ClownLoach wrote: ↑June 6th, 2022, 5:36 pm
So apparently the latest proposal is to sell to... the franchiser of Vitamin Shoppe?
You couldn't write a funnier soap opera than this Kohl's sale process if you tried. Maybe they can replace the Sephora with a Vitamin Shoppe. This sounds about as viable as the Haggen acquisition of all those Albertsons stores, or when Fred's Pharmacy was going to acquire the overlap in the proposed Rite Aid/Walgreens deal.
Maybe we all can make up a better acquisition partner, one that makes even less sense than this. My vote would be for Sears to take it over. I mean really, this is just a ridiculous process - management keeps making preposterous announcements that don't come to pass (we'll cut all the stores in half and add Grocery stores, or Gyms, or something regardless of how much more expensive construction is than building a new store - no wait, we will just open another 100 new stores all small format which will really help with the fact we already have too many stores...) and then buyers who clearly are not capable of fixing this cesspool but would never execute any of the Kohl's management plans either keep crawling out of the woodwork. Just pathetic.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/06/kohls-e ... roup-.html
I think it is a fantastic move. What better than to start franchising out Kohl's Stores. That is sure to be a winning strategy.
Better yet they can do co-branding. They can co-brand Buddy's Home Furnishings franchise with Kohl's and Vitamin Shoppe franchise. They can run 3 different franchisees under one roof to help make the franchises more accessible.
I think they also should go ahead and get Sears into the loop here and co-brand with Sears Hometown so they can also offer appliances. If they think the Sears name is too tarnished they could just throw that stuff under the Buddy's name. Buddy's also sounds like a great name for a place that sells used appliances, so perhaps they could get into that business as well.
The only other thing they'd need is to get a franchise based auto repair shop involved too and they could cover most of the bases. Depending what direction they go with Buddy's, and offering used appliances potentially, maybe they could get into the used tire business. Many businesses around Kohl's Stores specialize in new tires and surely there is a niche for used tires even in newer middle class suburbs.
Not sure where that would leave Sephora. Maybe Sephora could start a new downscale brand for Kohls to fit in with these other businesses. They could make an agreement with Dollar Tree to source Dollar Tree's cosmetics products and sell them in the Kohl's Stores.
The future is looking brighter and brighter for Kohl's. It is fascinating their management has entered "exclusive" sale talks with the franchise group. While I was not sure how factual the CNBC article was, in reading it, I thought maybe I was reading a tabloid or an article published April 1, but I realize now this is actually real news.
In other news, JC Penney is absolutely going to make a come back and don't count Sears out just yet because even they may be able to beat what is about to happen to Kohl's.
Perhaps after franchise group realizes they made a terrible mistake, Sears can come in and take over. They can do business with Kohls the same way they have Sears in recent years. That will ensure Kohls remains open for another 10+ years. It may be the longest shot at life Kohls has. I am sure Eddie Lampert would eliminate the expense of upper management at Kohls immediately which would also be a good move because the current upper management is beyond out of touch with reality. Once we all come to terms with the reality that a turnaround of Kohls is not going to happen and the chain is on the downward projectory, I think we can all agree that Eddie Lampert could do a better job guiding Kohls down its upcoming path to death.
Also I wonder which franchisee will get the handling fee that Amazon is paying for returns that Kohls takes, and which franchisee's payroll that program will come out of. Assuming Amazon wants to be housed in this type of establishment.
I wonder if franchise group has committed to retaining the current management team as well.