Kmart to shutter its last full-scale US store

The end may be near for Kmart shoppers in the US.The erstwhile retail giant renowned for its Blue Light Specials — featuring a flashing blue orb affixed to a pole enticing shoppers to a flash sale — is shuttering its last full-scale store in the country’s mainland.The store, located in swank Bridgehampton, New York, on Long Island, is slated to close October 20, according to Denise Rivera, an employee who answered the phone at the store late Monday. The manager wasn’t available, she said.A large Kmart sign is displayed in front of a shopping plaza in Avenel, N.J., April 4, 2022. (AP)That will leave only a small Kmart store in Miami. There also are a handful of stores in Guam and the US Virgin Islands.Transformco, the company that in 2019 bought the assets of Sears and Kmart out of the bankruptcy of Sears Holdings, did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.In its heyday, there were more than 2,000 Kmarts in the US.Struggling to compete with Walmart’s low…