Kohl’s Corp. reported another quarter of declining sales as the coronavirus pandemic and corresponding economic downturn continue heading into the holiday shopping season.
The Menomonee Falls-based retailer reported a 13.3% drop in sales in the third fiscal quarter in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday. In the nine months ending Oct. 31, net sales were down 25.9% from last year, the company reported.
This does show improving sales from earlier this year when the coronavirus first started to spread in the United States and temporarily closed stores in the spring. Kohl’s sales were down 43.5% in the first fiscal quarter and 22.9% in the second fiscal quarter.
“I continue to be very proud of how our organization is navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic,» Kohl’s CEO Michelle Gass said in a news release. «Our third quarter results exceeded our expectations with significant sequential sales and profitability improvement. Digital sales growth remained strong and our actions to improve our gross margin showed great progress.» Kohl’s will host a quarterly earnings call at 8 a.m.
Kohl’s is preparing for the critical holiday shopping season when retailers typically make a large portion of sales.
“We entered the holiday season well-positioned and prepared to serve our customers with more omnichannel conveniences in place to deliver the great experience they always expect from Kohl’s,» Gass said in the release. «As we look ahead, we are incredibly focused on executing against our new strategic framework, which represents our greatest opportunity to drive long-term sales and profit growth and create shareholder value in the coming years.”
Kohl’s, after opening its stores on Thanksgiving Day every year since 2013 to mark the start of the holiday shopping season, has announced its stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. It will open stores at 5 a.m. local time Nov. 27 — Black Friday. Kohl’s is advertising deals all month long with «Super Deals» to be offered online Thanksgiving Day and both in-store and online Nov. 27. Kohl’s has more than 1,100 stores in 49 states.
The retail industry has had a tough year with store closures and consumers tightening spending.
Kohl’s reduced its corporate workforce by 15% this fall in an effort to cut costs to make up for lost sales during the coronavirus pandemic. The reduction is expected to save the company $65 million annually.
Corporate employees at the Menomonee Falls headquarters and at offices in New York and California were affected. Kohl’s did not release how many positions were eliminated. Kohl’s has thousands of employees on its corporate staff, so the reduction is hundreds of jobs.
Earlier this year, Kohl’s eliminated 250 positions as part of a pre-pandemic corporate restructuring.
