Valley stores open; expansion likely to continue

October 17, 2003 - Kohl's Department Stores debuted its first three Las Vegas-area stores with grand-opening events Oct. 10 and industry experts said an expansion of the retailer into other parts of the valley is likely.

Kohl's expansion into Nevada is part of its ongoing expansion in the Southwest. The Wisconsin retailer's three Las Vegas Valley stores are the company's first in Nevada.

Shopping at the Kohl's in northeast Las Vegas after its soft opening, Lisa Ealy was looking for Halloween costumes with her four children. She said the store was "real nice," but said the checkout procedure was a little slow, something she attributed to the newness of the store.

"I would come back," the Las Vegas resident said. "We did buy Halloween costumes."

Kohl's District Manager Terre Wellington said the stores will be popular because they are easy to get to and the layout of the stores is easy to maneuver.

"We place them generally in suburban shopping areas, we provide shopping carts that children can fit in, items are in stock that are advertised in our ads and there are centralized checkouts," he said.

The stores are laid out in a circular, racetrack pattern, allowing customers to easily access each department, from children's clothing to housewares.

Jeff Chambers, vice president of development for developer Donahue Schriber, based in Costa Mesa Calif., said Kohl's is similar to Target or Mervyn's. Donahue Schriber owns several retail properties in the Las Vegas area.

"There is ease of shopping and the workers are friendly," he said. "It will have an impact."

Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst at Applied Analysis, said Kohl's is what industry experts call a "category killer."

"A category killer can be an electronics store, or a soft goods store that is large and can take out smaller operations, often offering things at a discount," he said.

Wellington said 80 percent of the goods sold at Kohl's carry name brands - such as KitchenAid, Nike and Fila, - and are sold at discount prices.

"Our customers are 25 to 50-year-old females, and there are a lot of them in this market," he said. "The store is designed around mom who is buying for children, but at the same time a man will be comfortable coming in to buy a suit and tie."

Kohl's is also popular with customers because of its climate-appropriate clothes, stocked specifically for each store, Wellington said.

Stores in warmer climates, such as Las Vegas, will stock shorts year round, as well as short-sleeved and sleeveless shirts and lighter-weight sweaters, he said.

Wellington said that it is "almost certain" that Kohl's will open more stores in the Las Vegas area in the future.

"We go in with a plan B and if it takes off we will open more stores," he said. "I can guarantee you we are prepared to open more stores."

Kohl's which currently has 494 stores in 34 states, has aggressively entered western markets in the last year, opening 28 stores in California this spring. In addition to its Las Vegas stores, Kohl's is scheduled to open 13 stores in Arizona Friday. The retailer's sales totaled almost $9.1 billion.

Kohl's Las Vegas-area stores will employ about 150 people each. The Henderson store will open with 180 employees, said store manager Jennifer LeBarron. The workers are non-union, a company spokesman said.

Michael Gittings, secretary-treasurer for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 711, said the union would be interested in talking with employees if there is interest among the workers.

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Article Copyright ©: J. Shubinski, In Business Las Vegas