Please explain Kohl's to me

[maxiesmom]

Kohl's (and probably other department stores, I'm a Target girl like you) RAISES their prices, so that they can then lower them (I've heard this from people who have worked there).

Bull Pucky. It is a total myth that stores do that. For the very fact that it is quite illegal. And as someone who works retail I can tell you that no store has the staff on hand to run around marking stuff up and then down whenever an ad comes out. Even if it was legal to do.

I would never buy something at Kohls if it wasn't on sale. You just have to wait a bit and whatever it is will go on sale at some point. But I rarely buy anything anywhere that isn't on sale.

 

[tar heel]

Kohls has more better quality brands than Target and Sears IMO. They also have larger selections of some things, such as purses. You can return anything pretty much forever. Prices are good if you combine with sales. Clearance prices can be crazy good -- I bought a couple of camisoles for a little over a dollar last winter and they had the same ones in the summer. You really have to get their credit card to get the best prices, though.

 

[si-am]

Kohls is a ripoff and their clothes seem to fit me kind of weird, like they aren't high quality. I really don't like it; I do think they are like JC Penny or Sears. They also don't carry tall pants lengths, which for me is an automatic turn-off.

There, I said it! I know many people on the Dis love Kohls, though.

 

[Sagginit]

Bull Pucky. It is a total myth that stores do that. For the very fact that it is quite illegal. And as someone who works retail I can tell you that no store has the staff on hand to run around marking stuff up and then down whenever an ad comes out. Even if it was legal to do.

I would never buy something at Kohls if it wasn't on sale. You just have to wait a bit and whatever it is will go on sale at some point. But I rarely buy anything anywhere that isn't on sale.

I think what they meant is that the full retail price, is not what you would pay in another store or what the item is really worth (inflating the SRP so when it goes on "sale" you still have a huge profit). for ex. my mother used to shop there sometimes so i would go with her. one week i needed a white tee for vacation and got one 50% off, say the shirt was $20 and i got it for $10. i wanted another as it fit well, the next week that same shirt was buy one get one free, so yes $10 a shirt, but i had to get two this time. i would seriously never pay the full price for almost any of their clothes as i know it is a rip off.

jcp tried to get away from this and it was a disaster. people would rather be tricked into thinking they are getting a deal than being able to walk in and just pay a flat price and get a deal only when something is clearanced out.

it reminds me of some of those shops i see in tourist areas of NYC that are going out of business every week.

 

[Sagginit]

Kohls is a ripoff and their clothes seem to fit me kind of weird, like they aren't high quality. I really don't like it; I do think they are like JC Penny or Sears. They also don't carry tall pants lengths, which for me is an automatic turn-off.

There, I said it! I know many people on the Dis love Kohls, though.

i have the same issues with clothes there, even designer lines like vera wang are usually huge on me. i only fit in junior clothes and i am not a junior.

that said i have been happy with all the home products i have bought there. when i moved out of my parents house a few years ago my mother used her CC and sales to help stock me up on basics.

 

[Pigeon]

The regular prices at most stores are inflated. I don't think Kohl's is any better or worse. I buy a fair amount at Macy's, but would never pay full price.

 

[Pigeon]

The regular prices at most stores are inflated. I don't think Kohl's is any better or worse. I buy a fair amount at Macy's, but would never pay full price.

 

[QVCshopper]

I generally avoid Kohls because its very stuffed with products. I get overwhelmed (the same thing with TJ Maxx, Marshall's, etc. where I never go). I do venture into Kohls for Carter's PJs because they carry up to a size 14 kids, which is so hard to find. On the rare occasion I get Kohls cash, I've found it useful, and the returns are decent.

 

[kymom99]

I live at Kohl's.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We shop at Kohls often too, partly because the outside of Walmart and Kmart, we have nothing else to shop without heading into Lexington.

I agree the key is to match a sale with CC discount and Kohls cash. That turns moderate quality clothes into Walmart prices.

Black Friday is the very best, last year I had the 15% CC discount, plus deeply discounted sales prices, and $15 in Kohls cash for each $50 spent.

Clearance prices are good too.

 

[ThisIsTheYear]

You have to work hard to find something NOT on sale at Kohls.

They mark things up so much that people get all excited to see, "YOU SAVED $255!" on an order they paid $100 for. Yes, that would be so, considering those cheap-o leggings you would have gotten anywhere else for $5 had a "regular price" of $20.

They do have nice, stylish things, though... but I can't say all of it is of great quality, especially their exclusive brands. They usually last me a few seasons and then the buttons come off our the seam rips or something . . .

This exactly! Their brand sweaters have a price tag of around $55-65. I would never pay that for a store-brand sweater. Mostly everything I bought from there falls apart. Like another pp said, I don't like that they don't carry tall sizes.
If I do buy clothes from there it's off the clearance rack. I recently bought an Elle sweater (aka Kohls brand) for $4.50 and Vera Wang ankle jeans (to wear with boots) for $8. In the past i bought a Nike sweatshirt for DS that was $7. So I find the deals are in the clearance racks or around the holidays.

 

[Lucille1963]

Bull Pucky. It is a total myth that stores do that. For the very fact that it is quite illegal. And as someone who works retail I can tell you that no store has the staff on hand to run around marking stuff up and then down whenever an ad comes out. Even if it was legal to do.

I would never buy something at Kohls if it wasn't on sale. You just have to wait a bit and whatever it is will go on sale at some point. But I rarely buy anything anywhere that isn't on sale.

The last time I shopped at Kohls was for Imaginext toys for my son, their advertised 30% off sale is what got me in the door. This is all he wanted for Christmas and I was ready to get my shopping out of the way in one trip. As I started loading up on the toys he had asked for, I started doing math in my head, and remembering the prices I'd seen elsewhere. I paused. and then started googling. I went straight to the Fisher Price site and realized that the Kohl's undiscounted prices for the exact same item were more than 30% higher than the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Prices. Even with the I went to the service desk to ask about this and the employee literally said "We have a lot of sales so we have to mark up the prices so we can discount them."
That was the last time I set foot in Kohls.

 

[ktlm]

Bull Pucky. It is a total myth that stores do that. For the very fact that it is quite illegal. And as someone who works retail I can tell you that no store has the staff on hand to run around marking stuff up and then down whenever an ad comes out. Even if it was legal to do. .

I can vouch for the fact that this is not a myth- at least it wasn't when I was a teen, which admittedly was a long time ago. I briefly worked for a department store that is still around and popular, at least in our area of the country. I won't give out the name of the store, but one evening before a sale mine and my co-worker's job was to go to the back where they had pulled some racks and items off the floor and to change the price tags out. We were marking them up, and then putting a sticker on them marking them back down for the "sale". I don't know that it is illegal- at least in our state- the store has a right to set their prices. I don't think we have any law here calling this a deceptive trade practice, but there might be some states that do.

 

[luvmy3]

Bull Pucky. It is a total myth that stores do that. For the very fact that it is quite illegal. And as someone who works retail I can tell you that no store has the staff on hand to run around marking stuff up and then down whenever an ad comes out. Even if it was legal to do.

Toys R Us does this, at least online they do. Maybe the law doesn't apply to a company when they are selling through their website.

 

[maxiesmom]

Toys R Us does this, at least online they do. Maybe the law doesn't apply to a company when they are selling through their website.

On line stores are different. Many times stores even have different prices on line than they do in store.

As far as Kohls having higher starting prices, that is legal. They can ticket stuff whatever they want. And if they want to price it 30% higher than other stores, that is legal. What is not legal is to change the original price on an item for a short time to make a sale look better, and once the sale is over to mark that item a lower price, and then back and forth again.

Just like I don't automatically believe what I am told over the phone when I call Disney, I don't automatically believe what some part time sales associate tells me to be true. An associate at one Kohls may tell you one thing, and another associate tell you something else. Same thing with JCP. and Macys.

 

[SEA333]

I stay far, far away froom Kohl's when I can help it. Occassionally I get sucked into a good sale, I buy clothes for my kids, I wash them the first time, the clothes pill or fall apart, and I remember why I hate that store to begin with.

 

[Plutofan]

We shopped at Kohl's on balck friday two years ago. We were buying a set of sheets. I put the sheets under the scanner and the price was much higher than the price on the tag. I inquired from a manger and they told me that they must have missed changing the price. He told me that before a sale they mark everything up to put it on sale. We got a good deal since he gave me the discounts on the previous days prices but I will not go back beacuse I hate the game they play. Next time you go into Kohl's see if there are multiple price tags on the item.

 

[celina14]

They definitely have good sales at times and I do love the Kohl's cash and 30% coupons! I but a lot of things for my 2 yr old daughter there. They sell some good quality brands there like Carters and Oshkosh for kids, Nike and Adidas shoes, etc. And, you can't beat their return policy. Pretty much no questions asked and no time limit. So to pp who said clothes fell apart after one wash, I would recommend returning them.

 

[maxiesmom]

Next time you go into Kohl's see if there are multiple price tags on the item.

That won't prove any wrong doing. Stores can mark merchandise up in price, and they can mark it down in price as they want. As long as they are not doing it in conjunction with an ad. So if you are trying to catch them doing something wrong you have to go back in every time they have a new ad and then check the tags to see if the same item is being ticketed up and then down.

I've worked retail my whole adult life for various companies. So I know what I am talking about. No company physically marks merchandise up and down for an ad. They simply don't have the time and manpower to do so. Plus, all ads have been electronic for years. No large store has marked things to place them in their advertised sales for years and years.

 

[Gamegrl1]

What I like about Kohls is that their prices seem mostly reasonable to me (with the $ I make) and their sales can be really excellent. Here in CA, I'm regularly seeing sale signs all over the store and not just lame ones like 10 or 20%, but 50%, 60%!

That and their brand new rewards program which they just started out here at my local store last week or so...I think the staff person explained you get one point per dollar spent and when you reach 100 points you get an extra discount or something. Also they have Kohl's Cash sometimes, which is, I think, $10 back for every $50 spent? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Also they keep sending me those "$10 off a purchase of $10 or more", so basically if you find something (or a couple small things) that only total $10, it's free! I'll go there to get socks or earrings or a kitchen gadget and it costs just pennies!

Plus if you have kids, they always have those books right up front for $5 apiece (and sometimes plush toys too, themed for the books)...heck, just walk in and get a couple of books for your kids (or in my case, my sister & her husband's unborn twins...auntie is going to get them two Curious George books this weekend for FREE! haha!).

I'm not a huge fan of their clothes...I've found a few things in women's, but their style is generally not what I like. Generally the things seem to be nice quality. As for the OP's comparison to Target, the quality seems better to me at Kohls in general and there is more variety since they don't sell much in the way of electronics, toys and they sell no food).

Also their return policy is good. I've bought a bunch of stuff there, but any time I have a return they do it promptly and never give me any grief.

The only two things I don't like about Kohl's are that everything seems to be made in China and also I can't stand that irritating voice saying "The more you know, the more you Kohl's!" UGH! I was an English major so the bad grammar there just kills me. "Kohl's" is not a verb! It's a noun!