From free to gone: Kmart wants to sell its BlueLight ISP to United Online

Once it was the linchpin of Kmart Corp.’s online strategy. But today, Kmart Corp. announced that United Online Inc. has agreed to pay $8.4 million for Kmart’s BlueLight Internet access service.

Kmart once believed offering Internet access for free to consumers would drive traffic--and, it hoped, purchasing--at BlueLight.com. The service made BlueLight.com users’ default home page. It amassed millions of users, then lost most when it began to charge a monthly fee. But it insisted those who were left made the ISP profitable.

The sale, which includes both the Internet access company and e-mail service assets of BlueLight.com, is subject to federal bankruptcy court approval.

United Online offers Internet access and e-mail services through its Juno and NetZero brands.

Kmart said the sale will not affect the operation of Kmart.com. In July, BlueLight said that a special promotion had tripled its number of Internet access subscribers, resulting in about 480,000. It also said its Internet access service was proving to be effective at gathering e-mail addresses to support Kmart’s marketing efforts.