, the Detroit Athletic, Boat, and Golf Clubs,
Rotary, and various commercial and automobiling societies.
Kresge died on October 18, 1966, at the age of 99.
Legacy The first Kmart opened in 1962 in Garden
City, Michigan. Kresge died in 1966. In 1977, the S. S. Kresge Corporation
changed its name to the Kmart Corporation. In 2005 Sears Holdings
Corporation became the parent of Kmart and Sears, after Kmart bought Sears, and
formed the new parent. In 1924 Kresge established The Kresge
Foundation, a non-profit organization whose income he specified simply "to
promote the well-being of mankind." By the time of his death, Kresge had given
the foundation over $60,000,000. A strongly committed prohibitionist, he
organized the National Vigilance Committee for Prohibition enforcement
and also heavily supported the Anti-Saloon League financially, though
he later stopped contributions. Namesakes
Numerous places have been named after Kresge:
The Kresge Eye Institute at Wayne State University, established through a grant
from the Kresge Foundation The Kresge Science Complex at Albion
College, in Albion, Michigan A street in Amherst, Ohio, Kresge Drive
Kresge College, a residential college at the University of California, Santa Cruz
The Kresge Auditorium at Bowdoin College The Kresge Auditorium at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Kresge Auditorium at Stanford
University, torn down in 2009 The Kresge Auditorium at Interlochen
Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan
The Kresge Auditorium at Indiana University at Kokomo - Kokomo, Indiana
One of Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts' theaters
The Kresge Ford Building at College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan
The Kresge Library at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan
The Kresge Library at University of Michigan Ross School of Business
The Kresge Engineering Library at University of California, Berkeley
The Kresge Physical Sciences Library at Dartmouth College
Kresge Chapel on the campus of Claremont School of Theology
Kresge Hall at Northwestern University, which currently houses the art and
language departments Kresge Hall at Bentley University, a
residence hall built in 1975 Kresge Hall at Harvard Business School
and the Kresge Building at the Harvard School of Public Health
The Kresge Law Library at the University of Notre Dame was funded, in part, by a
grant from the Kresge Foundation. The Kresge Art Center at Michigan State
University is his namesake. The Kresge School of Nursing at the
University of Western Ontario was named after Kresge after he donated $200,000
in 1960. [1] The Purdy-Kresge Library at Wayne State
University. The Kresge Administration Building at
Tuskegee University The Kresge Court at the Detroit
Institute of Art in Detroit, Michigan References
Further reading "Kresge, Sebastian S.", The Book of
Detroiters, Marquis, Albert Nelson, ed., 1914, p. 291
External links The Kresge Foundation
S. S. Kresge at Find a Grave