Discount department store Kmart is celebrating the 52 ‘K Hub’ stores it has launched in the last eight months, particularly across remote areas of the country.

The stores were first conceived as way to turn underperforming Target sites into more profitable Kmart locations.

Kmart Australia and New Zealand retail director John Gualtieri said the business has been hard at work launching its condensed, more curated K Hub chain across Australia in the last year in an effort to bring easier access to everyday items to more Australians.

And, as a way of shining a light on some of the stores the business launched, Gualtieri spotlighted three notable locations across Australia that saw K Hub locations launch: Katherine in the Northern Territory, Port Douglass in Queensland, and Katoomba in New South Wales.

“We’re operating in some pretty remarkable communities,” Gualtieri said.

“We have loved exploring each and every one of them, doubling our Kmart Group regional workforce along the way with 1,008 Target team members and 1,000 new recruits.

“We’re proud to be growing our Kmart family and providing new employment opportunities to these local communities.”

The K Hub offering is a more curated collection that is better suited for the smaller-format stores. It includes Kmart’s most popular products across kids, home and clothing.

In addition, customers are able to shop the entire range of Kmart and Target products online and collect their orders from K Hub stores at no additional cost, or have them delivered to their door.