There’s a certain arrogance that resonates in some of America’s brand names. Each name has its own identity and a collection of values that we, as consumers, can hold accountable. Some brands carry their own personal nostalgia, something that tugs at the heartstrings. I don’t mean an artificial enchantment through crafty marketing, but genuine affection achieved through personal experience. As humbling as it would be to mention this today, there will always be a warm place in my heart for Kmart.

The former retail giant filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday after a principal distributor stopped service because of unpaid bills totaling $78 million. Kmart still is the No. 3 discount retailer in America, behind Wal-Mart and Target, but the announcement still creates an unsettling feeling for those who grew up under the big red K.

I can’t help but become nostalgic upon hearing the news. I was forced into Kmart many a weekend afternoon as a young child. In a family with three kids, much of my apparel and overall stuff originated from some Kmart shelf. I would often seek solace looking at the latest line of Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe action figures while my mother would rummage about looking for inexpensive, unattractive clothing that I would be embarrassed to wear to school. If I was lucky, she would treat my brothers and me to Icees or a bag of popcorn while she went looking for gardening products. The Kmart visit was capped off by a sunset ride on a plastic pony, a triumphant conclusion fit for any fine western film.

The demise of this once-powerful retailer means many things. Perhaps most important, it will be a huge blow to the wallet and ego of Martha Stewart, the notable kitchen icon whose personal product line produced over a billion dollars in sales for the store last year. Without Kmart, her plush line of towels, doilies and so forth will have to take up residence on somebody else’s shelf, or, hopefully, fall off the face of the retail planet. With less Martha stuff comes less Martha, a promising prospect for the New Year.

Kmart was, of course, home to the famous BlueLight Special, the spinning globe that marked the store’s best deals for the day. This North Star of discount retail brought many estranged housewives together for several moments of shopping bliss. When the blue light went on, it was known that some precious money was about to be saved.

Kmart did something very great for American retail. They showed us that we could buy toilet paper and shotguns in one stop. They allowed us to look at brand-name electronics on the way to their plush, in-house cafeteria. “You can do it all,” the store seemed to beckon to us, “and you can do it all here.”

Kmart was once the capital of convenience. Now, the once-proud brand is synonymous with white trash. Wal-Mart now has the discount retailing crown, and Target presents a brand that resonates with shoppers young and old. Kmart no longer has the lustful shopping appeal for which middle-aged women are thirsting.

Although the store expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection in about a year, the reputation and pride of the retailer will be torn forever. The credibility of an institution like Kmart cannot be restructured, it must be rebuilt. The big red K will live on, but its retail reign is as good as over.

Josh Zerkle is a senior in economics. He has nothing funny to write in this space. He can be reached for comment at [email protected]>.