The rise of e-commerce — coupled with steadily increasing cost of living expenses and ballooning inflation rates — has practically fast tracked the ongoing retail apocalypse in recent months. Many seemingly stable companies like Walmart or Macy’s have had to shut the doors of several of its locations, whilst other longstanding names like Joann Fabrics has been forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Now Kohl’s, the popular department store chain, is joining the ranks of these companies in this time of struggle and will also be shutting the doors of a fair amount of its stores during the course of 2025. The company is citing underperformance as the driving force behind these closures, and around fifteen states will no longer be home to one or more Kohl’s locations in coming days.
Shoppers do not have to worry too much as we have compiled a list of good alternatives for you to shop at if a Kohl’s store near you is a part of this list of closures.
Which Kohl’s stores are closing and when?
Underperformance is a blanket that has been swaddling the retail industry at large recently with Kohl’s being one of the victims of this issue. As a result, the department store chain will be shutting the doors of twenty-seven of its stores in coming days. The bulk of the stores slated to close are in California, with the remainder spanning across fifteen other states. These closures will be enacted sometime in April.
Additionally, the retailer has also announced the closure of its San Bernadino fulfilment center which will occur in May of this year. Both announcements were made in early January.
Here is a list of alternative options for you to shop at, along with some benefits offered by these retailers.
Alternatives to Kohl’s
JCPenney
The recent decline in popularity with shopping malls has resulted in JCPenney stores closing their doors in malls nationwide. Fortunately, this department store chain still has several stores in operation across the country and carry a similar range of inventory as Kohl’s, making it the ideal alternative if you have JCPenny close by.
Trae Bodge, smart shopping expert at TrueTrae shared that “JCPenney features a similar mix of clothing, home décor and accessories to Kohl’s, but the brands that each retailer carries tend to be different. JCPenney also has a loyalty program with robust benefits, and the retailer has frequent sale events.”
Macy’s
Another major department store alternative would be Macy’s. Though the retailer has also closed down a significant portion of its brick and mortar stores, the company still has many operational branches with homewares, accessories, clothing, and more in stock.
Macy’s also carries its own private label range of clothing like Kohl’s does. However, Bodge has noted that “Macy’s has a broad range of merchandise, like Kohl’s, but in my experience, the prices are higher, and the brands Macy’s carries tend to be higher end.”
The good news is that Macy’s often has massive clearance sales that include the higher end brands with discounts of up to 85%.
Target
Don’t sleep on Target just because its a grocery store as the retailer offers a range of items that enabled them to compete with Kohl’s.
“Similar to Kohl’s, Target carries affordable, stylish merchandise across a broad range of categories, including apparel, footwear, items for the home, electronics, gifts and fitness items, like apparel and small equipment,” Bodge shared. “Target also has a generous loyalty program, regular sales and additional benefits for shoppers, like their store cards.”
It should be noted that annual percentage rates on Target’s Circle cards are quite high so customers should exercise caution. An alternative to earn points at Target is to sign up for the retailer’s debit card.
Walmart
Walmart’s offerings are in the same grain of things as Target, making it another viable alternative. The only downside to shopping at Walmart is the exclusivity of benefits and discounts. Walmart runs a membership program called Walmart+ in which customers must pay a monthly fee to access deals and benefits.
Bodge also reiterated that “Walmart also has a loyalty program, but it’s exclusive to Walmart+, Walmart’s paid membership program, making those benefits less accessible to shoppers on a strict budget.”