Kohl's Corp. says its fourth-quarter profits jumped 27% to $431 million, and sales surged 8.5% to $5.7 billion, including an impressive same-store sales gain of 4.5%. Still, the Menomonee Falls,
Wisc.-based chain is predicting smaller gains for the year ahead.
"Consumers continue to be financially strained and are looking for value and ways to make their dollars go further," Kevin
Mansell, Kohl's chairman and CEO, says in its release. "As a result, we are planning conservatively in our sales expectations, inventory levels and expenses." It says it predicts same-store sales
gains of between 1% and 3%, both for the next quarter and the full year.--Sarah Mahoney