The pandemic made a lot of changes to the way we shop and the post pandemic era continued with the carnage. Because of this, many iconic stores in America have closed in the past few years, filing for bankruptcy and their clientele having been taken over by online stores. The latest one to suffer this fate is Kohl’s, who has shut down almost thirty of its stores in fifteen states.
The company has not yet filed for bankruptcy, but the situation does not look promising for this legendary retailer. The closings are not a surprise, as they were announced in January when Kohl’s released a statement warning their customers that they would be reducing their physical locations (at least three dozen stores) along with an e-commerce fulfillment center located in San Bernardino, California.
If their plan is to reduce physical locations, the closing of the e-commerce fulfillment center might not make sense, but executives claimed “increased efficiencies with new technology capabilities at newer EFC facilities,” which have “expanded the company’s ability to fulfill customer orders from store locations.” And although the 27 store closures announced will undoubtedly negatively impact the communities they serve, they are just a fraction of the more than 1,150 Kohl’s locations nationwide.
The Kohl’s locations closing by April 2025
Alabama
- Spanish Fort – 21000 Town Center Ave.
Arkansas
- Little Rock West – 13909 Chenal Pkwy.
California
- Balboa (San Diego) – 5505 Balboa Ave.
- Encinitas – 134 N El Camino Real
- Fremont – 43782 Christy St.
- Mountain View – 350 Showers Dr.
- Napa – 1116 1st St.
- Pleasanton – 4525 Rosewood Dr.
- Point West (Sacramento) – 1896 Arden Way
- San Rafael – 5010 Northgate Dr.
- San Luis Obispo – 205 Madonna Rd.
- Westchester – 8739 S Sepulveda Blvd.
Colorado
- Arapahoe Crossing (Aurora) – 6584 S Parker Rd.
Georgia
- Duluth – 2050 W Liddell Rd.
Idaho
- Boise – 400 N Milwaukee St.
Illinois
- Plainfield – 11860 S Route 59
- Spring Hill (West Dundee) – 3000 Spring Hill Ring Rd.
Massachusetts
- Stoughton – 501 Technology Center Dr.
New Jersey
- East Windsor – 72 Princeton Hightstown Rd.
Ohio
- Blue Ash – 4150 Hunt Rd.
- Forest Park (Cincinnati) – 100 Cincinnati Mills Dr.
Oregon
- Portland Gateway – 10010 NE Halsey St.
Pennsylvania
- Pottstown – 351 W Schuylkill Rd.
Texas
- North Dallas – 18224 Preston Rd.
Utah
- Riverton – 13319 S 3600 W Ste 13LOT
Virginia
- Herndon – 2100 Centreville Rd.
- Williamsburg – 100 Gristmill Plz
Luckily for the employees impacted by the closures, Kohl’s understands how this could affect them and their families, and so they have allocated funds to give those furloughed “a competitive severance package” or the opportunity to apply for other open roles within the company. Considering the current economic climate some might see relocation to a different store or a different state as a good chance to improve their quality of life.
As we have said, Kohl’s is not alone in the world of retailers negatively impacted by this new way of shopping. Although Trump’s tariffs on products imported from China might help them get a bit of market share back, the company’s stock has lost 70% of its value over the past five years due to the unfair competition that online retailers like Shein and Temu have brought to the table. It will be hard for them to get back to past levels unless the way Americans consume goes back to pre-pandemic times, and even then, it would be hard to justify keeping some of the underperforming stores.
This is especially tough considering that, over the past year alone, the stock has fallen by 48%, which may have warned many about the stores that were about to close, but will not prepare anyone for the entire company collapsing even if the writing is on the wall.