Retail giant Target appears to have its sights set on the Hamptons location that was home to the nation’s last full-sized Kmart, which closed its doors for good on Oct. 20.
Target reportedly will replace Kmart as one of two anchors — the other is a King Kullen — at Bridgehampton Commons on Montauk Highway that is also home to a host of smaller national retail chain stores such as Gap, Ulta and TJ Maxx.
“The chain bought out the Bridgehampton Kmart lease from its owner Transformco a few years ago in anticipation of Kmart closing,” Long Island Business News reported, citing anonymous real estate industry sources that did not disclose the terms of the deal.
It would be the 21st store on Long Island for Minneapolis-based Target, which boasted $1.9 billion operating income and 1,926 stores nationwide as of February and had opened 29 stores in the year prior. Kmart, which peaked in the 1980s and ‘90s when it became the second-largest retailer with 2,500 stores nationwide, has been declining since it filed for bankruptcy in 2002, with just one small Kmart left in Miami as well as locations in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Neither Target nor Kimco Realty, the Jericho-based company that owns Bridgehampton Commons, would confirm the lease takeover, which would require Town of Southampton permitting approval.
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