A new shopping experience is on the horizon.
The company is also hoping to change customer mindset from viewing Kohl's as being on par with mall-based department stores that are focused on women's apparel and home goods. Instead, Kohl's wants to be known as a go-to destination for athletic apparel like sneakers, hoodies, and leggings, from a range of popular brands such as Nike, Adidas, Champion, and its own FLX label, CNBC reported.
"We're evolving our position from a department store to a more focused lifestyle concept, centered around the active and casual lifestyle," Gass said during a March 7 investor meeting."This is unique and we can own this space." Active merchandise accounted for about 24 percent of Kohl's total revenue in 2021—a large jump from the 14 percent it accounted for in 2016."I think we can all personally relate to this," Gass explained."While you may dress up a bit more than you were when you were taking a Zoom call from your home office, you may still want to wear sneakers into the office versus dress shoes. This creates big opportunities for Kohl's.
The company is looking to make the check-out process easier for customers in stores as well. Kohl's said it will be rolling out a self-service"buy online, pick up in-store" option to all of its locations this year, as well as continue to test self-service returns and check-out offerings, CNBC reported.
"Make no mistake, this is a transformation," Gass said during the investor meeting."It is a complete reinvention of our business model and our brand."