as nyse kss s & p 500 component industry retail founded september 12 1962 ; 54 years ago 1962 09 12 milwaukee wisconsin u.s. headquarters menomonee falls wisconsin u.s. key people kevin mansell chairman ceo products clothing footwear bedding furniture jewelry beauty products electronics and housewares . revenue us 19 031.0 million 2014 1 us 19 279.0 million 2013 1 operating income us 1 742.0 million 2014 1 us 1 890.0 million 2013 1 net income us 889.0 million 2014 1 us 986.0 million 2013 1 total assets us 14 378.0 million 2014 1 us 13 905.0 million 2013 1 total equity us 5 978.0 million 2014 1 us 6 048.0 million 2013 1 number of employees 140 000 website www.kohls.com kohl s corporation d.b.a. kohl s is an american department store retail chain . the first kohl s store was a supermarket founded by maxwell kohl in milwaukee in 1946 . the company s first department store opened in september 1962 . 3 british american tobacco company took a controlling interest in the company in 1972 and in 1979 the kohl family left the management of the company . a group of investors purchased the company in 1986 from british american tobacco and took it public in 1992 . kohl s is the second largest department store by retail sales in the united states . contents 1 company overview 2 history 2.1 1940s to 1970s 2.2 1980s to present 3 stores 4 marketing 5 references 6 external links company overview edit the company is headquartered in the milwaukee suburb of menomonee falls wisconsin operating 1 162 stores in 49 states . 4 kohl s is america s largest department store chain by the number of stores as of february 2013 update surpassing its biggest competitor j.c. penney in may 2012 . 5 in 1998 it entered the s & p 500 list and is also listed in the fortune 500 146 in 2012 . 6 the chain was the 20th largest retailer in the united states in 2013 in terms of revenue . 7 as of 2013 kohl s was the second largest u.s. department store company by retail sales . 8 history edit 1940s to 1970s edit the exterior of a typical kohl s department store in northeast columbia sc . kohl s in huntington beach california . maxwell kohl who had operated traditional grocery stores built his first supermarket in 1946 the first in what would become a southeastern wisconsin chain known as kohl s food stores . 9 in 1962 after building kohl s food stores into the largest supermarket chain in the milwaukee area kohl opened his first department store kohl s department store in brookfield wisconsin . he positioned kohl s between the higher end department stores and the discounters selling everything from candy to engine oil to sporting equipment . 10 in 1972 the british american tobacco company s u.s. retail division batus inc. bought a controlling interest in kohl s corporation which at the time operated 50 grocery stores six department stores three drug stores and three liquor stores . 11 12 the kohl family led by allen and herb kohl continued to manage the company . the family left the management in 1979 13 and herbert kohl became a united states senator and owner of the milwaukee bucks . the firm then expanded kohl s presence from 10 to 39 stores in wisconsin illinois and indiana . the grocery stores were sold to a & p in 1983 14 15 operating under the name kohl s food store and later kohl s food emporium . in february 2003 a & p put the kohl s food stores up for sale 16 as part of an effort to reduce debt . in 2003 a & p closed all kohl s food stores locations . 17 18 1980s to present edit a group of investors led by the senior management purchased the company consisting of 40 department stores in 1986 . 19 the company added 27 more stores over the next two years . in 1988 the chain acquired 26 locations from chicago based mainstreet gaining several stores in chicago s suburbs minneapolis st. paul and parts of michigan . 20 21 kohl s completed its initial public offering on may 19 1992 and began trading on the new york stock exchange under the symbol kss . 22 23 during the 2000s kohl s expanded nationwide to have a presence in 49 states . building from 76 stores in the midwest in 1992 kohl s expanded into california in 2003 with 28 new stores the pacific northwest in 2006 with 10 new stores and the southeast with 43 new stores opening between 2005 and 2008 . 24 to raise money to repurchase its stock and open new stores kohl s sold its credit card division in 2006 to j.p. morgan chase for 1.5 billion . 25 in 2007 kohl s began selling a diffusion line from designer vera wang called simply vera . 26 since then it has also sold diffusion lines from other high end designers including narciso rodriguez and peter som . 27 28 newsweek magazine ranked kohl s 18th out of 500 overall and first in its industry in its 2009 green rankings 29 an examination of 500 of the largest corporations on their environmental track records . newsweek remarked that kohl s had the largest solar power program of any retailer globally it pursues green building certification and over 78 locations in six states have solar panels . in 2008 kohl s started to sell reusable shopping bags . 30 in 2012 kohl s requested financing from menomonee falls wisconsin to finance the building of a new headquarters in the municipality . kohl s received 2 million dollars the first of five installments that would equal a total payout of 12 million dollars and then backed out of the transaction . 31 in 2015 kohl s opened a test store built around selling only returned yet as new clothing home goods jewelry and accessories . the store called off aisle by kohl s will sell items at a marked down price and all sales from the store will be final . 32 kohl s was awarded 62.5 million dollars in tax credits in 2012 from the wisconsin economic development corporation . the retailer was to create 3 000 jobs with the funds but only created 473 . 33 stores edit kohl s uses a racetrack aisle that circles the entire store a technique borrowed from discount stores . 34 in 2011 kohl s announced plans to remodel 100 of its 1 100 locations . changes included redone store sections fitting rooms and newer merchandise displays . 35 in 2012 a consumer investigation by cbs news discovered that kohl s had engaged in the practice of marking up products in the weeks before a sale in order to make products appear as if they were being sold at discounted prices and artificially inflating the amount of the price mark down . 36 marketing edit in 2009 kohl s hired new york city advertising agency devito verdi to strengthen the kohl s brand via a series of national television and online social media campaigns . one of the brand campaigns featured american professional athletes . 37 38 references edit a b c d e f g h i j kohls corp 2013 annual report form 10 k xbrl . united states securities and exchange commission . march 21 2014 . zmuda natalie april 7 2014 . kohl s revamped marketing goes for the heartstrings new campaign shuns products promotional messages . ad age . kohl s 50th anniversary sale round up coupon & kohl s cash al.com . blog.al.com . 2012 09 12 . retrieved 2016 03 24 . profile . yahoo finance . retrieved january 10 2015 . kohl s corporation sec 10k a filing . kohl s. september 13 2011 . fortune 500 2012 fortune 1000 companies 101 200 . cnn . top 100 retailers 2012 . national retail federation . top 100 retailers . national retail federation . retrieved 12 july 2014 . daykin tom june 13 2002 . 1st kohl s supermarket to be next lena s . milwaukee journal sentinel . archived from the original on 2002 06 28 . kohl s q4 2013 factbook . kohl s. retrieved 25 may 2014 . stafford roger a. october 28 1972 . kohl buyer provides backing for growth . milwaukee sentinel . p. 6 part 2 via google news . dead link control of kohl corp. sold to british american unit . wall street journal . october 30 1972 . p. 15 . subscription required help . alternate link via proquest . kohl family to drop ties to the kohl unit of bat industries ltd. . wall street journal . may 2 1979 . p. 41 . subscription required help . alternate link via proquest . a. & p. to acquire kohl s from batus . new york times . august 16 1983 . batus food unit acquired by a & p . wwd . 146 63 . september 29 1983 . p. 8 . a & p wednesday finalized its purchase of kohl food stores milwaukee based division of batus retail division . link via proquest . local kohl s food stores up for sale ; copps buys madison stores . milwaukee business journal . february 25 2003 . kohl s q4 2013 factbook . kohl s. p. 6 . retrieved 25 may 2014 . a & p to close area kohl s food stores . milwaukee business journal . june 13 2003 . kohl s driving force on the road to buyout . new york times . may 26 1986 . campeau sells unit to kohl s . new york times . october 29 1988 . randle wilma 1989 02 22 . kohl s to expand mainstreet . the chicago tribune . retrieved 2009 10 01 . investor relations faq . kohl s. retrieved 25 may 2014 . kohl s corporation announces initial public offering of common stock . pr newswire press release . may 19 1992 via the free library . kohl s q4 2013 factbook . kohl s. 24 may 2014 . p. 11 . kohl s agrees to sell credit card business . new york times . march 7 2006 . vera wang to design line just for kohl s . usa today . the associated press . august 24 2006 . wong jada . narciso rodriguez is doing a diffusion line for kohl s . styleite.com . retrieved 22 april 2014 . dead link leibowitz laura september 6 2013 . peter som kohl s line will be the next fast fashion collab to get all our money . the huffington post . mcginn daniel september 21 2009 . greenest big companies in america the 2009 list . newsweek . archived from the original on 2010 06 25 . retrieved july 21 2010 . green ranking kohl s . newsweek . archived from the original on 2009 09 25 . retrieved july 21 2010 . daykin tom november 21 2013 . kohl s drops plans for new headquarters building . milwaukee journal sentinel . retrieved june 23 2015 . romell rick may 20 2015 . kohl s will test off priced store for returned merchandise . milwaukee journal sentinel . defour matthew june 20 2015 . wedc made 27 awards totaling 124.4 million without proper review . wisconsin state journal . retrieved june 23 2015 . epmeier bill 2009 06 02 . a racetrack would it work for supermarkets store equipment & design find articles at bnet . findarticles.com . retrieved 2009 10 09 . dead link kohl s unveils new look at burlington store . boston globe . 2011 03 25 . archived from the original on october 29 2011 . consumerwatch investigation finds kohl s sale prices aren t always a