Kohl's revives its fashion brand Sonoma to push womenswear sales

Kohl's Corp. is betting strongly for its female fashion brand Sonoma, which it has renewed in an attempt to boost its womenswear sales. The US retailer is looking to position itself as a wardrobe "destination."

Kohl's is planning to lift revenue to 21 billion dollar by 2017. This seems quite a challenge for analysts, taking into account that overall sales have barely risen 1.2 percent from 2011 through 2014, while the company's stock price has bounced dramatically.

"Kohl's wins if women's wins," said Michelle Gass, chief merchandising and customer officer. "If women's doesn't perform, we have a major issue," she added in reference to how skeptically its objective for growth have been received.

"You can look at our (women's) performance over the last five years, and it's been choppy," Gass said. In the last period, women's apparel has been a burden for Kohl's. "We want to make women's a destination for her," Mansell said at the conference. "That's a big change in tone."

Sonoma is Kohl's largest single brand, accounting for more than 1 billion dollars in sales annually, and is found in every department. "When we put everything we do around Sonoma in a room, which we did," Gass said, "let me tell you, you couldn't walk in that room and say, 'It's Sonoma.'"

Now, Kohl's is preparing to "relaunch" the brand next spring with new products, new marketing and new presentation. Sonoma for women, said Bevin Bailis, senior vice president of public relations and communications, will be a modern take on clothing essentials — "the pieces we pull from out closet every day, the great white shirt, the great pair of black pants."

"We know that if we want to win, we might have to reach down a little bit in terms of age," added Feldman.