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Table of Contents
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Kohl’s Corporation (the “Company” or “Kohl’s”) was organized in 1988 and is a Wisconsin corporation. As of January 30, 2016, we operated 1,164
department stores in 49 states and an E-Commerce website (www.Kohls.com). We sell moderately-priced private label, exclusive and national brand apparel,
footwear, accessories, beauty and home products. Our stores generally carry consistent merchandise with assortment differences attributable to local
preferences. Our website includes merchandise which is available in our stores, as well as merchandise which is available only on-line.
Our merchandise mix includes both national brands and private and exclusive brands which are available only at Kohl's. National brands generally
have higher selling prices, but lower gross margins, than private and exclusive brands. Most of our private brands are well-known established brands such as
Apt. 9, Croft & Barrow, Jumping Beans, SO and Sonoma Goods for Life. Despite having lower selling prices, private brands generally have higher gross
margins than exclusive and national brands. Exclusive brands are developed and marketed through agreements with nationally-recognized brands. Examples
of our exclusive brands include Food Network, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Rock & Republic and Simply Vera Vera Wang. Exclusive brands have selling
prices which are generally lower than national brands, but higher than private brands. Their gross margins are generally higher than national brands, but
lower than private brands.
As reflected in the chart below, our merchandise mix by line of business has
remained generally consistent over the last three years.
As reflected in the chart below, we have increased our emphasis on national
brands in recent years as we believe they drive customer traffic.
Our fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to January 31st each year. Unless otherwise stated, references to years in this report relate to fiscal years
rather than to calendar years. The following fiscal periods are presented in this report.
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2015 January 30, 2016
52
2014 January 31, 2015
52
2013 February 1, 2014
52
For discussion of our financial results, see Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."
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We receive substantially all of our store merchandise at our nine retail distribution centers. A small amount of our merchandise is delivered directly to
the stores by vendors or their distributors. The retail distribution centers, which are strategically located throughout the United States, ship merchandise to
each store by contract carrier several times a week. On-line sales may be picked up in our stores or are shipped from a Kohl’s fulfillment center, retail
distribution center or store; by a third-party fulfillment center; or directly by a third-party vendor.
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