Kmart gives 20% discount to unemployed

Following the long line of companies helping out the unemployed in hopes of keeping them as customers when they get back on their feet, Kmart is offering a 20% discount to the unemployed on its private label grocery and drugstore staples for up to six months.

It's a smart business move that Viagra, mobile phones, health clinics, resume printers, auto dealers and airlines, among many others, are offering job seekers struggling to pay the bills in the recession. The idea is that these customers will return to your business when they have money to spend.

The Kmart Smart Assist Savings card was started in Michigan, with its 15.2% unemployment, this summer and is being expanded across the country. It offers 20% savings on more than 1,500 of the company's brand products. Sale and clearance merchandise is excluded.

People who want the card must sign up for it online. Cards will be issued through January 2010. The only potential drawback is that it takes a bit of identification verifications to prove you're unemployed. Like the stigma of pulling out food stamps at a grocery store checkout line, fumbling for your unemployment documentation may be a little embarrassing.