Kohl’s Corp., Duluth Trading Co. see sales slump ahead of holiday shopping season

Two Wisconsin’s most prominent retail companies had sales slumps heading into the holiday shopping season, while a third posted a slight decline in overall revenues, according to recent earnings reports.

Kohl’s Corp., based in Menomonee Falls, saw its year-over-year net sales decrease by 8.8 percent in the third quarter, while Duluth Trading Co., based in Mt. Horeb, saw a similar net sales decline of 8.1 percent. 

Meanwhile, Dodgeville-based Lands’ End saw a $6.1 million decline in net revenues in the third quarter compared to the same period of 2023. But officials say that decline was offset by transitioning some brands to licensing agreements.

The third quarter ended on Nov. 2 for Kohls, on Nov. 1 for Lands’ End and on Oct. 27 for Duluth Trading Co.

Kohl’s CEO: ‘We are not satisfied with our performance’

During Kohl’s Nov. 26 earnings call, Chief Executive Officer Tom Kingsbury, who is stepping down next month, called the sales dip “disappointing,” saying they didn’t meet the company’s expectations.

The third quarter sales slump came as the company has struggled throughout 2024, Kingsbury said.

“We are not satisfied with our performance and are taking aggressive action to reverse the sales declines,” Kingsbury said. “We must execute at a higher level and ensure we are putting the customer first in everything we do.”

He said a decline in foot traffic, especially during the back-to-school season, contributed to the sales slump. He says transactions declined by roughly 3 percent in the quarter.

“Softness in transactions was most notable early in the quarter during the back to school season, with August being the weakest month,” he said. “Our children’s business was especially challenged in apparel during this time.”

To try to boost traffic, Kingsbury said Kohl’s will increase “touch points” with its most engaged customers through targeted offers and direct mail, as well as focus holiday season messaging around “providing great holiday value” to customers.

Duluth Trading Co. says weather played a role in sales decline

During Duluth Trading Co.’s Dec. 5 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Heena Agrawal said unseasonably warm weather in the latter part of the third quarter contributed to the 8 percent sales decline.

“Sales in the first half of the quarter were flat (compared) to last year,” she said. “In the second half, unusually warmer weather impacted sales of our fall/winter goods.”

That left the company saddled with “higher seasonal inventory levels” to end the third quarter, Agrawal added.

“We are taking necessary and prudent actions to end the year clean on inventories,” she said.

Duluth Trading Co. Chief Executive Officer Sam Sato said there are some products that are “unique to this season” that will be marked down and sold through by the end of the fiscal year, but other “core seasonal products” that likely won’t be marked down.

“Whatever we don’t sell through, we’re going to pack those away because we buy them every season, and it’s a small amount of inventory — but inventory nonetheless — that we really don’t need to mark down as we move into next year,” he said.

Lands’ End says transitioning some brands to licensing agreements offset slight revenue dip

During Lands’ End’s Dec. 5 earnings call, Chief Accounting Officer Bernard McCracken said the company had a slight dip in revenue of about 2 percent compared to last year, but the results were in-line with the company’s expectations.

“When excluding the impact of transitioning the kids and footwear products to licensing agreements, total revenue grew by low single digits year over year,” he said. 

McCracken also said the company increased its gross profit by 6 percent compared to last year.

Lands’ End Chief Executive Officer Andrew McLean said that initial projections from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales were in-line with the company’s expectations. 

“Our strategy is working,” he said. “Throughout the weekend, we saw both longer-tenured and newer to Lands’ End customers visit, engage, and purchase directly from Lands’ End.”