Business Analysis: Kohls

Kohl’s is a company that has been around for quite a while and inevitably has various strengths and weakness. One of the major strengths they have is their abundance of products. Vast merchandise means a wide array of customers that could potentially have a need to be met. Another strong suit of Kohl’s is their incredibly efficient supply chain.

Kohl’s Corp. was founded in 1962. , and has grown into a company that had revenues of over $19 billion in 2015. Their headquarters are in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin and is a family-oriented department store that sells national brands and private label merchandise of apparel, shoes, accessories, and housewares. Kohl’s competes with other department stores and discount stores for the middle-income shopping target market. The names brand products that Kohl’s offers are not typically available at the discount stores and Kohl’s focuses on controlling costs so they can offer lower prices than their department store competitors can. Kohl’s low cost and higher margins are the result of lean staffing, state of the art management information systems, and creating operating efficiencies by centralizing advertising, buying and distribution.

From its humble beginnings as a single store in 1962, Kohl’s has quickly become one of the nation’s largest retailers. Based and headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Kohl 's is a family-focused, value-oriented, specialty department store offering quality exclusive and national brand merchandise to the customer in an environment that is convenient, friendly and exciting. Currently, Kohl 's operates stores and distribution centers in 49 states. Every year, we continue to build new stores and remodel existing locations to create an inspiring shopping experience. (Kohl’s Corporation, 2013, Press Room).

This chain is one of the 20 largest retail stores in the United States. Kohl’s is also listed in Fortune 500 in 2012. This retail store has more than 1100 locations around the globe. It also has a strong reputation and distribution. Also, their revenue performance and financial stability is high. Kohl’s also offers most of the essential products like clothing, furniture and etc.

Target Corporation uses energy conserving Windows, low wattage bulb fixtures, motion sensors and refrigerator that earns energy stars as well as saves energy cost through these initiatives (Target Sustainability, 2015). Target Corporation energy efficient sustainable building is a commitment to support community and environment using solar energy. Solar energy generation eases the burden of the local power supply company. The more Target Corporation leads with an environmentally sustainable initiative, the Target Corporation brand name becomes popular and more people aware of the brand within the community (CSR, 2014). Target Corporation focus on the growth also based on the customer convenience by building urban stores near mass transit saving an enormous amount of transportation cost and lowering carbon footprint. These urban stores bring more traffic and more sales outperforming the competitors in the same area.

The story of Kohl's commenced during 1962 in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Founded by Max Kohl, the company initially began as a department store, meaning it sold a variety of goods, which back then included food produce. The company BATUS inc., a division of British American Tobacco, took control of Kohl’s Food department by purchasing 80% of their stake. BATUS was not able to deal with the amounting competition, so they went out of the retail business by the mid 1980’s, and later sold Kohl’s food stores to the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea company (A&P) in 1983.

Kohl’s Corporation (Kohl’s) is the second largest specialty department store. It sells private la-bels, national brand items, footwear, accessories, beauty and home products. It even has many of their own labels. The company operates 1,162 department stores in 49 states of the U.S. It has a web site www.kohls.com where you can buy the same items they sell in the store or their online exclusives. It also operates a nationwide loyalty program called Yes2You rewards. Throughout the year it has promotions of percentages off and Kohl’s cash. Their headquarters is located in Milwaukee suburb of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Kohls has been struggling to stay ahead of competition in recent years, and is now trying unconventional business tactics. Kohl's has recently found itself in controversy after the corporation decided to partner itself with the internet powerhouse, Amazon. According to Forbes Magazine article, “Is Kohl's Making A Mistake Cozying Up To Amazon?”, Kohl's is one of the only off-line retail stores that is siding with Amazon. Author of the Forbes article, George Anderson, writes,” retailers attempting to slow Amazon’s advance have begun pulling their business from the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud operation. Others such as Walmart have pressured technology vendors to do the same.” Kohls making this move shows they have a “if you can’t beat them

When our professor first presented this project paper to us my mind began to wonder. What is a good company to research and present it to my fellow classmates. My first selection was “Chik-fil-a”, but I wasn’t sure if we could write about fast food franchises. So I continued to brainstorm about a topic to expound on, even going as far as in asking my buddies and co-workers for suggestions. “Walmart”, “National Football League”, “National Basketball Association”, “Nationwide Insurance”, and “LG” were a few ideas that were presented to me. A few of those sounded ok but none really grasp my attention. As I was visiting an outlet mall, I came across Nike store. “Wow that’s going to by my topic of choice”, is what I told myself. Week

that made the first Kroger store successful in 1883 – service, selection and value – continue to

According to Tracey Mitchell, Kohl’s target marketing strategy focuses on middle-class women ages 25-45 who shop for their families and enjoy deals and rewards. Kohl’s provides a low-cost structure by applying a concept of centralized buying, distribution, and advertising which enables the retailer to pass on the savings to the consumer. I believe that Kohl’s website does a great job of meeting their target marketing strategy. Their website is easy to use and family friendly. Kohl’s have great prices to reach out to their target market and they also have great store locations.

The organization that I have chosen for the purpose of this corporate finance analysis is Wal-Mart. As is well known, Wal-Mart is the global market leader of

In the ever-evolving world of manufacturing and marketing, companies are required to adapt to maintain relevancy or remain competitive. Adaptation techniques in business includes inventing a completely new product, revolutionizing an already existing product, or merging with an existing powerhouse company to extend the reach of one’s services and/or products to a larger customer based globally or domestically. Kohl’s has stood the test of time for over 70 years and has maintained relevancy with its customers by consistently reinventing itself to keep up with the needs of the consumers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. helps individuals around the globe spare cash and live better - at whatever time and anyplace - in retail locations, online and through their cell phones. Every week, more than 245 million clients and individuals visit our almost 11,000 stores under 65 flags in 28 nations and e-trade sites in 11 nations. With financial year 2015 net offers of $482.2 billion, Wal-Mart utilizes 2.2 million partners around the world. (Wal-Mart Corporate) Wal-Mart is a superpower in the business world and has been that way for 50+ years. Understanding how it got to this point and how it has maintained its successful business model starts with its

An external analysis looks at the general macro environment and industry attractiveness. A PESTEL analysis will be used to look at the macro environment and Porter’s Five Forces framework will follow to provide a clearer picture of industry attractiveness.