Beloved Retailer With 1,150 Locations Announces Major Decision on Closing Stores

Despite a sales decrease, Kohl's Corporation says that it shouldn't have to close any stores this year.

In January 2025, the retailer announced plans to close 27 stores in 15 states. However, despite a drop in sales, the company says its outlook has stabilized.

“I would not anticipate any sort of grand plan of saying we’re taking stores out or adding stores at this point,” Kohl's Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Bender said, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. “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.”

Bender said during the earnings call that Kohl's wants to improve its existing stores, not get rid of any more. “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,” he said, Newsweek reported. According to Newsweek, the store closures last year were "less than three percent of its retail locations." Looking ahead to the future, the company wants to increase "value offerings" for customers, Newsweek reported.

Kohl's Reported That Sales Dropped in 2025, But Says Most Stores Are Profitable

The Menomonee Falls, WI, retailer released an earnings statement on March 10, 2026. It was for "reported results for the quarter and year ended January 31, 2026."

• Fourth quarter net sales "decreased 3.9% and comparable sales decreased 2.8."
• In contrast, in "fiscal year 2025, net sales decreased 4.0% and comparable sales decreased 3.1%."
• Bender, Kohl’s Chief Executive Officer, said the company has 1,150 stores and well over "90% are profitable," according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• “We are ending 2025 in a stronger position than we started, with important work still ahead of us. Over the past year, our efforts have been focused on resetting our foundation."
• "Our customers count on us to actually have what they're looking for, whether its online or in-store, particularly in-store," Bender said on the call, according to The Journal Sentinel. "What we've been doing is curating the assortment to the point where we have the appropriate level of choice and in many cases that means reducing the choice offerings that we have but at the same time actually going deeper on that."

The Company's CEO Says That Its Focus Was 'Intended to Stabilize the Business'

Bender wrote in the earnings statement that the company's focus "is intended to stabilize the business and strengthen our operational ability to build for a stronger future. In 2025, we made meaningful progress, despite our Q4 topline coming in softer than our expectations."

He added, "We were able to manage the business with discipline, deliver improved earnings, and generate meaningful cash flow, all of which helped us strengthen our balance sheet.”

“In 2026, we are committed to further strengthening our foundation by addressing operational opportunities, building on our strengths, and modernizing our processes. We are confident that the work we are investing in now is essential for Kohl’s long-term benefit,” Bender continued.

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