Kohl is a mess in more ways than one

The supermarket chain projected bleak prospects for 2022 on Thursday, saying it expects full-year sales to fall 5% to 6% from last year, and blaming high inflation for shoppers – particularly middle-income consumers – that won’t release yet right Now. in its stores. The company also reported a decline in revenue and profit for the quarter ended July 30.

Kohl’s shares are down more than 4% in morning trading.

But the economy is not his only problem. Coles, (KSS) As with other key chains, including: targeting (TGT) and the Walmart (WMT)stuck with a lot surplus stock It cannot be deleted. The chain’s stock was 48% higher in the quarter from around the same time last year.

“We have revised our plans and implemented measures to reduce inventory and reduce costs to meet lower demand expectations,” Cole CEO Michael Gass said in a statement.

naturally unstable

With more than 1,100 stores in the United States and annual sales of approximately $19 billion, Kohl’s is the largest department store chain in the United States. But the company is struggling to find a way forward on its own.

Kohl floats then love the idea To sell itself to the Franchise Group (FRG), the holding company that owns The Vitamin Shoppe and other retail brands.

The retailer tries different ways to stay relevant, especially to younger consumers. It recently teamed up with popular cosmetics brand Sephora to open it Sephora supermarket their locations. Kohl’s said the move has helped it gain 1 million new customers since last August who are younger, more diverse, and shopping more than the average consumer.

And last week, the retailer announced that it’s rolling out a self-pickup option in all of its online stores within two hours.

All of these efforts, while necessary for Kohl’s, said Neil Saunders, retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData Retail, cannot fully mask the chain’s underlying problem.

“In our view, the main cause of Cole’s problems is internal. Notably, the company has lost its place in marketing and assortment planning and appears to be taking a haphazard approach to sourcing. The result is a jumble of disassembled products in stores, exacerbated by a very serious deterioration in store management standards.” Saunders said in a note Thursday.

“It was like, while Coles was a bit uninspiring, he was disciplined and elegant in his presentation. In the past year everything has gone out the window,” Saunders said. Too low.”