Kmart's Blue Light Turned Off

Kmart Corp., the discount retailer which is operating under federal bankruptcy protection, said Wednesday that it has renamed its money-losing BlueLight.com Web site kmart.com.

The updated site will feature additional products and closer visual ties to the discounter's "Stuff of Life" advertising and marketing campaign, Kmart said. The ad campaign was launched following Kmart's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and features TV ads directed by Spike Lee.

The renamed Web site will focus on Kmart stores, highlighting nationwide events, promotions and sales. It also will offer an expanded inventory of name brands including Disney apparel and Pentax cameras.

Kmart launched BlueLight.com, a stand-alone e-commerce company, in conjunction with Softbank Venture Capital and Yahoo! in 1999. It acquired the remaining shares last year.

For the first six months of 2001, BlueLight.com lost $55 million.

Mike Porter, an analyst with Morningstar Inc., said Wednesday's move hints Kmart finally is giving up on the BlueLight revival.

In March 2001, Kmart brought back the BlueLight Special, an in-store advertising concept for sales merchandise that was created in 1965 and retired in the 1990s. But it never really took off the second time around.

In support of the campaign, Kmart launched BlueLight Always, which featured everyday low prices on more than 30,000 items. It also had television advertising that featured dancing blue lights, which some retailing experts criticized as being not inventive.

In its 2001 annual report, Kmart said the BlueLight Always campaign hurt its profit margin in the fourth quarter. This year, Kmart has avoided ads promoting the BlueLight.

"It never really got beyond the kitschy phase," Porter said of the BlueLight. "To base an entire e-commerce venture around that didn't seem to make a lot of sense."

After Kmart filed for bankruptcy protection on Jan. 22, chairman James B. Adamson called on company officials to examine all aspects of the retailer's business and see what attracts customers.