A shopper who visited Kohl’s for the first time in a while was alarmed at the prices and predicted a dire future for the chain.
TikTok creator Annie (@itsanniebelle), who creates an array of shopping videos for her platform, recorded highlights from her trip to Kohl’s on Friday. The video earned north of 412,000 views as of Monday morning.
“I haven’t been to Kohl’s in a really long time,” she begins, showing a tag of a pair of Under Armour pants for $75 and then a clothing rack with a sign that says “Epic Deals.”
She directly questions that claim.
“How is this an epic deal? $70 for a pair of pants,” she observes, before asking again, “Epic deal?”
“My son asked me to come pick up some new clothes, and I was blown away,” she continues. “$60 for a pair of Levi’s, $60 for an Adidas hoodie and a pair of sweatpants for $50. $50! How are people doing this?”
Then, regarding a pair of Nikes with skepticism, she opined, “This gym shoe was flimsier than cardboard, and they’re charging $85. I don’t get it.”
She finished her video by assessing, “You ain’t gonna last, Kohl’s.”
@itsanniebelle This is the first time my teenage son has asked to go clothes shopping in a long time so I agreed to take him to Kohl’s to pick some new clothes. How on earth are they charging this much for these clothes? I have a feeling we’re going to see the end of retail stores in the future. #kohls ♬ original sound – ItsAnnieBelle 🩷
How is Kohl’s doing?
In March, a Reuters article reported that Kohl’s predicted “annual sales and profit largely below market expectations, joining Macy’s and Nordstrom to warn of a challenging year for U.S. department stores.”
An analyst in that article observed, “Kohl’s still has plenty more work to do as its top-line results fell short and are still well behind its pre-pandemic revenues,” with the article showing that at that point, sales had declined eight straight quarters.
On the New York Stock Exchange, Kohl’s began the year at $28.04 per share, and as of Friday, closed at $17.51, down nearly 38%.
Black Friday might help, though. According to USA Today, the chain ran a Black Friday Early Access event in its stores and online this past weekend, and plans a whole block of events around the unofficial shopping holiday from Nov. 24 to 29.
What’s more, “Kohl’s said that it will give away more than $1 million in prizes on Black Friday. The first 200 customers to visit a store before 8 a.m. local time will receive a game piece that will be redeemable for prizes, with the grand prize being a family beach vacation in Florida.”
Viewers share their thoughts
Commenters had a range of reactions.
“Kohl’s pricing is insane,” one observed, “When did this start happening?”
But another countered, “$60 is normal for Levi’s!”
That led the creator to respond, “Lord, my salary ain’t built for this then!”
Someone else confessed, “I only go in to return my Amazon packages.”
Others suggested different retailer go-tos.
“Ross is the only place I shop,” someone revealed. “Name brands that are cheaper than the thrift store! I just make my rounds to different locations and always find what I need. I found men’s Levi’s for $22 just yesterday!”
Another said, “JCPenney is my secret weapon. No one under 70 shops there. But those of us that do love the quality and deals.”
Update 3:55pm CT, Nov. 14: Annie told the Daily Dot she’s “not surprised” her TikTok went viral.
“The Kohl’s that we all knew and grew up with is not the same Kohl’s that exists today. So many retail stores are struggling now and it’s sad to see. The average family can’t afford these prices and to call these epic deals was genuinely disappointing. I love Kohl’s and I hope they’re able to find a way to turn things around,” she said.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Kohl’s via email.
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