Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), the largest department store chain in the United States, has recently announced that they will begin a new partnership with Sephora, a renowned French multinational beauty retailer. It has been estimated that eventually, Kohl's and their partnership with Sephora will replacement that of Sephora's collaboration with recently bankrupt department store J.C.Penney (OTC: JCPNQ), with the beauty retailer expected to open at least 850 shop-in-shop locations within Kohl's by 2023.
In addition to providing in-person products, Sephora will also give an online experience that will enable customers to buy their products via the Kohl's website. Over 200 of the "Sephora at Kohl's" stores will likely be open by 2021.
In terms of the deal that Kohl's has struck with Sephora, it is likely that sales will improve, and that the level of convenience or experiences that customers have with the store in general will increase as well. It has been stated that the Sephora at Kohl's experience will bring about an "elevated beauty experience" and allow much room for potential growth in terms of sales. It will allow for Kohl's to gain much more recognition and fame so that they are more in the limelight in terms of the beauty products that they are trying to push to the market.
Both Sephora and Kohl's contain many shared values that will become evident to customers, as well as the vision that they have to accomplish customer-centered, innovative, and inspiring trends. The desired business that Kohl's has to obtain in the areas of health, beauty, skincare, hair, and make-up is predicted to rise after their merging with Sephora.
By partnering with Kohl's and replacing J.C.Penney after their recent bankruptcy, Sephora will likely cause Kohl's to become a leading retailer in terms of their business. While J.C.Penney was once a thriving business, the association of J.C.Penney with shopping malls has caused such business to deteriorate. Kohl's will not only benefit from Sephora, but Sephora will also benefit from Kohl's, in that Sephora will gain new customers and away from shopping malls that attract little amounts of customers. Kohl's, on the other hand, tends to be more populated, in that they exist in strip centers, which are generally more populated. The problem with J.C.Penney in the past was that it relied too heavily on Sephora to attract customers to itself.
The question remains as to whether Kohl's will face the same issue, but it is hoped for that it will stay in steady collaboration with Sephora for quite some time.