American Fare was a small, short-lived hypermarket chain formed as a partnership between Kmart and Bruno's in 1988.
1988–1994[]
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Custom
Launched:
February 1988 (reveal) January 26, 1989
Plans for American Fare were first revealed in January 1988, and its logo was trademarked the next month. The first American Fare opened in Stone Mountain, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) on January 26, 1989, and held its grand opening three days later. The next, in Charlotte, North Carolina, opened on April 1, 1990, and the third (and last) opened in Jackson, Mississippi on August 16, 1990.
After three years of stagnating profits, Bruno's pulled out of the venture in 1992, and Kmart quickly drew up plans to close the stores and convert them into Kmart Super Centers. The first to close was the Charlotte store in October 1992, followed by the Jackson store on November 4, 1992, and finally the original Stone Mountain store in June 1994. The American Fare name was carried over to a generic Kmart store brand until it was renamed Smart Sense in 2010.
