Troy-based Kmart announced on Nov. 17, 2004, its plans to buy Sears.
The purchase made Sears Holdings the third-largest retailer in the U.S. — $55 billion in annual sales and close to 3,500 stores. The company headquarters was located in Sears’ stomping grounds of Hoffman Estates, Ill.
For the full article, see Zlati Meyers, “This week in Michigan history: Kmart announces it will buy Sears”, Detroit Free Press, November 17, 2013.