Forget Kohl’s Cash, this move might even be better for the retail chain’s struggling customers.
Kohl’s Say (KSS) – Get a free reporthas had a tumultuous year in the last 12 months could be considered a massive understatement.
Kohl’s had survived decades without really making big strides in advancing its fashion and retail image. It had definitely started to affect the company, as the competition from department stores had closed in some cases, like Sears, or updated their retail concept, like Target.
So, during 2022, Kohl’s had been considering possible purchase options, and it wasn’t until Kohl’s came close to closing the deal with Franchise Group. (RFA) – Get a free report, late in the second quarter he abruptly backed out of the deal. Kohl’s cited a volatile market as the reason for ending deal negotiations.
So Kohl’s made a surprising move and quickly began revamping its inventory and fashion departments. A couple of weeks after ending the deal with Franchise Group, Kohl’s developed a new section of its store known as Discover @ Kohl’s. It’s not known if the retailer had been working on this alone or just came up with this new concept, but it came out quickly with By Women For Women fashions, a Family Fall line, and supporting a charity with its new concept by introducing products to give back. .
Kohl’s continued to push forward in Q4 2022 with new partnerships offering retro fashion exclusively available at Kohl’s with Levi’s Silver Tab line. (LEVI) – Get a free report’90s collection. Interestingly, not long after the deal to bring the Silver Tab to Kohl’s, Kohl’s then-CEO Michelle Gass announced her departure to become president and eventual CEO of Levi Strauss. Kohl also pledged to give back millions to her community and charities, all while she announces layoffs at her corporate office.
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Kohl’s makes surprising expansion move
Kohl’s is making a surprising move after the year it’s had, as it continues to expand its Sephora footprint in its stores. Sephora is a beauty and personal care retailer owned by the multinational conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMHF) . Kohl’s began its partnership with Sephora 2021 and continued to open stores-within-a-store in its department stores.
The retailer announced on March 22 that it was moving forward with plans to open another 250 stores, including stores in stores with Sephora. These full-size apartments at Kohl’s will occupy approximately 2,500 square feet of Kohl’s existing retail footprint. The addition of these stores will bring Sephora’s store count to 850 stores.
“We are making great strides in building a tremendous beauty business with the addition of Sephora into Kohl’s,” said Karen Daoust, Kohl’s senior vice president and general manager of Sephora at Kohl’s. “The completion of our 850 stores in 2023 is just the beginning as we look to expand Sephora at Kohl’s to all stores, enhance the customer experience and bring prestige beauty to our customers across the country.”
Leveled against competitor target
The partnership between Sephora and Kohl’s rivals Target (TGT) – Get a free reportstore-to-store experience with Ulta Beauty (LAST) – Get a free reportwhich has been in Target stores as well since 2021. While both store shopping experiences occurred in the same year for both retailers, the expected outcome of each partnership is the same.
Beauty and personal care businesses quickly expand their reach when they incorporate into existing retailers, and retailers are able to offer more beauty and personal care products to their existing customers. Kohl’s and Sephora have already seen increased sales.
Sephora projects to reach $2 billion in sales by 2025 according to a Kohl’s press release, and Kohl’s said that in those Sephora sales, approximately 50% of the tickets contained other Kohl’s products in purchase. So it is unknown if the shoppers who walked in were initially Sephora or Kohl’s customers, but what really matters is that the customer left the store with both companies’ products, showing that the partnership is succeeding. in your company.
Sephora had previously worked at JCPenney retail stores and ended her association to work with Kohl’s. Sephora also has stand-alone stores, but Sephora’s business strategy is to expand and be considered the ultimate authority on skin care and beauty products. Even at Kohl’s store-to-store locations, staff receive additional training to be able to provide personalized beauty consultations and help customers make the right products for customers’ needs.
