May 4, 2019 | Leave a comment Kmart celebrates 50 years in Australia. The first Kmart store was opened on 30 April 1969 in Burwood East, Victoria and was the first of its kind in Australia providing Australian families with great value and marketed as a ‘one stop shop’ with a supermarket included in the store all on the one level. The store was opened by Mrs HB Cunningham, wife of the president and chairman of S.S Kresge Company, as Kmart was born from a joint venture between G.J Coles & Coy Limited and S.S Kresge Company in the United States. The public interest in Kmart was unprecedented with many customers travelling more than 40kms for the opening and it was reported for safety measures the store had to be closed 45 minutes after opening because it was packed with shoppers! There has been a great transformation over the 50 years with growth across the country and in overseas markets. Commencing with a team of 400 team members and one store, Kmart has become a leader in the market with more than 40,000 team members across 232 stores, serving over 3.7 million customers a week. Please visit the Kmart website athttps://www.kmart.com.au/50years for some more history and a photo gallery.