Kohls

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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cjd
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Kohls

Post by cjd »

I stopped at a Kohl's this week for the first time, since there are none in my area. My overall impressions were that it was a nicely laid out and stocked store. The clothing seemed good quality. But overall, it didn't really seem to have anything to offer than what a typical Belk, JCPenney or such would have. I would say it was stocked better than a JCPenney, and slightly higher end merchandise but overall things just seemed to be spread out a lot and the merchandise choices were not that large.

I guess overall my impression was "where does this really fit in to the department store landscape?" I guess like I said really saw nothing offered that went beyond typical mall line dept store retailer. I guess I was expecting it to be more like a Target, or such, which it isn't, and I can't really figure out what their specialty is.
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Re: Kohls

Post by Super S »

cjd wrote: January 1st, 2020, 7:04 am I stopped at a Kohl's this week for the first time, since there are none in my area. My overall impressions were that it was a nicely laid out and stocked store. The clothing seemed good quality. But overall, it didn't really seem to have anything to offer than what a typical Belk, JCPenney or such would have. I would say it was stocked better than a JCPenney, and slightly higher end merchandise but overall things just seemed to be spread out a lot and the merchandise choices were not that large.

I guess overall my impression was "where does this really fit in to the department store landscape?" I guess like I said really saw nothing offered that went beyond typical mall line dept store retailer. I guess I was expecting it to be more like a Target, or such, which it isn't, and I can't really figure out what their specialty is.
The difference in Kohl's to me is their presentation. The stores always seem clean and well-stocked, and their checkout experience is better than others such as JCPenney. This has a lot to do with the fact that Kohl's has a dedicated returns desk. They do strike me as a chain that pays more attention to modern times and often has more convenient hours than traditional mall stores. With that said, I find their men's department lacking a bit, they tend to stock things more on the "dressy" side and do not carry much in the way of big & tall sizes. I find their pricing hit-or-miss and they sometimes resort to gimmicks that other department stores use. I don't find their merchandise to really stand out though.

In some instances Kohl's has moved in to mall locations, most of which were occupied by other retailers that closed. This does draw foot traffic, but some of these stores are not laid out as well as their standalone stores, and their two-story locations in particular are a bit inconsistent in how they are laid out.
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Re: Kohls

Post by buckguy »

I think the perception of being "modern" is probably the appeal and may have something to do with not being a big store in a mall. One reason malls have been dying is that the last generation of new stores didn't originate in malls, regardless of whether they're upscale or downscale.

The menswear is basically what you'd find in a lower middle brow department store. If anything, they have more nonsense than a regular department store--you have to buy multiple items to get the special price and then they push the frequent shopper thing. I rarely think of going to one because the experience is so off-putting.
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Re: Kohls

Post by storewanderer »

I really think Kohls had a good concept 15 years ago and ran their stores well. It seems like they overexpanded and the product mix, service, and overall store quality fell. Reoccupying old Mervyns locations that were too small for Kohls and not in the physical condition of the stores Kohls built on its own did not help the image of the chain for me.

The past few months I've been to Kohls a few times and while the stores look neater and more organized than they had the past couple years (where they were so messy with so much on the floors they looked like a thrift store), many parts of the store just look forgotten. Specifically the home goods areas, but also the accessories/jewelry/cosmetics areas. Old product, dusty, disorganized, unclear pricing. I think Kohls has a number of struggling categories they need to seriously reevaluate, potentially downsize and move to a visible location at the front of the store to force people (including employees and the store manager so they remember to clean and straighten the departments) to see the stuff, or flat out exit the categories completely.

Kohls also holds onto seasonal stuff way too long. They still had Christmas stuff at 70-80% off last March in both Reno, NV Stores. Not sure if this was chainwide or a merchandising issue isolated to these two stores. But again this is not their core business and a category that needs to be seriously reevaluated.

Kohls often seems to locate with Wal Mart or near Wal Mart and I really think they are trying for that customer who frequently goes to Wal Mart, but sometimes wants those brand name athletic shoes or some clothing that is just a little dressier looking than what Wal Mart offers (because Kohls house brand stuff isn't the greatest quality and I think is about on par with the clothing Wal Mart sells quality-wise). As the malls lose more and more relevance and Sears/JCP/Macys have been bleeding customers the past few years, I do think Kohls has benefited in picking some of those customers up who used to go to the mall but have a Kohl's closer to their house and settle for the Kohls because it is "good enough" - may not be as good as Macys, but is light years better than JCP/Sears.

I think Kohls is well positioned to capture additional market share in the future with its store locations, website efforts, and the weakness of its competitors. For instance my market has 4 Kohls. All are 10+ minutes from the mall where Macys is. They basically hit all of the growing neighborhoods around the area and are extremely well positioned. One is about a mile from Dillards and that is the worst performing Kohls in the area (it does okay, but the other three locations do very well). I'd rather have a Macys in my neighborhood than Kohls, but the reality is Kohls appeals to a much more broad base of customers than Macys and can survive in a middle class or lower middle class area across from a Wal Mart and I don't think Macys could survive in many of those locations.

As far as the loyalty program goes, Kohls loyalty program (the one for non-store credit card holders) is similar to the one offered by Macys except at least with Kohls you earn everyday (vs. at Macys you only earn some days unless you have their store credit card) and I think JCP has a rewards program that functions very similarly the one at Kohls too. I will also add the Kohls program, if I do not shop there for a few months, will "round up" my points to 100 points which yields a $5 off any purchase no exclusions coupon. Macy's program is particularly bad, for instance I spent $150 there last week but $100 I paid with a gift card; you only earn points on the portion not paid with a gift card so I only earned points on the $50. I am not sure if maybe you get points if you buy a gift card there or what the deal is. Terrible loyalty program at Macys. So I think the Rewards program at Kohls is just another "me too" program in a sea of loyalty programs offered by competitors.
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Re: Kohls

Post by Bagels »

We do most of our apparel, and much of our home goods, shopping at Kohl's. If you "know how to Kohl's," -- that is, stack discounts with promotions and rewards -- you won't find a better price for the quality of merchandise (and when they mark down merchandise to 90%, they practically give it away, as it can be stacked with further discounts). As a bonus, Kohl's accepts returns for up to six months (it was lifetime until this past September), even for items that have been washed, worn and well used. I do NOT encourage people to take advantage of the return policy, but it's good insurance for the items you buy. We've spent tens of thousands of dollars at Kohl's on hundreds of items through the years, and some haven't held up. If it wasn't for the generous return policy, there's no way Kohl's would've gotten as much of our business.

I do agree with stevewanderer that Kohl's can be very slow in moving clearance merchandise. Three years ago, in September, one store near me had plenty of 'A Christmas Story' and 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' merchandise marked 70% off being sold among the new year's merchandise -- literally, the exact same products with an updated UPC code (Kohl's had the 'A Christmas Story' and 'National Lampoon's' stuff every single year for a couple decades ... they still carry the latter, although they no longer carry the former).

Same thing happened this year, although on a smaller scale (some minor items, like Docker's Gift Sets and bottle caddies).
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Re: Kohls

Post by Brian Lutz »

The Kohl's stores near where I live are generally in pretty good shape, but I find that the clearance racks can be very disorganized, to the point that you have to dig through virtually the entire rack to even find things in your size (the hangers don't necessarily match the actual merchandise, and things tend to end up in the wrong section.) One thing they have started doing recently is accepting Amazon returns, and when you return Amazon items in their stores they tend to give out fairly generous discount coupons to try to entice people to stay and shop in the store. It can be hard to tell how much of an actual discount you get from the coupons (after all, there are lies, damned lies and Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Prices) but it seems like people do use them.
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Re: Kohls

Post by storewanderer »

I too find a lot of stuff at 90% off at Kohls. I've even gotten so lucky as to find luggage (looked for some with dust). Another trick I've noticed with Kohls is every season they keep increasing their regular prices so when you see two identical items and one has a price $5 or $10 higher than the other, the cheaper one is likely from last season and 90% off. Sometimes I find items so old the items no longer scan at the front checkout, but will scan back at the customer service area since they are still in the system for returns (so 90% off is what they scan). Spending a few hours in Kohls with a $10 off $30 or some similar coupon combined with 90% off goods can yield some real deals. Yes it takes time, a lot of time, and you may come out with nothing, but I do find more often than not I can find things. It isn't always the clearance racks either. I've found a few dress shirts, slacks, etc. on "forgotten" looking racks toward the back of the men's area at 90% off and gotten lucky and found the correct sizes. If you are willing to bite at 70-80% off you will likely have a good assortment of brands and sizes to select from in these categories on any given day.
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Re: Kohls

Post by Bagels »

storewanderer wrote: January 2nd, 2020, 8:48 pm I too find a lot of stuff at 90% off at Kohls. I've even gotten so lucky as to find luggage (looked for some with dust). Another trick I've noticed with Kohls is every season they keep increasing their regular prices so when you see two identical items and one has a price $5 or $10 higher than the other, the cheaper one is likely from last season and 90% off. Sometimes I find items so old the items no longer scan at the front checkout, but will scan back at the customer service area since they are still in the system for returns (so 90% off is what they scan). Spending a few hours in Kohls with a $10 off $30 or some similar coupon combined with 90% off goods can yield some real deals. Yes it takes time, a lot of time, and you may come out with nothing, but I do find more often than not I can find things. It isn't always the clearance racks either. I've found a few dress shirts, slacks, etc. on "forgotten" looking racks toward the back of the men's area at 90% off and gotten lucky and found the correct sizes. If you are willing to bite at 70-80% off you will likely have a good assortment of brands and sizes to select from in these categories on any given day.
I agree completely, if you're trying to get the "best" deals at Kohl's, it's very time consuming, which became a problem with me as I began to increase the value of my (free)time. But fortunately, Kohl's tends to run the same sales, and similar/repeated promotions, and they - along with markdowns - tend to be like clockwork, so over time, you can generally get a very good idea of what to pay and when to buy.

You mentioned my favorite type of finds... clearance items that were never moved or properly tagged. I've gotten many, many wonderful deals from this. JCPenney is notorious for this as well.
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