Major department store shutters dozens of beloved shops across 14 states

Kohl’s is closing 27 locations in 14 states, the major department store announced Thursday.

The Wisconsin-based retailer said the company has chosen to close some stores because they were “underperforming.”

Of those 27 locations, 10 will be closed in California, and half of them are in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The other 17 will close in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

“While Kohl’s continues to believe in the health and strength of its profitable store base, these specific locations have been underperforming the stores,” the retailer explained.

Additionally, the retailer has decided to close its e-commerce fulfillment center in San Bernardino due to the ability to fulfill online orders at store locations and increased production at newer fulfillment centers.

Kohl’s CEO Tom Kingsbury said the new decisions were taken “very seriously” and that they had to be made to “support” the company and its consumers.

‘We always take these decisions very seriously. As we continue to build on our long-term growth strategy, it is important that we also take difficult but necessary actions to support the health and future of our business for our customers and our teams,” said Kingsbury.

Select Kohl’s stores are expected to close in April 2025, while the California fulfillment center will close in May 2025 – at the end of the lease.

In November, the company announced that Kingsbury will step down on January 15 and be replaced by ‘retail veteran’ Ashley Buchanan.

Although he will no longer be CEO, Kingsbury plans to continue in an advisory role to Buchanan, and will still serve on Kohl’s Board of Directors until he officially retires in May. the company said.

The retailer operates approximately 1,150 stores nationwide and the closures will represent less than three percent of locations. Axios reported.

Employees affected by the store closures have been informed and have also been offered severance packages, giving them the opportunity to apply for other open positions within the company.

Here are all the Kohl’s locations closing in 2025:

Alabama

• Spanish Fort – 2100 Town Center Ave.

Arkansas

Little Rock West – 13909 Chenal Parkway

California

• Balboa (San Diego) – 5505 Balboa Ave.

• Encinitas – 134 N El Camino Real

• Fremont-43782 Christy St.

• Mountain View – 350 showers drive

• Pleasanton – 4525 Rosewood Dr.

• Point West (Sacramento) – 1896 Arden Way

• San Rafael – 5010 Northgate Drive

• San Luis Obispo – 205 Madonna Road

• Westchester – 8739 S Sepulveda Blvd.

Colorado

• Arapahoe Crossing (Aurora) – 6584 S Parker Road

Georgia

• Duluth – 2050 W Liddell Road

Idaho

• Boise – 400 N Milwaukee St.

Illinois

• Plainfield – 11860 S Route 59

• Spring Hill (West Dundee) – Ring Road 3000 Spring Hill

Massachusetts

• Stoughton – 501 Technology Center Drive

New Jersey

• East Windsor – 72 Princeton Hightstown Road

Ohio

• Blue Ash – 4150 Hunt Road

• Forest Park (Cincinnati) – 100 Cincinnati Mills Drive

Oregon

• Portland Gateway – 10010 NE Halsey St.

Texas

• North Dallas – 18224 Preston Road

Utah

• Riverton – 13319 S 3600 W

Virginia

• Herndon – 2100 Centerville Road

• Williamsburg – 100 Gristmill Plaza

In an effort to improve the shopping experience and boost sales, Kohl’s introduced self-checkout kiosks and rearranged the placement of certain high-demand products as part of the plans Kingsbury introduced in May 2023.

Kingsbury, who took over the role in February that year, promised to turn the company around after its shares lost nearly half their value by 2022 and were nearly bought out by JCPenney.

At the time, Kingsbury pledged to reduce the company’s reliance on margin-eroding discounts and focus on high-demand categories, including workwear.

The store also decided to move homewares and gifts to the front of the store in an effort to maximize sales potential in those areas that have been some of the biggest sellers in recent years.

Kohl’s is just the latest retailer to close some of its locations, as beloved craft store Joann, which operates in nearly every U.S. state, recently closed six of its 815 stores.

Until 2018 it was known as Jo-Ann Stores, but rebranded as ‘Joann’ to move beyond fabrics and embrace a wider range of crafts.

Shoppers affected by the closures can get deep discounts during the liquidation sale, with discounts ranging from 50 to 90 percent at affected locations.