John F. Kennedy was president. The nation was increasingly engaged in Vietnam, and the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Johnny Carson became host of the "The Tonight Show," Marilyn Monroe died and the Rolling Stones made their debut in London. And in quiet cities across Middle America, a retail revolution was taking place.
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Middle-class households were booming, and suburbs, as well as the first enclosed shopping malls, were catering to them. But savvy retailers were looking for ways to bring value to customers within a more profitable building footprint, according to Dan Butler, a VP at the National Retail Federation. Pioneers such as Walmart founder Sam Walton realized that people wanted value year-round, not just once a season when department stores cleared out merchandise.
Conditions were ripe for a new retail concept. Over the course of 1962, Walmart, Target, Kmart and Kohl's opened their first stores in Arkansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, respectively.
Department store chains fought back with promotional pricing policies at first, but most eventually determined that it was wiser to complement their full-service stores with separate discount operations.
Source: Walmart, Target, Kmart, Kohl's Lead Retail Revolution | News - Advertising Age
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