Kohl’s to open its doors this spring in Louisville

LOUISVILLE — Shoppers looking for a new place to buy for clothes for the whole family are in for some good news: Kohl’s, a value-priced department store that offers clothing and domestics for the whole family, opens this spring in Centennial Valley on Dillon Road here.

Kohl’s shuns the name discount store, preferring to say they offer name-brand items at value prices.

“We are not a discount store, we are a value-oriented, family-focused department store,´ said Gary Vasques, executive director of marketing for Kohl’s, headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisc. “We really go after the moderate-income family with children — that is our market. We carry moderate-income level merchandise. You won’t see any Liz Claiborne or Tommy Hilfiger brands in our stores, but you will see Villager and Nike. About 80 percent of our merchandise is apparel and 20 percent is soft home goods.”

Kohl’s, which started in 1962 as a family-owned store in Menomonee Falls, carries linens, towels, shoes, kitchen items and clothing for the whole family.

The 86,000-square-foot store is scheduled to open in the second quarter this year. Kohl’s is opening five stores in the Denver area — the first to open in Colorado.

The company will open 45 stores nationwide this year. Currently there are 213 stores in 23 states.

“We want to have 300 stores open by year-end 2000,” Vasques said.

High winds have delayed the building projects in Colorado a little, but job superintendent Doug Edgington says the building in Louisville is going to go up on schedule. “The winds have slowed us up a little, but we are going to meet the schedule that they gave us,” he said.

Kohl’s plans to open all five stores at the same time this spring. For Louisville, it will be one of the last big-box retailers to complete the city’s commercial development.

“Kohl’s fills out the last retail space in the Centennial Valley,´ said Bill Simmons, Louisville city administrator. “It is located next to the new Sam’s Club, and it is one of the last large retail spaces in Louisville. We have a few little parcels left for retail, but only one left for a big-box retailer in Centennial Valley and it is unlikely that we will have another big-box retailer there. We have almost reached build-out (with commercial land). This is all part of our vision in our (comprehensive) plan.”

Simmons said the retail stores bring in a lot of sales tax, and it is the goal of the city to use as much sales tax as possible to retire Louisville’s long-term debt.

Construction on the Kohl’s store started in November.

“Kohl’s purchased the property, and they are the developer,´ said Paul Wood, planning director in Louisville. “The building is on 10 acres, and they will have 380 parking spaces.”

Wood said that the city asked for some upgrades to the building. They asked Kohl’s to use two front doors on two sides of the building so that the parking could wrap around the building rather than have a sea of cars out in front of the structure.

The building will be brick with brick accents and have canopies over the entrances.

Kohl’s has been in a rapid growth pattern for the last few years. At year-end fiscal 1998 net sales rose 28 percent to more than $3 billion. Comparable stores rose about 10 percent for the year. Net income increased 37.9 percent to $141.3 million. Kohl’s opened 32 stores in 1998. In April 1998 Kohl’s stock split 2 for 1.

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