Shoppers walk in front of a Kohl’s store in Mount Kisco, Latest York.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Kohl’s said Tuesday that it’s teaming up with the owner of Babies R Us to bring baby gear, furniture and more to roughly 200 of its stores across the country.
The retailer struck a cope with WHP Global, a brand management firm with a portfolio that features Bonobos, Joe’s Jeans and Anne Klein. The 2 firms didn’t disclose the terms of the agreement.
In a news release, Kohl’s said the primary Babies R Us shops will open this August and expand to more stores in the autumn. Kohl’s said the shops will range from 750 to 2,500 square feet, and can add more brands and merchandise to Kohl’s baby category. The retailer said the brand new shops might be arrange next to the infant merchandise it already carries, including clothes and items from Graco, Carter’s and Fisher-Price.
With the move, Kohl’s is adding one other potential growth driver to its stores. It has been attempting to turn around declining sales, draw more foot traffic and attract younger customers while led by its latest CEO Tom Kingsbury, the previous CEO of off-price chain Burlington Stores. Kohl’s former CEO Michelle Gass left the corporate in late 2022 to eventually take excessive role at Levi Strauss after intense pressure from activists and a failed effort to sell to the Franchise Group, owner of The Vitamin Shoppe.
Kingsbury said within the news release that Kohl’s is concentrated on driving growth with a more relevant mixture of merchandise. He said Babies R Us is an example of a way it plans to “further establish Kohl’s because the go-to brand for families.”
A shopping cart sits within the car parking zone at a Babies “R” Us store on January 24, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Together with Babies R Us, Kohl’s has a cope with Sephora that has opened beauty shops inside a whole bunch of its stores.
WHP Global has the same cope with Macy’s, which has opened Toys R Us shops inside a lot of its stores.
Kohl’s shared the news because it reported its holiday-quarter quarter earnings results. The retailer topped Wall Street’s holiday-quarter expectations for earnings and revenue, but its net sales declined 1.1%. Its comparable sales, a metric that takes out the impact of store openings, closures and renovations, dropped 4.3%.
Kohl’s gave conservative guidance for the yr ahead. It said it expects net sales to range from a 1% decrease to 1% increase for the complete yr and comparable sales to range from flat to 2% higher. It expects earnings per share between $2.10 and $2.70, excluding any non-recurring charges. That will represent a drop from $2.85 within the previous fiscal yr.
Through the holiday season, Kohl’s offered glimpses of its turnaround plan. It expanded its assortment of pet merchandise, home decor, and impulse and gifting items to drive sales. It leaned on Sephora shops inside its stores to attract shoppers. And it cleared away space in front of stores to make trendy and seasonal items more distinguished when customers walked right into a location.
As of Monday’s close, Kohl’s shares have fallen about 5% to date this yr. That is trailed behind the roughly 7% gains of the S&P 500 in the course of the same period. Kohl’s shares closed on Monday at $27.19, bringing the corporate’s market value to $3.01 billion.