Kohl’s closing one of its SLO County stores — among 27 ‘underperforming’ locations
Bad news for local Kohl’s Cash hoarders.
The retail chain plans to close more than two dozen “underperforming” stores across the country — including its San Luis Obispo location.
In a news release Thursday, the company announced plans to close 27 of its more than 1,150 locations as it looks to streamline business amid a disappointing financial year.
In addition to 10 stores in California, the Wisconsin-based company announced it will close 17 more stores in other states across the nation as well.
Net sales for the chain dropped by 8.8% in the third quarter of 2024, falling to $3.5 billion, according to the company’s most recent earnings report.
Company stock declined from around $29 a share in April 2024 to around $13.50 as of Thursday.
CEO Tom Kingsbury meanwhile plans to step down later this month.
“We always take these decisions very seriously,” Kingsbury said in the Thursday release. “As we continue to build on our long-term growth strategy, it is important that we also take difficult but necessary actions to support the health and future of our business for our customers and our teams.”
According to the release, all store associates have been informed “and offered a competitive severance package or the ability to apply to other open roles at Kohl’s.”
“Kohl’s thanks our associates for their work and is working to support our associates during this transition,” the release said.
All 27 of the locations are slated to close by April.
The company also planned to close its fulfillment center in San Bernardino, according to the release, costing 690 jobs.
What will happen to SLO location?
Kohl’s currently operates two stores in San Luis Obispo County.
The Paso Robles store, located at 100 Niblick Road in the Woodland Plaza shopping center, was not among those slated for closure.
The San Luis Obispo store, located at 205 Madonna Road, however, will close as part of the company’s streamlining.
The retail chain opened in the 62,000-square-foot spot in Madonna Plaza in 2009. It replaced what was previously a Mervyns after Kohl’s acquired several former chain’s stores in bankruptcy proceedings.
The closure comes as other large retailers have also shut their doors in the same area.
In December, Party City announced it was closing all of its locations after failing to fully come back from bankruptcy.
That included the Madonna Plaza store at 271 Madonna Road that opened only two years ago.
Next door, the space that once housed athleisure and underwear brand Aerie has been empty since it closed in 2023.
Stretching further back, Bed, Bath & Beyond closed in the nearby SLO Promenade shopping center in 2023, and has remained vacant since.
San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jim Dantona said the closure was “disappointing” but also noted that it “says less about the business opportunity in San Luis Obispo and more about better meeting the market demand by keeping Kohl’s stores in Paso Robles and Santa Maria open that can serve the San Luis Obispo community.”
“I would imagine that closure also creates the opportunity for stores like Target, Nordstrom Rack and Costco to pick up that market demand, or a new small business to meet that need,” he added.
John Lindt contributed to this report. He is the editor of news website Sierra2theSea.net.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 5:34 PM.
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