K's Merchandise Mart

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Founded in Decatur, Illinois, in 1957 by David Kay Eldridge, K's Merchandise Mart, Inc. grew from a Midwestern general-merchandise retailer into a catalog-showroom destination. Its stores sold a wide spread of goods—clothing, appliances, sporting goods, jewelry, furniture, and more—built for the pre-infinite-scroll era, when shopping involved catalogs, counters, and the promise that somebody was fetching your treasure from the back.

By the early 2000s, K's faced heavyweight competition from Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and Toys “R” Us. The company reported a $1.8 million net loss in 2004, and its lenders pressed for a liquidation in 2006. Gordon Brothers Group stepped in during May 2006, paying off roughly $40 million owed to LaSalle National Bank and forming New K's Merchandise LLC to take over operations.

The rescue mission did not stick. Gordon announced in October 2006 that it would liquidate New K's and close its stores; operations stopped in January 2007. Illinois WARN records documented 935 statewide workers affected by the closures. The original K's corporate entity later appeared in litigation as “Old K's”—a fittingly dramatic afterlife for a showroom chain.

Our K's Merchandise Mart collection celebrates the catalog-counter hustle, the department-store treasure hunt, and a Decatur original that kept the Midwest browsing long before every purchase came with a tracking number.