Kmart and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announce a partnership
Partnership Provisional 45% confidence first seen
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s Martha Stewart described a licensing partnership with Kmart under which Kmart paid her royalties of up to about $65 million per year, with Kmart also funding advertising (including an estimated first-year budget of roughly $20 million). She said the deal helped bankroll development of her businesses and contributed to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s growth, including its 1999 public offering; the arrangement ended when Kmart declined to renew in January 2010.
Decision brief
- What changed
- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia entered a licensing partnership with Kmart in which Kmart paid Martha Stewart royalties of up to about $65 million per year and funded advertising, including an estimated roughly $20 million first-year budget. According to Stewart, the partnership became a major funding source for her business expansion and remained in place until Kmart chose not to renew it in January 2010.
- Why it matters
- For leaders evaluating retail, brand, or licensing strategy, this shows how a distribution-and-royalty partnership can function not just as a sales channel but as a capital source for broader company growth. Assuming Stewart’s figures are materially accurate, the deal demonstrates that a large retail partner can amplify a brand through both royalty payments and marketing support, while also highlighting concentration risk when growth depends heavily on one retailer relationship.
- Evidence
- The claim comes from a single Fortune Startups article summarizing Martha Stewart’s own description of the Kmart deal, including reported royalties, advertising support, peak sales, and the 2010 nonrenewal. The coverage is not independently corroborated in the provided material, so the key financial figures appear to rely primarily on Stewart’s retrospective account.
- What remains uncertain
- Open questions include the exact contract structure, margin economics, duration of peak payments, and how much of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s growth was directly attributable to Kmart versus other businesses. It is also unverified in the provided coverage whether the reported royalty and sales figures were audited, annualized consistently, or representative across the full life of the partnership.
- Monitor next
- Watch for any disclosed contractual details or contemporaneous filings that quantify the royalty formula, advertising commitments, and dependence of company revenue growth on the Kmart partnership.
Analytical support, not advice — assumptions and open questions stated above.