Construction Permit Issued To Demolish FL Kmart For The "World's Largest Home Improvement Retailer"

Photo byMike Kalasnik from Fort Mill, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Young Floridians living in the Sunshine State today may not have heard the phrase "Attention Kmart Shoppers" or may not be familiar with the blue light special. But older Floridians might be very familiar with those two things. At one time, there were over 170 Kmart stores in Florida. Today, there is only one. And an abandoned one in Mandarin has just received permits for demolition to become a Home Depot.

About The Empty Kmart In Question: The former 133,123-square-foot K-Mart store at 9600 San Jose Boulevard shut down in 2016 and has been empty since.

In early 2024, it was reported that a Home Depot was planned for the space. At that time, a Home Depot spokesperson told Action News Jax:

“Right now, all I can tell you is that this store is slated to open in (the) fall of 2025. I’ll follow up with more details as I have them.”

The Permits: In May, the city council approved a rezoning request that would allow Home Depot to build a 132,000-square-foot store on the site of the empty Kmart.

On September 6, 2024, Ordner Construction received a $400,000 permit to demolish the old Kmart.

On Home Depot's website, it refers to itself as "the world’s largest home improvement retailer." It has more than 2,300 stores in North America while Florida has approximately 145 Home Depot stores.

According to The Motley Fool, professional contractors make up half of Home Depot's revenue which allows it to have better financial metrics than its rival Lowe's. Home Depot also has programs that cater to professionals and allow them to buy in volume.

The author is not affiliated with Home Depot or any other retailers.