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Martha Stewart: 'We're not deserting' Kmart

Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart  


(CNN) -- Martha Stewart vows she has no plans to desert Kmart, despite the struggling retailer's recent filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

"We have been working with them for 15 years," she said Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live." "It's pretty hard to run out on a partner that's down. You know, that's not our style."

Stewart, whose line of housewares is considered a key asset for the discount chain, said she remains optimistic that Kmart can get back on its feet.

"We hope that Kmart will come out a healthier, leaner, better company as a result of this bankruptcy," said Stewart, the CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

At the same time, Stewart sought to distinguish her business from Kmart, and said her company is "weighing all our opportunities."

"I'm not a spokesperson for Kmart," she said. "Kmart is a retail partner of Martha Stewart Living. … So we do have other places to sell the product if, indeed, anything bad happens, ultimately with Kmart."

Asked if any other retailers had approached her, Stewart said: "I'm not really at liberty to say, but there are other opportunities."

Later in the interview, Stewart acknowledged that successful businesswomen still have it harder than men.

"There's still a little bit of inequality at the top," she said. "Very few CEOs are women, still in America, although I understand from statistics that many, many, many more women are becoming entrepreneurs, running successful businesses.

"They may not be the giant corporations, but those women who do run the giant corporations have, you know, we have a real hard job."

Stewart spoke of her experience after September 11, when she was in Japan launching her business. While there, she visited a temple designed by Minoru Yamasaki, the architect of the World Trade Center.

"As we approached, the bell tower chimed out 'America the Beautiful.' And you know, we all just started to sob," she recalled. "But it was just so nice and so thoughtful of our hostess, and incredible that the world around just sympathized and was as horrified as we were."



 
 
 
 


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