Kentucky man buys Kmart inventory, gives it all away

By Mike Krumboltz

A Kentucky man purchased every last bit of inventory from a Kmart store that was two days away from shutting its doors. But he didn't keep the stuff for himself. Rankin Paynter gave it all way to a local charity.
Paynter spent a total of $200,000 to buy the goods, which ranged from clothes to office supplies. According to a video from WHDH Boston, Paynter was buying supplies for his business when the idea hit. Paynter asked the cashier what they planned to do with the store's inventory when it closed down. The cashier responded that it would go to "Kmart power buyers."

Paynter became a power buyer, bought up everything, and then gave it away. "To be honest with you, I could have made $30,000-$40,000 on it," he said. Paynter has seen a lot of economic suffering at his jewelry exchange. "What I see is people coming in my store, needy people sell their stuff," Paynter said. "It's bad nowadays. I just told (the clerk) let's just give it away to charity."

Paynter is a successful businessman, but he had a rough time when he was growing up. "It was hard sometimes," Paynter said. "Tied rags around my feet sometimes too. I only had summer slippers."
Not surprisingly, Paynter's massive gift to Clark County Community Services was the organization's single biggest donation ever.