Seemingly following the trend of its rivals such as Macy's, Sears and JCPenney, prominent department store chain Kohl's has announced that it will be closing 18 of its stores across the United States within the year, citing weak sales figures, according to Fortune.
Though 18 stores out of the company's massive 1,160-store fleet might sound quite marginal, the closures will represent the first time the department store chain has opted to close one of its branches due to weak revenue.
Kohl's CEO Kevin Mansell stated that though the closures of the stores were difficult, such a decision had to be made in order to keep the company competitive amid a rapidly emerging market, reports The Business Insider.
"While the decision to close stores is a difficult one, we evaluated all of the elements that contribute to making a store successful, and we were thoughtful and strategic in our approach. We are committed to leveraging our resources on our more productive assets," he said.
The department store chain has not released the locations of the specific stores that will close within the year. The company, however, said that the underperforming locations represent less than 1 percent of Kohl's total sales, reports Reuters through MSN Money.
With the store closures, Kohl's is expecting to cut its operating costs by about $45 million.
Kohl's has forecasted earnings of $4.05 to $4.25 per share for the year ending January 2017, which is generally below analysts' estimates, which predicted the company's earnings to be around $4.24 per share.
