New Kohl's Home Decor Hits Stores
Weeks after Kohl’s said it was expanding its home assortment with the addition of new home decorative items, many of those products are now in stores with some sold under the retailer’s Sonoma private label.
A recently walk-through of the Kohl’s location in Mechanicsburg, Pa., found store personnel putting the final touches on the retailer’s expanded home section. On display was an assortment of mix-and-match and boxed portable lighting all placed on shelves, a variety of decorative accessories, soft home items such as decorative pillows, wall decor and shelving, and a variety of home organization products.
The assortment of new products was positioned adjacent to the retailer’s housewares department, creating a broad area in which consumers can shop and find products for their home needs. It was unclear what types of products were previously in the space that is now being used for the aforementioned items.
In announcing Kohl’s new effort in home, Nick Jones, the retailer’s chief merchandising and digital officer, said the company has been making “meaningful changes” to reposition its home product offerings.
“As part of Kohl’s broader strategy to drive growth, we identified a real opportunity in home, and we’ve been thoughtfully building the category to position ourselves as a destination for home goods,” he said. “We’re incredibly encouraged by initial customer response to our home decor assortment, and we see Kohl’s becoming a more formidable player in the home business.”
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Kohl's boxed lighting assortment. -
Kohl's is offering an assortment of mix and match lighting. -
Decorative accessories are featured in Kohl's expanded home assortment. -
Kohl's has expanded its selection of soft home products. -
Storage bins are now available at Kohl's. -
Kohl's has expanded its assortment of home storage and organization. -
Kohl's has expanded its assortment of wall decor.
Items across the new assortment were void of any national brands and either featured the retailer’s long-standing Sonoma own brand or merely had Kohl’s name on tags as seen with the unboxed mix-and-match lighting. The boxed lighting assortment took a minimalist design approach with each featuring photos of the fully assembled product in a room setting. In fact, the simple packaging design conjured thoughts of white label goods that were seen across retail years ago.
Portable lighting has long been a category that has been a challenge for big box chains. The mix-and-match tactic has worked for retailers such as Lowe’s, but the category as a whole — including offering a boxed lighting assortment — requires constant housekeeping to ensure shelves are continually stocked.
Within its storage and organization assortment, the selection of soft-sided bins were tagged with Kohl’s Sonoma private label, while others had packaging that featured the product but no brand.
The selection of wall decor, which included various boxed configurations of floating shelves in several designs, was sold boxed carrying the Belle Maison name.
Kohl’s has already started its direct-to-consumer marketing efforts to highlight the new assortment, and officials with the retailer said more is on the way.
“We’re prioritizing ways to connect, drive awareness and engage with home shoppers to enhance our credibility in the category, reinforce our compelling value, and provide new ideas and solutions that spark creativity for customers, to ensure Kohl’s is a top-of-mind destination for home decor,” said Christie Raymond, chief marketing officer at Kohl’s.
