Kohl's History

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The Company Description of Its Time

Based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) files itself as a family-focused, value-oriented specialty department store offering moderately priced, exclusive and national brand apparel, shoes, accessories, beauty and home products in an exciting shopping environment. The scale in the filing's summary is 1,022 stores in 49 states. The company commitment runs alongside the commerce: Kohl's had raised more than $126 million for children's initiatives nationwide through its Kohl's Cares for Kids philanthropic program, which operates under Kohl's Cares, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kohl's Department Stores, Inc.

Ownership Changes and the Road to the 1992 IPO

The timeline in the historical record runs in dated steps. In 1978 BATUS, Inc., the U.S. division of BAT Industries PLC, purchased an 80 percent stake in the Kohl's Food and Department Stores and took complete control; at that time the Kohl family withdrew from operations. In 1983 BATUS sold Kohl's Food Stores to Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P), which closed the food stores in 2003. In 1986 a management-led group of investors formed Kohl's Corporation and acquired Kohl's Department Stores from BATUS, operating 40 stores with annual sales of $300 million and over 5,000 associates. In 1987 Kohl's ranked 8th in Wisconsin's top 100 privately owned companies, with over 80 percent of merchandise carrying national brand names, and the chain dropped low-volume departments such as candy, sewing notions and sporting goods in favour of higher-margin merchandise such as linens and jewelry.

Growth followed in acquisitions and numbers. In 1988 came the purchase of 26 Main Street stores from Federated Department Stores, taking the count to 66 stores and into Michigan, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago; from 1988 to 1992 sales increased from $388 million to $1 billion. In 1992 Kohl's became a public company with an initial public offering of 11.1 million shares, one of Wisconsin's largest initial offerings; its Menomonee Falls distribution center was expanded to 500,000 square feet, enough capacity to service 120 stores. From 1992 to 1999 the chain more than tripled its stores to 259 while revenues quadrupled from $1.1 billion to $4.6 billion; the stock split two for one in April 1996, and Kohl's joined the S&P 500 in 1998, with another two-for-one split that April.

Coast to Coast: 2000 to 2009, as Recorded

The 2000s entries are a geography of American expansion. In 2000 Kohl's operated 298 stores in 25 states with 43,000 associates, entered the Northeast including Connecticut, New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area, and added an e-commerce fulfillment center in Monroe, Ohio. Atlanta followed in 2001 with 15 stores, alongside Arkansas, Oklahoma City, Austin, Fayetteville and El Paso, a fifth distribution center in Corsicana, Texas, and the introduction of Kohls.com. In 2002 Kohl's entered Boston and Houston, opened its first stores in New Hampshire and Rhode Island and in Nashville, and reached net sales of $9.1 billion. In 2003 it opened 28 stores in California, giving the company a coast-to-coast presence for the first time, and ended the year with 542 stores after Southwest expansion into Arizona and Nevada.

Scale compounded from there: 95 stores opened in 2005 for 732 stores in 41 states and 107,000 associates; 85 more in 2006, including the Northwest, for 817 stores in 47 states and 114,000 associates, every region of the country now covered. Brand launches fill the later entries: Tony Hawk and Chaps in 2006; the Food Network brand and Simply Vera Vera Wang in September 2007, the largest launch in company history; Jumping Beans children's private brand, Elle expanded nationwide, Bobby Flay and FILA Sport in 2008, the year Kevin Mansell was named President and CEO; and in 2009 the first store in Alaska, completing 49 states, plus Dana Buchman, Hang Ten and the announced LC Lauren Conrad partnership. The filing closes the history there and states the mission: to be the leading family-focused, value-oriented specialty department store offering quality exclusive and national brand merchandise in an environment that is convenient, friendly and exciting. This rebuild preserves the timeline as recorded, with its dates; for current stores and ranges, the official Kohl's websites in the References are the authorities, and the routes to Jobs at Kohl's, News about Kohl's and Kohl's Financials remain on this page.

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