Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

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storewanderer
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: March 31st, 2022, 6:48 am
Underperformance for all!

Sephora and Ulta are adopting the same scorched earth strategy that Office Depot and Staples did a couple of decades ago. They are going to be primarily next to each other or across the street from each other. Before you generally would see Sephora in a mall and Ulta off mall so there was separation. Now they're on each other's off mall turf.

And now Ulta is retaliating with a Target tie up. This makes a lot more sense as they share the same tier of customer. So far this is working the right way - they are adding Ulta only under the same roof if there isn't an existing location or Sephora nearby. This is the only path to success here.


What a mess this is going to be!
I agree, these Kohl's locations are not the right place for Sephora. Ulta is often nearby with a wider appeal and more casual environment for shopping. I kind of wonder how they even performed in JCP. I know what we heard. It was great, a huge success, etc. But was it really?

I think the Ulta-Target tie up is going to be a big mess of product shrink for all involved and hopefully it won't dilute the Ulta brand too badly. Target cannot keep that category stocked (due to what appears to be out of control theft). Unless Ulta stations a clerk on every aisle I'm not sure how they will control it.
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by babs »

storewanderer wrote: March 31st, 2022, 9:49 pm
ClownLoach wrote: March 31st, 2022, 6:48 am
Underperformance for all!

Sephora and Ulta are adopting the same scorched earth strategy that Office Depot and Staples did a couple of decades ago. They are going to be primarily next to each other or across the street from each other. Before you generally would see Sephora in a mall and Ulta off mall so there was separation. Now they're on each other's off mall turf.

And now Ulta is retaliating with a Target tie up. This makes a lot more sense as they share the same tier of customer. So far this is working the right way - they are adding Ulta only under the same roof if there isn't an existing location or Sephora nearby. This is the only path to success here.


What a mess this is going to be!
I agree, these Kohl's locations are not the right place for Sephora. Ulta is often nearby with a wider appeal and more casual environment for shopping. I kind of wonder how they even performed in JCP. I know what we heard. It was great, a huge success, etc. But was it really?

I think the Ulta-Target tie up is going to be a big mess of product shrink for all involved and hopefully it won't dilute the Ulta brand too badly. Target cannot keep that category stocked (due to what appears to be out of control theft). Unless Ulta stations a clerk on every aisle I'm not sure how they will control it.
Where are you getting this out of control theft issue at Target from? They have some if the best LP programs in the industry.

Ulta at Target seems to be a pretty smart move. They are simply consolidating some apparel space to make room for it. At many stores, there is room to tighten up the apparel racks. This is perfect to bring in their target customer of younger moms. We always need to look at who the target customer is.
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by storewanderer »

babs wrote: April 1st, 2022, 12:49 pm
Where are you getting this out of control theft issue at Target from? They have some if the best LP programs in the industry.

Ulta at Target seems to be a pretty smart move. They are simply consolidating some apparel space to make room for it. At many stores, there is room to tighten up the apparel racks. This is perfect to bring in their target customer of younger moms. We always need to look at who the target customer is.
The cosmetics racks in Target Stores I go into (aside from one very low volume store in a more rural location) are routinely more than 20% out of stock and stay this way for days/weeks. Sometimes one store that has it near the entry can be as much as 50% out of stock across those aisles. I am referring strictly to the cosmetics aisles (face foundation/eye liquids/lip/etc.), not things like cleansers and acne products. They clearly have a major theft problem in the cosmetics category.

Target's loss prevention does not want to chase after small items. It is too easy for someone to drop a small item before leaving the store and be falsely accused of theft. Target's loss prevention's eye is on big items that are easier to build a case of theft with. Building a case against some teenager who stole 3 lipsticks over a 3 week period isn't the type of case Target is going to screw around with.
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: April 1st, 2022, 6:53 pm
babs wrote: April 1st, 2022, 12:49 pm
Where are you getting this out of control theft issue at Target from? They have some if the best LP programs in the industry.

Ulta at Target seems to be a pretty smart move. They are simply consolidating some apparel space to make room for it. At many stores, there is room to tighten up the apparel racks. This is perfect to bring in their target customer of younger moms. We always need to look at who the target customer is.
The cosmetics racks in Target Stores I go into (aside from one very low volume store in a more rural location) are routinely more than 20% out of stock and stay this way for days/weeks. Sometimes one store that has it near the entry can be as much as 50% out of stock across those aisles. I am referring strictly to the cosmetics aisles (face foundation/eye liquids/lip/etc.), not things like cleansers and acne products. They clearly have a major theft problem in the cosmetics category.

Target's loss prevention does not want to chase after small items. It is too easy for someone to drop a small item before leaving the store and be falsely accused of theft. Target's loss prevention's eye is on big items that are easier to build a case of theft with. Building a case against some teenager who stole 3 lipsticks over a 3 week period isn't the type of case Target is going to screw around with.
Cosmetics departments are high-theft across the board, usually there's limited ingress/egress, a giant sign warning that shoppers are being monitored, and a video screen of what's going on. They usually have special fixtures that make it difficult to just sweep across and throw everything in a bag.
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by storewanderer »

pseudo3d wrote: April 2nd, 2022, 8:35 am

Cosmetics departments are high-theft across the board, usually there's limited ingress/egress, a giant sign warning that shoppers are being monitored, and a video screen of what's going on. They usually have special fixtures that make it difficult to just sweep across and throw everything in a bag.
In the case of the Target locations I have observed with the major out of stock issue (theft issue), in cosmetics, the aisles are laid out like any other aisles. The aisles are also very narrow which makes doing any kind of video camera monitoring extremely difficult especially if other customers are on the aisle. The shelves are designed to make it not so easy to "clear a shelf" (you'd have to lift many items out one at a time). From time to time Target will put locking peg hooks on certain items but those never seem to last as there are issues with the employees picking orders and not all having the device to unlock them and/or not remembering/not bothering to re-tach the locking peg hook after they pick one of those items for an order.
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by Alpha8472 »

They could lock up the items in glass cases and have an employee stand there and unlock them.
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by pseudo3d »

Alpha8472 wrote: April 3rd, 2022, 1:52 pm They could lock up the items in glass cases and have an employee stand there and unlock them.
That takes a lot of labor, and is extremely inconvenient. Wal-Mart used to lock up video games for years, but the area was well-staffed and it was easy to retrieve something. Nowadays, practically the entire department is locked up (and if you're lucky, is the only thing locked up) but the staffing is so low there that you'll often have to wait. God help you if you want to get fabric cut, too...now THAT'S a department that took the hardest fall.

Department stores (like Kohl's, until recently apparently) have well-staffed cosmetics counters, but if Kohl's is trying to cut the fat and eliminate staffing, then they're going to try to cut people in the department.
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by Alpha8472 »

Cosmetics theft at Target is a concern. If the cosmetics are stolen, then Target risks the partnership between them and the big cosmetics brands.

It would be in the interest of Ultra to force Target to station an employee and guard the Ulta products. If the items are stolen they both lose out. Ultra may threaten Target with termination of the contract if Target does not guard the items. The goal of the partnership was so that Ulta would not have to spend money on Ulta stores and Ulta employees.
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: April 4th, 2022, 12:42 pm Cosmetics theft at Target is a concern. If the cosmetics are stolen, then Target risks the partnership between them and the big cosmetics brands.

It would be in the interest of Ultra to force Target to station an employee and guard the Ulta products. If the items are stolen they both lose out. Ultra may threaten Target with termination of the contract if Target does not guard the items. The goal of the partnership was so that Ulta would not have to spend money on Ulta stores and Ulta employees.
Is it Ulta employees or Target employees that will run the departments? Given with Ulta they will have more SKUs and some higher value SKUs, if the departments generate more sales, they should also be able to afford more labor. If there is more labor, there will be less theft.
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Re: Potential multiple takeover bids for Kohl's

Post by Alpha8472 »

I would assume it would be a Target employee who is trained to give expert cosmetics consultations and advice. Along with giving advice and upselling products, the Target employee would also guard the cosmetics items by keeping them in locked display cases. Target employees are paid less than Ulta employees.

The store within a store concept is good idea, but there should be a cash register at the cosmetics counter to ring up those cosmetics items so people do not leave without paying. Sephora stores within other stores seemed to have that format.
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