Kohl's places an even bigger bet on beauty

MADISON, Wis. -- Kohl's has finished the rollout of enhanced beauty departments across its entire store footprint as the retailer focuses on health and wellness products as a key driver for sales in its existing stores.

The retailer is doubling down on beauty as well as loyalty programs and new marketing and merchandise efforts as it looks to boost sales across its 1,000-plus stores. The company also plans to test a smaller-format Kohl’s store.

"The new beauty environment in the stores we just rolled out in the spring averaged about a 34% comp in beauty, which was similar to the first two stages. So it is now complete and it should continue to comp in those 267 stores in the 30% range through the balance of the year and slightly into next," said Wesley S. McDonald, senior executive vice president and CFO. "So that's been a big success, and we're very happy with it. We are working on trying to get additional brands to strengthen that environment now that the physical environment's rolled out."

According to the Dallas Morning News, beauty is a category that has been a "missing link" for Kohl's. Chief Merchandising Officer Michelle Gass told the newspaper that a focus on beauty, part of an overall health and wellness strategy, is key to improved sales performance.

And it's a strategy that has been working for J.C. Penney, which has seen marked sales gains since adding Sephora shops to its stores.

Read more about the new Kohl's strategy here.