In 2018, sales inched up 0.7% from the prior year. Kohl’s has improved its athleisure business and other areas, but its women’s clothing business has slumped. These strategies have not led to major improvements. Kohl’s also shrunk the size of a handful of stores and leased out the extra space to Aldi and Planet Fitness, made a bigger play for Millennials with new brands such as PopSugar and, more recently, opened Sephora beauty stores inside Kohl’s. In addition to the returns partnership with Amazon, Kohl’s expanded its athleisure clothing business with brands such as Nike (SBUX), took over as Kohl’s CEO in 2018, the company has attempted a handful of approaches to draw customers and stave off competitors. Since Gass, a former top deputy to Howard Schultz at Starbucks “This will likely continue after the pandemic.” “orces like consumers’ migration to online and preference for value have contributed to this erosion,” UBS analyst Jay Sole said in a recent report. Kohl’s has lost around 17% of its market share since 2011, primarily to off-price retailers such as TJMaxx, as well as Amazon, according to UBS. Kohl's CEO Michelle Gass has been considered one of the most innovative executives in retail. “I think Kohl’s is caught right now by death in the middle.” Companies such as Sears, JCPenney, Neiman Marcus, Barney’s and others have filed for bankruptcy in recent years.ĭepartment stores including Kohl’s have been undercut on prices by discount players from the bottom, and prestige by luxury stores at the top, said John Fisher, a senior lecturer at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and former CEO of Saucony running shoes. (TGT), and discount clothing stores like TJMaxx. The department store sector has been in structural decline for years against pressure from Amazon, growing big-box chains including Walmart With more than 1,100 US stores and around $19 billion in annual sales, Kohl’s is the largest department store chain in the United States. Kohl’s is attempting yet another makeover to turn things around, but its success is far from guaranteed. “We are already delivering results,” the spokesperson added, pointing to the company’s record earnings in 2021, operating profit margins reached two years ahead of schedule and an increase in the company’s quarterly dividend. The spokesperson said Kohl’s has made “substantial progress in transforming our business and positioning the Company for long-term success.” In a statement, a Kohl’s spokesperson blasted Macellum, saying the firm was “using a misinformed, shifting and hollow narrative” to push for changes that would not improve Kohl’s and result in “poorly qualified and inexperienced” board directors. “We see a lot of initiatives that sound okay, but never really result in growth.” Kohl’s “should be doing better than Macy’s, not worse,” Duskin said. The group reached a settlement with Kohl’s in April, but Macellum has recently revived its effort to overhaul Kohl’s because of continued stock price weakness and market share losses. Macellum and a group of activist investors took a stake in Kohl’s last year. Kohl's is under heavy pressure from investors and retail rivals.

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