Nearly one year ago, Kohl’s had just shuttered more than two dozen stores. Now, the retailer is holding steady on its store count.
The Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-headquartered retailer has 1,150 stores currently, which comes after the closing of 27 stores in the first four months of 2025. Among its current stores, “well over 90% are profitable,” CEO Michael Bender said during Kohl’s March 10 earnings call discussing the company’s 2025 fiscal year performance.
For now, the company does not foresee closing additional stores — or opening new ones — and instead, will focus on improving performance at its existing stores. “I would not anticipate any sort of grand plan of saying we’re taking stores out or adding stores at this point,” Bender said during the call. “The focus for us is actually on optimizing what we already have and we’ll be focused on making sure that we continue to push the stores productivity going forward.”
The company evaluates stores on an “annual basis,” Bender said, in response to questions about additional closings or openings. “And to the extent that there are opportunities for us to either relocate … we can do that. But no major change in the store base expectation at this point.”
Kohl’s Is Making Moves to Boost Sales
Consumers are being buffeted by high prices in all categories of spending, and the company has to address that.
“The consumer is behaving differently in this challenging macroeconomic environment,” Bender said. “We know our core low-to-middle income customers continue to face financial pressures and they are seeking value.”
Among the moves Kohl’s is making to help drive sales growth:
- Cosmetics: MAC Cosmetics will be available in 850 Sephora at Kohl’s locations this month.
- Kids clothing: Offer more under So and Sonoma brand clothes for under $10 and expand Jumping Beans baby and FLX Kids clothing to all stores by summer.
- Impulse deals: The company has rolled out a “deal bar” with items that are $10 or less at the front of the store and will deploy an Impulse Toy Tower, with toys also priced under $10.
Is Kohl’s Turning a Profit?
Kohl’s reported profit of $125 million for the quarter, which ended Jan. 31, 2026, and included the holiday shopping season. That’s up from $48 million in the same period a year ago. Full-year profit of $272 million outpaced the $109 million from fiscal year 2024.
However, sales were down 3.9% for the quarter and 4% for the year — continuing the company’s streak of lower sales that goes back years.
The company is planning on sales to be flat or down roughly 2% for 2026. “We’re ending 2025 in a stronger position than we started, though important work remains ahead of us,” Bender said.
Kohl’s showed some progress, but the company has to stabilize its market share “and both 4Q results and 2026 guidance for sales flat to modestly down suggest this story’s ending has not yet been told,” said David Silverman, senior director at Fitch Ratings in a research note about Kohl’s earnings. “The company has the tools needed to execute its turnaround and 2026 will likely be a pivotal period to see if sales can finally stabilize.”
Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Kohl’s close more stores? Here’s what we know.
Reporting by Mike Snider and Ricardo Torres, USA TODAY
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