Not Even Amazon or the Olsen Twins Can Save Kohl's
The department store threw everything it had into the holiday season and still came up short. That doesn’t bode well.
A partnership with the Olsen twins failed to firm up women’s apparel.
Photographer: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images North AmericaKohl’s Corp.’s holiday season sales miss suggests even the most promising turnaround strategies won’t be enough to save department stores.
Shares of Kohl’s fell as much as 9.4% in early trading on Thursday after the company said same-store sales in the all-important November and December period declined. Kohl’s blamed the 0.2% sales drop on softness in women’s apparel, which CEO Michelle Gass said the company is “working with speed to address.” She promised to share additional details on key growth initiatives at an investor day scheduled for March. Credit to Kohl’s for realizing it needs to do more, but there’s still a sense of deja vu here.