Kohl's went back to coupons and its own brands — and posted its best comps in four years
Years of off-price drift, dropped categories and coupon limits gutted Kohl's; Michael Bender restored the old playbook and comparable sales finally turned.
What was changed
Kohl's was a department-store darling — value, proprietary brands, coupons and Kohl's Cash — peaking at $82 a share in late 2018 with $20.23 billion of revenue for the fiscal year ended February 2019. Then the stock lost nearly 70% of its value over five years as sales slumped and Walmart, T.J. Maxx and Amazon absorbed the fleeing shoppers.
The company had lost its lane: it changed its assortment, dropped categories like petites and jewelry that management later called 'not substitutable', limited coupon usage and leaned into off-price retail instead of its own brands. 'We stopped listening to the customer,' CEO Michael Bender said.
Since Bender took over as CEO in late 2025, Kohl's has been deliberately restoring what worked: proprietary brands, value, coupons and reliable availability, while using Sephora shop-in-shops to pull younger customers in. 'You have to pick a lane and decide who you're serving,' Bender told CNBC. Wall Street read it the same way — Gordon Haskett's Chuck Grom said getting back to who they are will be central to success, and TD Cowen called simplified promotions and rebalanced inventory keys to the turnaround.
The first numbers came in its most recent earnings report: the best comparable-sales growth in four years, revenue of $3 billion that topped estimates, and full-year guidance of net sales down 2% to flat — enough to spike the stock 20% on the day and leave shares up more than 130% over the past year, even though revenue is still declining.
Why it worked
Trying to become an off-price retailer abandoned the middle-income customer that only Kohl's was serving, and analysts say alienated shoppers went elsewhere.
Removing staples like petites and jewelry took away categories customers could not substitute, breaking the reason to visit at all.
Restricting coupons and churning credit and promo offers confused a customer whose entire relationship with Kohl's was built on deals.
What can be applied
A mid-market retailer dies in the middle: decide who you serve, then stop drifting toward whatever the competitor next door is doing.
Aftermath
Bender calls it early innings — 'knocking on the door of growth' but not there yet. Sephora shops dipped by a low-single-digit percentage last quarter, apparel and footwear still underperform, and TD Cowen kept a hold rating: Kohl's 'remains a show-me story', with pressure on the core credit consumer and other revenue the open question.