Who Wants Kmart's Chicago Stores?

According to a report in Crain's Chicago Business, the 46 vacated Kmart locations in the Chicago area may stay empty for a while.

The concern, said the report, is that “few retailers that are expanding in the area want a Kmart-sized building.”

Local real estate sources say the most likely candidates for the 46 locations — 30 already closed, 16 to be closed — are Costco, Home Depot, Meijer, Target, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Circuit City and Best Buy. All these chains are expanding in Chicago but, according to Crain's, “they may not be interested in the discarded Kmart sites because of size or location.”

“At this point,” Richard Webb, Costco vp and Midwest regional operating manager, told Crain's, “we haven't seen any Kmart sites that excite us.”