Kohl’s new – and first – store in downtown Milwaukee has officially opened its doors.
Company leadership and city officials marked the occasion Friday morning with a ceremonial ribbon cutting before the public and media were welcomed inside. The Menomonee Falls-based retailer first unveiled plans for the small-format store at 331 W. Wisconsin Ave. in July 2022.
“For the past 60 years, we have called Milwaukee home and we’re thrilled to be bringing Kohl’s to this community,” said Kohl’s chief executive officer Tom Kingsbury Friday. Having grown up in the Milwaukee area, Kingsbury started his now 40-plus-year retail career bagging groceries at Kohl’s Food Stores, so “being able to open right here in downtown is an incredible honor for me.”
In addition to its assortment of apparel from national and private-label brands, the 35,000-square-foot store, located on the ground floor of the HUB640 building, features a 2,500-square-foot Sephora beauty shop and a selection of Milwaukee- and Wisconsin-centric products such as Brewers, Packers and Bucks gear and items from local brands MKE Home and Home by Homefield. It also has an expansive home section replete with bedding, kitchen appliances, luggage and decor as well as other gifting and impulse items.
The space was formerly occupied by Boston Store, which closed in 2018 when its parent company, Bon-Ton, went out of business. The opening of the new Kohl’s store adds to the transformation of the former Grand Avenue Mall property into what’s now known as The Avenue — a mix of offices, apartments and the 3rd Street Market Hall — and its surrounding Westown neighborhood. Other notable nearby developments in recent years include Fiserv Forum and the Deer District, the Bradley Symphony Center, the expansion of the Baird Center and Milwaukee Tool’s new downtown office. Fiserv is in the process of moving its headquarters from Brookfield to the floors above Kohl’s in the HUB640 building.
Almost reminiscent of a traditional regional mall, customers can enter the Kohl’s store from the 3rd Street Market Hall.
“This new store is not only a way for us to be part of the exciting revitalization that is happening (in the neighborhood), but it’s also part of our broader strategy to continue our store growth across the country to meet the needs of shoppers everywhere,” said Kingsbury.
The Milwaukee location is just one of five new small-format Kohl’s stores opening across the country this fall, including in Katy, Texas; Forney, Texas; Garden City, Kansas; and Madison, Indiana. The new stores are a part of Kohl’s larger plan to capitalize on store growth opportunities over the long-term, the company said.
