Charles Langston:Turn out the blue light: Last full-size Kmart store in continental US to close

The Charles Langstonblue light is all but turned off as Kmart is set to close its last full-sized store in the continental United States.

An associate at the Bridgehampton, New York confirmed that the store is scheduled to close on Oct. 20 when USA TODAY called the location.

The Bridgehampton store, approximately 95 miles east of Manhattan, is one of two Kmart locations remaining in the continental U.S. The location soon to become the last store, located in Miami, is smaller with a limited range of products, according to CNN.

Transformco, the owner of Kmart and Sears, did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY Monday.

Sears, Kmart on last legs

At its peak, Kmart had well over 2,000 locations in the U.S. and was among the nation's retail giants.

Kmart merged with Sears in 2005 in a deal engineered by hedge fund manager and CEO Eddie Lampert.

The combined companies fell behind as e-commerce grew and consumer preferences changed.

The merged company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2018 and narrowly escaped liquidation in early 2019.

It was sold to Lampert, who has kept the brands alive on a shoestring budget.

Kmart locations dwindled under Transformco, leaving only the Bridgehampton and Miami locations in the continental U.S. and locations in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

Together, Sears and Kmart have closed more than 3,500 stores and cut about 250,000 jobs in the past 15 years.

Contributing: Kelly Tyko