Kohl's prepares to enter new markets

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/7/2002 2:23:00 PM

Menomonee Falls, WI — With the end of a profitable 2001 for Kohl's, the retailer has already embarked on its growth plan for 2002, with 38 stores opening in the first quarter, said Larry Montgomery, ceo, during the company's fourth quarter conference call.

The retailer will bow in two markets this quarter: Houston, with 12 stores opening this weekend, and Boston, with 13 locations scheduled to open next month, as well as other fill-ins in Nashville, TN, Dallas and the New York Tri-State area.

Thirty-two stores are slated to open in the fall, including four in the new market of Providence, RI. In addition, 22 stores will be remodeled and two will be relocated, focusing on the Milwaukee market, Montgomery said. All new stores and remodels still adhere to the company average of 86,500 square feet.

Next year will bring the much-anticipated break into the Southwestern market, starting with Los Angeles in the spring, though the number of locations is still being finalized, Montgomery added. The Phoenix and Las Vegas markets are scheduled for the fall of 2003. The San Bernadino, CA, distribution center, which will support these stores, is under construction and will be open by the end of the year.