U.S. News
Major Retail Store Spiralling Decrease In Sales
Clear Facts
- Kohl’s, a longstanding retail mainstay, has seen a continued decrease in sales, with recent figures revealing a 5.3 percent drop in net sales and a 4.4 percent drop in comparable sales during Q1 2024.
- Kohl’s shares suffered a significant blow, recording a 20 percent drop, the largest single-day percentage fall in the company’s history.
- According to research by GlobalData, Kohl’s sales have fallen 16.8 percent since 2019, estimating that the retailer has lost approximately 1.5 million customers over the same period.
In contrast to the recent success stories of other mall brands such as Abercrombie, Gap, and American Eagle, Kohl’s has been facing a different reality. The once-popular store has been struggling to retain its customer base, as indicated by the continued decline in sales figures.
“Kohl’s reported a 5.3 percent drop in net sales and a 4.4 percent drop in comparable (same-store) sales during the first quarter of 2024,” the company announced in a recent press release. This lackluster financial performance also resulted in a net loss of $27 million or $0.24 loss per share.
The company’s shares took a nosedive after the announcement, losing 20 percent of their value, a record drop for the retailer. “Kohl’s lowered its fiscal forecast for the year as well. The retailer now predicts a 2 to 4 percent decrease in net sales,” as mentioned in a recent report.
“Our first quarter results did not meet our expectations and are not reflective of the direction we are heading with our strategic initiatives,” Kohl’s CEO, Tom Kingsbury, confessed during the press release.
Kingsbury detailed the challenges the company has been facing. “While spending among our high-income customers has remained steady, our middle-income customer continues to be impacted,” he said. This comes with rising interest rates and inflation, which have pressured the discretionary spend of the company’s middle-income customers.
The CEO also mentioned that poor weather conditions during the last five weeks of the first quarter affected the sales of seasonal merchandise.
However, Kohl’s predicament isn’t a recent development. “Sales have fallen by 16.8 percent since 2019,” as per Neil Saunders of GlobalData, who also estimated that the retailer has lost approximately 1.5 million customers during the same period.
Saunders further explained that Kohl’s isn’t generating enough revenue to cover its debt interest payments, thereby reducing the funds available for store upgrades.
Despite these setbacks, Kohl’s is pushing forward with new strategies, including the introduction of Sephora and Babies R Us shops within its stores. But experts, including Emarketer senior analyst Zak Stambor, believe this rebranding effort isn’t enough to curb the sales decline.
“Kohl’s has been too reliant on other brands such as Sephora, Amazon, and now Babies R Us to drive traffic rather than distinguishing its core brand identity,” Stambor said. He added that customers are more inclined to shop at stores like Abercrombie, where they perceive the merchandise to be trendier and of better quality.
Kingsbury, however, remains hopeful, citing progress in the women’s category and “continued strong growth in Sephora”. The CEO also noted that they had successfully reduced inventory by 13 percent. Despite the optimism, it remains to be seen whether these efforts will be enough to reverse the trend of falling sales and dwindling customer numbers.
Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Camille Gilliam
June 6, 2024 at 8:26 pm
So many times they don’t have the sizes and then you have to order on line. they don’t even carry pantyhose and the jeans I really liked they aren’t getting the same style noe, it makes one feel like we already live in Russia. Also stop with the woke crap for babies & little kids.
Zach
June 8, 2024 at 6:47 am
Kohl’s used to be a decent place but is now in a slow death spiral like Kmart was and it shows!
doug_S
June 8, 2024 at 7:18 am
Go woke, go broke . Kohl’s started to lean left in its marketing and that has turned off a number of former customers.
SAMSON
June 11, 2024 at 6:39 am
👍
SAMSON
June 11, 2024 at 6:42 am
People are boycotting just like at Target for there evil leftist idea’s and promoting perverts.
Della Schimmel
June 8, 2024 at 7:26 am
IT LOOKS LIKE A RUMMAGE SALE IN THERE NOW.
M.A. White
June 8, 2024 at 10:00 am
Last time I was in Kohls, several years ago now, I agree. It looked like a second-hand shop. Merchandise was not in the correct place, many items had no price tags, sizes were all mixed together, etc. I was a frequent shopper at Kohls years ago but no more.
L.M
June 11, 2024 at 7:50 am
Same here. The quality seemed to go down a few notches every time I went in. Sometime around when covid hit, I stopped even going there.
Steve
June 8, 2024 at 7:43 am
Go WOKE go Broke….
KR
June 8, 2024 at 7:57 am
I buy a lot of my clothes at Kohls. The Mall Stores don’t have anything that appeals to my age group. The prices are better at Kohls too. I hope they don’t close. At least they didn’t advertise the gay stuff.
Herta
June 8, 2024 at 9:23 am
Kohl’s was a decent store but no longer. They don’t provide in store service, you can never find anyone on the floor to ask for help. I do not shop there any more.
Dianne
June 8, 2024 at 6:42 pm
Kohl’s has been my go-to for a long time no. I did the majority of my Christmas shopping there, etc., BUT NO MORE. As some others stated, GO WOKE, GO BROKE!!! That’s not what your customer base wants & your sales are showing it! Other reasons are the way overinflated prices now & the sales & even clearances are no good. Also, you used to honor Kohl’s cash indefinitely & now it expires in a short period of time. Not everyone can make it back to the store that quickly. We can’t all shop there every darn week. It just makes us feel resentful because we’ve lost part of the bargain we got when we can’t use the Kohl’s cash because it expires so quickly. What you gain in our lost Kohl’s cash is good will & a bad taste in our mouths not to shop there. Also, I think about the time you started losing money, is when you revamped how the percentages off/Kohl’s cash & all that are used. What you didn’t realize was, those bargains brought the customers in, but then they left with baskets full, much more than they came for 🙂 Now that you’ve taken all that away, there’s nothing to draw people into the store to begin with anymore. The home goods designs used to be a lot nicer too, now just look like junk. It used to be a happy place to shop! You need to go back to the drawing board to survive & cut the woke crap. Most of us do not appreciate that! Change for change sake is not always good!!! You shouldn’t fix what wasn’t broke!!!
Connie Eggen
June 8, 2024 at 9:02 pm
I used to buy a lot at Kohls but they are poor service and do not treat customers well. Cannot find a clerk if you need one. They are overpriced and their sales are what the retail prices should be…you do not find a good buy at Kohls. Kohls Cash became a JOKE! The store nearest me had one particular male clerk who was exceedingly rude…I dropped them!
Susan Ifland
June 8, 2024 at 10:01 pm
Go woke go broke! I stopped shopping there when they went woke!
Kay M
June 11, 2024 at 8:14 am
Love the Amazon returns.
Inflation since 2021 has just been too high to allow clothing purchases. Food a priority. Also, ditch the rainbows!
Rob
June 11, 2024 at 11:48 am
We used to shop there. Frequently. However, over the last two years every time we go in there is a problem. Stuff which is shown to be on sale is not, or comes up at a different price, and they won’t honor the sale price. They have put in a lot of foreigners, you know, the ones with the bags on their hair. Difficult people. Rude. Don’t give a damn. Guess what? We don’t need that, won’t deal with it. Last time we were in, will be the last time. There was a sale. But the prices in the store were different. Had to go to the back to get a price corrected, but then it somehow changed the value of the coupon, or some such s hit. The bag hair lady, who we’ve dealt with before, dug in her heels and wasn’t going to do a da mn thing. ‘Take it, or leave it’ she said. Fcku her. fcku Kohl’s. We had also gotten a ‘special coupon’ which we had thought was good, oh, noooooo. It had a very small print seven day expiration date, and this was the eighth day.
Never again. NEVER.
Al Dee
June 11, 2024 at 8:06 pm
As others have said; our local Kohl’s has become pathetic. The last time I was in there, I was shopping for a new trench coat, and couldn’t find anything like them in the men’s department. I finally found someone who worked there and asked if they had them. The “kid” didn’t even know what a trench coat is. I told him it’s a lightweight weatherproof overcoat that is made to go down to the knees or lower. He said they don’t have anything like that – and just walked away. What?!!! – So I went to the front of the store where the only other Kohl’s people could be found and none of them knew what I was talking about, and didn’t offer to try to look it up to see if they have them in other stores. So, I just walked out and have never been back since. Clothing is the major part of their stores, and they don’t have any idea what anything is. That’s a sure-fire way to go belly-up and that’s what’s happening to them. Good riddance. – Note: I went online and searched for trench coats – and what came up where some of the most “limp-wristed-styled” junk I’ve ever seen – that is supposed to be men’s trench coats, but look like they would be much better suited for a woman to wear. So, I’ve given up – and will just have do without it.