Kohl’s Corp. is moving ahead with its strategy to convert stores to smaller locations.
The Menomonee Falls-based retailer has submitted “Rightsizing Improvement Plans” to the city of Waukesha to downsize its store at 2140 W. St. Paul Ave. on the city’s west side by about 25,000 square feet.
The reconfigured Kohl’s store will be 63,600 square feet, according to documents submitted to the city. The remaining 25,000 square feet will be leased by another retail tenant, according to the plans.
The building is owned by DDS 215, LLC, which is registered to Milwaukee attorney Daniel Seibel.
The city’s plan commission will review the plans March 28.
Kohl’s, like every other brick-and-mortar retailer, is trying to adapt to the changing habits of shoppers in recent years. It announced plans in summer of 2017, that nearly half of Kohl’s stores will be operationally smaller by the end of 2017.
“Stores will be operating as a smaller store – either they already have a smaller footprint than our prototypical size store, or they are now operating as a smaller store by becoming operationally smaller through balancing inventory and adjusting fixtures,” said a Kohl’s spokeswoman, who declined to comment further.
Kohl’s operates more than 1,100 stores in 49 states and generates annual sales of approximately $19 billion, according to the company’s website.
In March 2017, Kohl’s announced it would relocate its Greendale store from Southridge Mall to the new mixed-use 84South development in Greenfield. The space at Southridge is two levels and 85,000 square feet. The 84South store will be one story and 55,000 square feet.
In January, Kohl’s Corp. reported a 6.9 percent increase in total and comparable holiday sales over the same period last year.
