UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

or

Commission file number 1-11084

KOHL’S CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (262) 703-7000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulations S-T (232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C.7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

At August 2, 2024, the aggregate market value of the voting stock of the Registrant held by shareholders who were not affiliates of the Registrant was approximately $2.2 billion (based upon the closing price of Registrant’s Common Stock on the New York Stock Exchange on such date).

At March 12, 2025, the Registrant had outstanding an aggregate of 111,323,544 shares of its Common Stock.

KOHL’S CORPORATION

INDEX

PART I

Item 1. Business

Kohl’s Corporation (the “Company," “Kohl’s,” "we," "our," or "us") was organized in 1988 and is a Wisconsin corporation. As of February 1, 2025, we operated 1,175 Kohl's stores and a website (www.Kohls.com). Our Kohl's stores and website sell moderately-priced private and national brand apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and home products. Our Kohl's stores generally carry a consistent merchandise assortment with some differences attributable to local preferences, store size, and Sephora at Kohl's shop-in-shops ("Sephora shops"). Our website includes merchandise which is available in our stores, as well as merchandise that is available only online.

Our merchandise mix includes both national brands and private brands that are available only at Kohl's. Our private portfolio includes well-known established brands such as Apt. 9, Croft & Barrow, Jumping Beans, SO, Sonoma Goods for Life, and Tek Gear, and exclusive brands that are developed and marketed through agreements with nationally-recognized brands such as LC Lauren Conrad, Nine West, and Simply Vera Vera Wang. Compared to national brands, private brands generally have lower selling prices, but higher gross margins.

The following tables summarize our net sales penetration by line of business and brand type over the last three years:

Our fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to January 31st each year. Unless otherwise stated, references to years in this report relate to fiscal years rather than to calendar years. The following fiscal periods are presented in this report:

For discussion of our financial results, see Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."

Distribution

We receive substantially all of our merchandise at our nine retail distribution centers, five operational e-fulfillment centers, and the San Bernardino e-fulfillment center that ceased operations during January 2025. A small amount of our merchandise is delivered directly to the stores by vendors or their distributors. The retail distribution centers, which are strategically located throughout the United States, ship merchandise to each store by contract carrier. Digital sales may be picked up in our stores or are shipped to the customer from a Kohl’s e-fulfillment center, store, or directly by a third-party vendor.

See Item 2, “Properties,” for additional information about our distribution and e-fulfillment centers.

Human Capital

At Kohl’s, we strive to create a welcoming and inclusive culture of care. We believe our associates are our most valuable asset and a differentiator for our business. Our teams of associates take care of each other, our customers and the communities we serve. We support our associates by fostering a safe and healthy work environment, offering competitive total compensation and benefits, including many health and wellness offerings, providing ongoing training and development opportunities, and cultivating a culture where all associates feel a sense of belonging and appreciation.

Employee Count

During 2024, we employed an average of approximately 87,000 associates, which included approximately 33,000 full-time and 54,000 part-time associates. The number of associates varies during the year, peaking during the back-to-school and holiday seasons. None of our associates are represented by a collective bargaining unit. We believe we maintain positive relationships with our associates.

Health, Safety, and Wellness

We lead initiatives that ensure the way we communicate, work, and develop our product enables our customers and associates to shop, work, and engage in a safe environment. We have a team dedicated to defining plans and preparing for business crisis events, including natural disasters and other unplanned disruptions like those brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. To keep a healthy workforce, we maintain an advocacy program that provides associates with 24/7 access to medical professionals following a work accident. We continue to pursue innovative ways to educate our teams on safety. Associates at our stores, distribution, and e-fulfillment centers receive specialized training to enhance our safety culture and reduce associate accidents.

Inclusion and Belonging

At Kohl's, our priority as a company is to reflect our values of being a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive company for all of our associates and all of the customers we serve, which ultimately helps drive our business forward. We are committed to fostering inclusion and belonging through a strategy that centers on Our People, Our Customers, and Our Community.

We are focused on cultivating a workforce comprised of different backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences which leads to greater innovation and collaboration and helps us achieve our business objectives. We also remain purposeful in attracting, growing, and engaging a workforce that values and respects our customer base's range of diverse backgrounds and experiences. Our eight Business Resource Groups (BRGs) encompass more than 10,000 unique members and are a key component in recognizing and fostering our culture of inclusion and belonging. Our BRGs are inherently inclusive because they are open to all associates by welcoming all allies, not just the community they represent.

We believe our leaders are responsible for strengthening, modeling, and supporting our company Values and Behaviors by promoting a culture where all associates feel seen, heard, and valued. We provide tools and resources for our leaders to help drive a welcoming, respectful and inclusive culture while also engaging associates on how this creates a competitive advantage for Kohl's.

Compensation and Benefits

We are committed to providing competitive and fair compensation and benefits programs to our associates and offer a range of benefits that are meaningful to our associates' everyday lives, with a commitment to supporting all aspects of associates' well-being. All eligible associates receive a 100% match (up to 5% of pay) in Kohl’s 401(k) Savings Plan after one year of employment. Full-time associates are offered medical, dental, vision, prescription drug, disability and life insurance coverage, paid time off, and a merchandise discount. Part-time associates are offered a primary care health and pharmacy plan, dental, vision, supplementary life insurance, and a merchandise discount. Kohl's also offers paid parental and adoption leave, and doula and surrogacy reimbursement options. Kohl's has Wellness Centers available to associates at corporate and credit locations, distribution centers, and e-commerce fulfillment centers, as well as for near-site store and remote associates within the vicinity.

Kohl's fosters associates' total well-being, which includes a number of benefits that focus on mental well-being and health, including the Employee Assistance Program, counseling sessions, proactive coaching, mental well-being activities, webinars, business resource groups, support groups, and leader resources. We empower our associates’ work-life balance by giving them access to a full range of professional resources. Kohl’s offers an education benefit which provides options for associates pursuing high school completion, select certificates, and undergraduate degrees.

Training and Development

Behind our success are great teams of talented individuals who embody our values. We are committed to attracting, growing, and engaging talent, while giving associates equitable opportunities for career growth. Our talent management team brings together performance management, talent assessment, succession planning, and career planning. This team provides tools, resources, and best practices to ensure we have the right talent in the right roles at the right time. We invest in executive coaching, assessments, internal programs, external courses, peer networks, and more.

From initial onboarding to high potential leadership development, we believe in training and career growth for our associates. We encourage our associates to keep their skills fresh through different mediums ranging from live workshops to on-demand skills training available through our online library of courses. We also offer training to teams that provide skills and mindsets to help them perform at their highest level. Additionally, our development teams throughout the company provide job-specific training to ensure associates have the tools they need to excel in their jobs and serve our customers.

We are committed to the highest integrity standards and maintain a Code of Ethics to guide ethical decision-making for associates. As a company of integrity, we expect our associates to be honest and accountable. Our ethics training, which we require all associates to take annually, is refreshed yearly to ensure topics covered are relevant and impactful. The training helps connect ethics to an associate's day-to-day job responsibilities and promotes honesty, integrity, and fairness.

Competition

The retail industry is highly competitive. Management considers product and value to be the most significant competitive factors in the industry. Merchandise mix, brands, service, loyalty programs, credit availability, and customer experience are also key competitive factors. Our primary competitors are online retailers, off-price retailers, warehouse clubs, mass merchandisers, specialty stores, traditional department stores, and other forms of retail commerce. Our specific competitors vary from market to market.

Merchandise Vendors

We purchase merchandise from numerous domestic and foreign suppliers. All suppliers must meet certain requirements to do business with us. Our Terms of Engagement are part of our purchase order terms and conditions and include provisions regarding laws and regulations, employment practices, ethical standards, environmental requirements, communication, monitoring and compliance, record keeping, subcontracting, and corrective action. We expect that all suppliers will comply with our purchase terms and quickly remediate any deficiencies, if noted, to maintain our business relationship.

A third-party purchasing agent sources approximately 10% of the merchandise we sell. No vendor individually accounted for more than 10% of our net purchases in 2024. We have no significant long-term purchase commitments with any of our suppliers and believe that we are not dependent on any one supplier or one geographical location. We believe we have good working relationships with our suppliers.

Seasonality

Our business, like that of other retailers, is subject to seasonal influences. Sales and income are typically higher during the back-to-school and holiday seasons. Because of the seasonality of our business, results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved for a full fiscal year.

Trademarks and Service Marks

KOHL'S® is a registered trademark owned by one of our wholly-owned subsidiaries. This subsidiary has over 200 additional registered trademarks, most of which are used in connection with our private brand products.

We consider the KOHL'S® mark, all other trademarks, and the accompanying goodwill to be valuable to our business.

Available Information

Our corporate website is https://corporate.kohls.com. Through the “Investors” portion of this website, we make available, free of charge, our proxy statements, Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Forms 3, 4, and 5, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after such material has been filed with, or furnished to, the SEC.

The following have also been posted on our website, under the caption “Investors” and sub-captions "Corporate Governance" or “ESG”:

The information contained on our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Paper copies of any of the materials listed above will be provided without charge to any shareholder submitting a written request to our Investor Relations Department at N56 W17000 Ridgewood Drive, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051 or via e-mail to [email protected].

Item 1A. Risk Factors

This Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” made within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "may," "intends," "will," "should," "expects," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include the statements under management's discussion and analysis, financial and capital outlook and may include comments about our future sales or financial performance and our plans, performance and other objectives, expectations or intentions, such as statements regarding our liquidity, debt service requirements, planned capital expenditures, future store initiatives, and adequacy of capital resources and reserves. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s then current views and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. As such, forward-looking statements are qualified by those risk factors described below. Forward-looking statements relate to the date made, and we undertake no obligation to update them.

Our sales, revenues, gross margin, expenses, and operating results could be negatively impacted by a number of factors including, but not limited to those described below. Many of these risk factors are outside of our control. If we are not successful in managing these risks, they could have a negative impact on our sales, revenues, gross margin, expenses, and/or operating results.

Macroeconomic, Regulatory, Legal, and External Risks

General economic conditions, consumer spending levels, and/or other conditions could decline.

Consumer spending habits, including spending for the merchandise that we sell, are affected by many factors including prevailing economic conditions, inflation and measures to control inflation, consumer responses to recessionary concerns, levels of employment, salaries and wage rates, prevailing interest rates, housing costs, energy and fuel costs, income tax rates and policies, consumer confidence, consumer perception of economic conditions, and the consumer’s disposable income, credit availability, and debt levels. The moderate-income consumer, which is our core customer, is especially sensitive to these factors. A slowdown in the U.S. economy or an uncertain economic outlook could adversely affect consumer spending habits. As all of our stores are located in the United States, we are especially susceptible to deteriorations in the U.S. economy.

Consumer confidence is also affected by the domestic and international political environment. The outbreak or escalation of war, or the occurrence of terrorist acts or other hostilities in or affecting the United States, could lead to a decrease in spending by consumers.

Future pandemics could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The impact of, and actions taken in response to COVID-19, had a significant impact on the retail industry generally and our business. Future pandemics could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Tax, trade, and climate and other ESG-related policies and regulations could change or be implemented and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Uncertainty with respect to tax and trade policies, tariffs, and government regulations affecting trade between the United States and other countries has recently increased. The majority of goods we source are manufactured outside of the United States, primarily in Asia. Major developments in tax policy or trade relations, such as the imposition of

tariffs on imported products, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and liquidity. Furthermore, increased governmental focus on climate change and other ESG matters may result in complex regulatory requirements that may directly or indirectly have a significant impact on the costs of our operations, including energy, resources used to produce our products and compliance costs, which may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. While increased levels of regulation, disclosure-related and otherwise, with respect to ESG matters remain in flux under the new presidential administration, increased regulation, generally or in specific jurisdictions such as California, and increased and differing governmental and stakeholder expectations will likely lead to increased costs as well as scrutiny that could heighten all of the ESG-related risks to which we are subject. Additionally, many of our suppliers may be subject to similar regulations and expectations, which may exacerbate existing risks or create new ones, including risks that may not be known to us. Any of these developments may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Regulatory and legal matters could adversely affect our business operations and change financial performance.

Various aspects of our operations are subject to federal, state, or local laws, rules, and regulations, including consumer regulations, any of which may change from time to time. The costs and other effects of new or changed legal requirements cannot be determined with certainty. For example, new legislation or regulations may result in increased costs directly for our compliance or indirectly to the extent such requirements increase prices of goods and services, reduce the availability of raw materials, or further restrict our ability to extend credit to our customers.

We continually monitor the state and federal legal and regulatory environments for developments that may impact us. Failure to detect changes and comply with such laws and regulations may result in an erosion of our reputation, disruption of business, and/or loss of associate morale. Additionally, we are involved in various legal matters and regulatory proceedings that arise out of the conduct of our business. Litigation or regulatory developments could adversely affect our business operations and financial performance, given the expense, resources, and impact on our reputation that could result from involvement in these proceedings and compliance with regulatory developments and/or settlements or consent decrees resulting from these proceedings.

Weather conditions and natural disasters could adversely affect consumer shopping patterns and disrupt our operations.

Our business is apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and home products. Both our business and our supply chain are subject to weather conditions. As a result, our operating results may be adversely affected by severe or unexpected weather conditions (including those that may be caused by climate change). Frequent or unusually heavy snow, ice, or rain storms; natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, fires, and hurricanes; or extended periods of unseasonable temperatures or droughts could adversely affect our supply chain or our performance by affecting consumer shopping patterns and diminishing demand for seasonal merchandise. In addition, these events could cause physical damage to our properties or impact our supply chain, making it difficult or impossible to timely deliver seasonally appropriate merchandise. Climate change may impact the frequency and/or intensity of such events, as well as contribute to various chronic changes in the physical environment. Although we maintain crisis management and disaster response plans and may take various actions to mitigate our business risks associated with such events and climate change, our mitigation strategies may be inadequate to address such a major disruption event.

Further, unseasonable weather conditions, including unusually warm weather in the fall or winter months or abnormally wet or cold weather in the spring or summer months, whether due to climate change or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results, as consumer spending may be inconsistent with our typical inventory purchasing cycle.

Strategic, Competitive, and Operational Risks

We may be unable to successfully execute an omnichannel strategy.

Customer expectations regarding how they purchase and receive products are continuously evolving. Customers are increasingly using technology and mobile devices to rapidly compare products, check prices, and make purchases. Once products are purchased, customers are seeking alternate options for delivery of those products. To stay competitive, we must continually anticipate and adapt to these changes in consumer behavior.

The success of our omnichannel strategy depends on delivering a seamless shopping experience - both in-store and online. This requires maintaining uninterrupted availability of our website and supporting applications, adequate and accurate inventory levels, timely fulfillment of customer orders, accurate shipping of undamaged products, and integrating these efforts across our physical locations. Our physical stores play a crucial role in attracting customers, driving traffic to digital channels, and supporting fulfillment, returns, and other omnichannel functions.

Our ability to compete with other retailers and to meet our customers' expectations may suffer if we are unable to provide relevant customer-facing technology, a compelling in-store experience, and positive omnichannel experiences. As we continue to refine our omnichannel value strategy, our efforts may negatively impact the loyalty of certain customers and our efforts to mitigate this impact may not be successful. Additionally, declining store traffic or shifting sales from physical stores to digital platforms could lead to store closures, restructuring and other costs, and adverse effects on our financial performance.

Furthermore, our ability to compete may also suffer if Kohl’s, our suppliers, or our third-party shipping and delivery vendors are unable to effectively and efficiently fulfill and deliver orders, especially during the holiday season when sales volumes are especially high. Any disruptions in these areas could adversely affect our results of operations.

We may be unable to offer merchandise that resonates with existing customers and attracts new customers as well as successfully manage our inventory levels.

Our business is dependent on our ability to anticipate fluctuations in consumer demand for a wide variety of merchandise. Failure to accurately predict constantly changing consumer tastes, preferences, spending patterns, and other lifestyle decisions could create inventory imbalances and adversely affect our performance and long-term relationships with our customers. Additionally, failure to accurately predict changing consumer tastes may result in excess inventory, which could result in additional markdowns and adversely affect our operating results. Negative publicity surrounding us, our activities, or the products we offer, including consumer perception of our response to political and social issues, and campaigns by political activists promoting certain causes, could adversely impact our brand image and may decrease demand for our products, thereby adversely affecting our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition. As with most retailers, we also experience inventory shrinkage due to theft or damage. Higher rates of inventory shrinkage or increased security or other costs to combat inventory shrinkage could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition, and our efforts to contain or reduce inventory shrinkage may not be successful.

Our competitors could make changes to their pricing and other practices.

The retail industry is highly competitive. We compete for customers, associates, locations, merchandise, services, and other important aspects of our business with many other local, regional, and national retailers. Those competitors include online retailers, off-price retailers, warehouse clubs, mass merchandisers, specialty stores, traditional department stores, and other forms of retail commerce.

We consider product and value to be the most significant competitive factors in our industry. The continuing migration and evolution of retailing to digital channels has increased our challenges in differentiating ourselves from other retailers especially as it relates to national brands. In particular, consumers can quickly and conveniently comparison shop with digital tools, which can lead to decisions based solely on price. Unanticipated changes in the pricing and other practices of our competitors may adversely affect our performance and lead to loss of market share in one or more categories.

Our marketing may be ineffective.

We believe that differentiating Kohl's in the marketplace is critical to our success. We design our marketing and loyalty programs to increase awareness of our brands and to build personalized connections with new and existing customers. We believe these programs will strengthen customer loyalty, increase the number and frequency of customers that shop our stores and website, and increase our sales. If our marketing and loyalty programs are not successful or efficient, our sales and operating results could be adversely affected.

Our business is seasonal in nature, which could negatively affect our sales, revenues, operating results, and cash requirements.

Our business is subject to seasonal influences, with a major portion of sales and income historically realized during the second half of the fiscal year, which includes the back-to-school and holiday seasons.

If we do not adequately stock or restock popular products, particularly during the back-to-school and holiday seasons, we may fail to meet customer demand, which could affect our revenue and our future growth. If we overstock products, we may be required to take significant inventory markdowns or write-offs, which could reduce profitability. Underestimating customer demand, or failing to timely receive merchandise to meet demand, can lead to inventory shortages and missed sales opportunities, as well as negative customer experiences.

We have and may continue to experience an increase in costs associated with shipping digital orders due to promotional shipping offers, split shipments, freight surcharges due to peak capacity constraints, and additional long-zone shipments necessary to ensure timely delivery for the holiday season. If too many customers access our website within a short period of time, particularly during peak selling periods, we may experience system interruptions that make our website unavailable or prevent us from efficiently fulfilling orders, which may reduce the volume of goods we sell and the attractiveness of our products and services. Also, third-party delivery and direct ship vendors may be unable to deliver merchandise on a timely basis.

This seasonality causes our operating results and cash needs to vary considerably from quarter to quarter. Additionally, any decrease in sales or profitability during the second half of the fiscal year could have a disproportionately adverse effect on our results of operations.

The reputation and brand image of Kohl’s and the brands and products we sell could be damaged.

We believe the Kohl's brand name and many of our private brand names are powerful sales and marketing tools. We devote significant resources to develop, promote, and protect private brands that generate national recognition. In some cases, the private brands or the marketing of such brands are tied to or affiliated with well-known individuals. We also associate the Kohl’s brand with third-party national brands that we sell in our store and through our partnerships with companies in pursuit of strategic initiatives. Further, we focus on ESG as a component of our strategy, and we have and may at times continue to engage in voluntary initiatives (such as voluntary disclosures, certifications, or goals, among others) to improve the ESG profile of our company and/or products. For example, we publish an annual report to share information with our stakeholders, including partners, shareholders, customers, and associates, regarding our ESG progress. These disclosures reflect our goals and other expectations and assumptions, which are necessarily uncertain and may not be realized. Such initiatives may be costly, even if realized, may not have the desired effect, and actions or statements that we may take based on expectations, assumptions,

or third-party information that we currently believe to be reasonable may subsequently be determined to be erroneous or be subject to misinterpretation. At the same time, investor and other stakeholder expectations, and voluntary and regulatory ESG disclosure standards and policies, continue to evolve and are not uniform. We may be subject to investor or regulator engagement and/or litigation on our ESG initiatives and disclosures, even if such initiatives are currently voluntary. We also note that there are divergent views regarding ESG principles in the U.S., and in particular, in U.S. state-level regulation and enforcement efforts and among certain activist stakeholders. To the extent ESG matters negatively impact our brand and reputation, they may also impede our ability to compete as effectively to attract and retain employees or customers, which may adversely impact our operations, business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flow and prospects.

Damage to the reputations (whether or not justified) of the Kohl’s brand, our private brand names, or any affiliated individuals or companies with which we have partnered, could arise from product failures; concerns about human rights, working conditions, and other labor rights and conditions associated with our own operations or where merchandise is produced; perceptions of our inclusion and belonging efforts; perceptions regarding our position or lack of position on ESG, public policy, geopolitical and similar matters; perceptions of our pricing and return policies; litigation; vendor violations of our Terms of Engagement; perceptions of the national vendors and/or other third parties with which we partner; failure, or perceived failure, to realize our ESG goals on a timely basis or at all; the impact of, and perception associated with, executing and/or realizing our ESG and other social efforts, whether positive or negative; perceptions of our management of ESG risks and opportunities; our performance on various ESG ratings; failure to meet evolving investor and other stakeholder expectations with respect to ESG matters; or various other forms of adverse publicity, especially in social media outlets. The use of online media by us, our influencer network, and our consumers and other stakeholders has increased the risk that our reputation and brand could be damaged, as the dissemination of information via online media is immediate and damage could arise quickly without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. This type of reputational damage may result in deterioration in our relationships with stakeholders and/or a reduction in sales, operating results, and shareholder value.

We are subject to payment-related risks, including in our credit card operations, that could adversely affect our sales, revenues, and/or profitability, increase our operating costs, expose us to fraud or theft, and subject us to potential liability.

We accept payments using a variety of methods, including our private label and co-branded Kohl’s credit card, credit and debit cards, gift cards, mobile payments, cash, and checks. Acceptance of these payment options subjects us to rules, regulations, contractual obligations and compliance requirements, including payment network rules and operating guidelines and rules governing electronic funds transfers. These requirements may change over time or be reinterpreted, making compliance more difficult, costly, or uncertain.

Our credit card operations facilitate merchandise sales and generate additional revenue from fees related to extending credit. The private label and co-branded Kohl's credit card accounts are owned by an unrelated third-party, but we share in the net risk-adjusted revenue of the portfolio, which is defined as the sum of finance charges, late fees, and other revenue less write-offs of uncollectible accounts. Changes in funding costs related to interest rate fluctuations are shared similar to the revenue when interest rates exceed defined amounts. Though management currently believes that increases in funding costs will be largely offset by increases in finance charge revenue, increases in funding costs could adversely impact the profitability of our credit card operations. Additionally, on March 5, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") released a final rule reducing the safe harbor dollar amount for credit card late fees and eliminating the automatic annual inflation adjustment to such safe harbor dollar amount. The rule is subject to legal challenge, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a preliminary injunction, staying implementation of the rule, on May 10, 2024. As of February 1, 2025, this injunction remains in effect. The ultimate outcome of this legal challenge, along with the rule’s effectiveness and implementation under the new presidential administration, remains uncertain. If implemented, this rule could adversely impact Kohl’s credit card revenues, particularly if Kohl's steps to mitigate the impact of such rule are not successful.

The payment and payment process methods that we accept subject us to potential fraud and theft by threat actors, including increased credit fraud risks associated with self check out, self pick up, and digital payment methods which could negatively impact our revenue and profitability. If we fail to comply with applicable rules or requirements for the payment methods we accept, or if payment-related data is compromised due to a breach or misuse of data, we may be liable for costs incurred by third parties or our ability to accept or facilitate certain types of payments may be impaired. In addition, our customers could lose confidence in certain payment types, which may result in a shift to other payment types or potential changes to our payment systems that may result in higher costs, adversely affecting our business and operating results.

Changes in credit card use and applications, payment patterns, credit fraud, and default rates may also result from a variety of economic, legal, social, and other factors that we cannot control or predict with certainty. Changes that adversely impact our ability to extend credit and collect payments could negatively affect our results.

We may be unable to attract, develop, and retain quality associates while controlling costs, which could adversely affect our operating results.

Our performance is dependent on attracting and retaining a large number of quality associates, including our senior management team and other key associates, and successfully executing organizational changes, such as leadership transitions. While we have succession plans for our senior management team, they may not be adequate to replace members of our senior management, including our Chief Executive Officer, or may not be successfully executed.

Many associates are in entry-level or part-time positions with historically high rates of turnover. Many of our strategic initiatives require that we hire and/or develop associates with appropriate experience. Our staffing needs are especially high during the holiday season. Competition for these associates is intense. We cannot be sure that we will be able to attract and retain a sufficient number of qualified personnel in future periods.

Our ability to meet our labor needs while controlling costs is subject to external factors such as government benefits, unemployment levels and labor participation rates, prevailing wage rates, minimum wage legislation, actions by our competitors in compensation levels, perceptions of our employee experience, potential labor organizing efforts, and changing demographics. Competitive and regulatory pressures have already significantly increased our labor costs. Further changes that adversely impact our ability to attract and retain quality associates or manage leadership transitions could adversely affect our performance, ability to effectively execute our strategy, our customer experience, and/or profitability. In addition, changes in federal and state laws relating to employee benefits, including, but not limited to, sick time, paid time off, leave of absence, minimum wage, wage-and-hour, overtime, meal-and-break time, and joint/co-employment could cause us to incur additional costs, which could negatively impact our profitability.

Information Systems, Cybersecurity, Data Management, and Privacy Risks

We may be unable to adequately maintain and/or update our information systems.

The efficient operation of our business is dependent on our information systems. In particular, we rely on our information systems to effectively manage sales, distribution, and merchandise planning and allocation functions. We also generate sales through the operations of our Kohls.com website. We frequently make investments that will help maintain and update our existing information systems. We also depend on third parties as it relates to our information systems. Although we and our third-party vendors seek to maintain our respective systems and address the risk of compromise of integrity, security, and consistent operation of these systems, such efforts are not always successful, and we or our third-party vendors could experience interruptions, delays, or cessation of service. The potential problems and interruptions associated with implementing technology initiatives, the failure of our information systems to perform as designed, or the failure to successfully partner with our third-party service providers, such as our cloud

platform providers, could disrupt our operations, harm our sales and profitability, impair data security, and be time-consuming, costly and/or resource intensive to remedy.

Our efforts to protect the privacy and security of sensitive or confidential customer, associate, or company information could be unsuccessful, which could severely damage our reputation, expose us to risks of litigation and liability, disrupt our operations, and harm our business.

As part of our normal course of business, we collect, retain, process, and transmit sensitive and confidential customer, associate, and company information. We also engage third-party vendors that provide technology, systems, and services to facilitate our collection, retention, processing, and transmission of this information. We face risk that our facilities and systems and those of our third-party vendors are vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, security breaches, system failures, acts of vandalism, fraud, misappropriation, malware, ransomware, and other malicious or harmful code, misplaced or lost data, programming and/or human errors, insider threats, or other similar events. The ever-evolving and increasingly sophisticated methods of cyber-attack may be difficult or impossible to anticipate and/or detect. Our ability to monitor our vendors and service providers’ data security is limited, and, in any event, third parties may be able to circumvent those security measures, resulting in the unauthorized access to, misuse, acquisition, disclosure, loss, alteration, or destruction of our and our customers’ and associates’ data, including confidential, sensitive, and other information about individuals. Any data security incident involving the breach, misappropriation, loss, or other unauthorized disclosure of sensitive and/or confidential information, whether by us or our vendors, the failure or unavailability of technology systems, or ineffectiveness of business continuity or disaster recovery plans in the event of the foregoing events could disrupt our operations, damage our reputation and customers' willingness to shop in our stores or on our website, violate applicable laws, regulations, orders and agreements, and subject us to additional costs and liabilities which could be material. While we maintain insurance coverage designed to address certain aspects of cyber risks, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses or all types of claims that may arise. In addition, the regulatory environment related to data privacy and cybersecurity is constantly changing, with new and increasingly demanding requirements applicable to our business. Maintaining our compliance with those requirements, including recently enacted state consumer privacy laws, may increase our compliance costs, require changes to our business practices, limit our ability to use and collect data, impact our customers’ shopping experience, reduce our business efficiency, and subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny or data breach litigation.

Our information technology projects may not yield their intended results.

We regularly have internal information technology projects in process. Although the technology is intended to increase productivity and operating efficiencies, these projects may not yield their intended results or may deliver an adverse user or customer experience. We may incur significant costs in connection with the implementation, ongoing use, or discontinuation of technology projects, or fail to successfully implement these technology initiatives, or achieve the anticipated efficiencies from such projects, any of which could adversely affect our operations, liquidity, and financial condition. In addition, we may not be able to adapt or adapt quickly enough to technological change, including that brought about by the use of artificial intelligence. If our competitors are more successful in adapting to such changes or otherwise incorporating such changes into their business or operations, this could have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

Supply Chain, Third Party, and Product-Related Risks

We may be unable to source merchandise in a timely and cost-effective manner.

A third-party purchasing agent sources approximately 10% of the merchandise we sell. The remaining merchandise is sourced from a wide variety of domestic and international vendors. Our ability to find qualified vendors and access to brands or products in a timely and efficient manner is a significant challenge, which is typically even more difficult for goods sourced outside the United States, substantially all of which are shipped by ocean to ports in the United States. Political or financial instability, trade restrictions, tariffs, currency exchange rates, transport capacity and costs,

pandemic outbreaks, work stoppages, port strikes, port congestion and delays, information technology challenges, and other factors relating to foreign trade are beyond our control and have impacted or could continue to adversely impact our performance and cause us to pay more to obtain inventory or result in having the wrong inventory at the wrong time. In addition, certain laws and regulations impose import restrictions for goods, which may induce greater supply chain compliance costs and may result in delays to us or adversely impact our inventory. Where we are the importer of record, we may be subject to additional regulatory and other requirements, resulting in additional costs to us.

Increases in the price of merchandise, raw materials, fuel, and labor, or their reduced availability, increase our cost of merchandise sold. The price and availability of raw materials may fluctuate substantially, depending on a variety of factors, including demand, weather, supply conditions, transportation costs, energy prices, work stoppages, government regulation and policy, economic climates, market speculation, and other unpredictable factors. An inability to mitigate these cost increases, unless sufficiently offset with our pricing actions, might cause a decrease in our operating results. Any related pricing actions might cause a decline in our sales volume. Additionally, a reduction in the availability of raw materials could impair the ability to meet production or purchasing requirements in a timely manner. Both the increased cost and lower availability of merchandise, raw materials, fuel, and labor may also have an adverse impact on our cash and working capital needs as well as those of our suppliers.

If any of our significant vendors were to become subject to bankruptcy, receivership, or similar proceedings, we may be unable to arrange for alternate or replacement contracts, transactions, or business relationships on terms as favorable as current terms, which could adversely affect our sales and operating results.

Our vendors may not adhere to our Terms of Engagement or to applicable laws.

A substantial portion of our merchandise is received from vendors and factories outside of the United States. We require all of our suppliers to comply with all applicable local and national laws and regulations and our Terms of Engagement for Kohl's Business Partners. These Terms of Engagement include provisions regarding laws and regulations, employment practices, ethical standards, environmental and legal requirements, communication, monitoring/compliance, record keeping, subcontracting, and corrective action. From time to time, suppliers may not be in compliance with these standards or applicable laws. Significant or continuing noncompliance with such standards and laws by one or more suppliers may delay or preclude delivery of merchandise to us and could have a negative impact on our reputation and our results of operations.

There may be concerns about the safety of products that we sell.

If our merchandise offerings do not meet applicable safety standards or our customers' expectations regarding safety, we could experience lost sales, experience increased costs, and/or be exposed to legal and reputational risk. Events that give rise to actual, potential, or perceived product safety concerns could expose us to government enforcement action and/or private litigation. Reputational damage caused by real or perceived product safety concerns could have a negative impact on our sales and operating results.

Capital Risks

We may be unable to raise additional capital or maintain bank credit on favorable terms, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We have historically relied on the public debt markets to raise capital to partially fund our operations and growth. We have also historically maintained lines of credit with financial institutions. In January 2023, we upsized and replaced our unsecured credit facility with a $1.5 billion senior secured, asset based revolving credit facility. Changes in the credit and capital markets, including market disruptions, limited liquidity, and interest rate fluctuations may increase the cost of financing or restrict our access to these potential sources of future liquidity. Our continued access to these

liquidity sources on favorable terms depends on multiple factors, including our operating performance and debt ratings. During 2024, S&P downgraded our senior unsecured credit rating from BB to BB- and Moody's downgraded our rating from Ba3 to B1. These downgrades have caused our cost of borrowing to increase, and further downgrades would cause our cost of borrowing to further increase. Declines in our credit ratings may also adversely affect our ability to access the debt markets and the terms and our cost of funds for new debt issuances. If our credit ratings were to be further downgraded, or general market conditions were to ascribe higher risk to our credit rating levels, our industry, or our Company, our access to capital and the cost of debt financing may be negatively impacted. Additionally, if unfavorable capital market conditions exist if and when we were to seek additional financing, we may not be able to raise sufficient capital on favorable terms and on a timely basis (if at all). The terms of current and future debt agreements could restrict our business operations or cause future financing to be unavailable due to our covenant restrictions then in effect. Also, if we are unable to comply with the covenants under our revolving credit facility, the lenders under that agreement will have the right to terminate their commitments thereunder and declare the outstanding loans thereunder to be immediately due and payable. A default under our revolving credit facility could trigger a cross-default, acceleration, or other consequences under other indebtedness or financial instruments to which we are a party. If our access to capital were to become significantly constrained or our cost of capital were to increase significantly our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be adversely affected.

Our capital allocation could be inefficient or ineffective.

Our goal is to invest capital to maximize our overall long-term returns. This includes spending on inventory, capital projects and expenses, managing debt levels, and periodically returning value to our shareholders through dividends and, longer term, share repurchases. To a large degree, capital efficiency reflects how well we manage our other key risks. The actions taken to address other specific risks may affect how well we manage the more general risk of capital efficiency. If we do not properly allocate our capital to maximize returns, we may fail to produce optimal financial results, and we may experience a reduction in shareholder value.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

Not applicable.

Item 2. Properties

Stores

As of February 1, 2025, we operated 1,175 Kohl's stores with 82 million selling square feet in 49 states. During the fourth quarter of 2024, we announced the closure of 27 underperforming stores. As of February 1, 2025 three of those stores have been closed and the remaining 24 are expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. Our typical store lease has an initial term of 20-25 years and four to eight five-year renewal options. Substantially all of our leases provide for a minimum annual rent that is fixed or adjusts to set levels during the lease term, including renewals. Some of our store leases provide for additional rent based on a percentage of sales over designated levels.

The following tables summarize key information about our Kohl's stores as of February 1, 2025:

Distribution Centers

The following table summarizes key information about each of our distribution and e-fulfillment centers:

We own all of the distribution and e-fulfillment centers except the San Bernardino, California locations and Corsicana, Texas, which are leased. We are leasing the San Bernardino e-fulfillment center through May 2025 when our lease expires; however, all business operations ceased in January 2025.

Corporate Facilities

We own our corporate headquarters in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. We also own or lease additional buildings and office space, which are used by various corporate departments, including our credit operations.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

We are not currently party to any material legal proceedings; however, we are subject to certain legal proceedings and claims arising out of the ordinary conduct of our business. In the opinion of management, the outcome of these proceedings and claims will not have a material adverse effect on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

Information about Our Executive Officers

Our executive officers as of February 1, 2025 were as follows:

Ashley Buchanan

Mr. Buchanan has served as Chief Executive Officer since January 2025. Prior to joining Kohl's, Mr. Buchanan served as Chief Executive Officer of The Michaels Companies from 2020 to 2025. Mr. Buchanan has also held various roles of increased leadership across the retail sector, including Chief Merchant at Sam’s Club and Chief Merchandising and Chief Operating Officer for Walmart U.S. eCommerce.

Jill Timm

Ms. Timm has served as Chief Financial Officer since November 2019. Ms. Timm joined the Company in 1999 and has held a number of progressive leadership roles across several areas of finance, most recently having served as Executive Vice President of Finance. Prior to joining the Company, she served as senior auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP.

Fred Hand

Mr. Hand has served as Senior Executive Vice President, Director of Stores since September 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Hand served as Chief Executive Officer of Tuesday Morning from May 2021 to November 2022. Mr. Hand also held progressive leadership roles in stores at Burlington, including Chief Operating Officer, as well as held various senior leadership positions in stores and visual merchandising at May Department Stores (then Macy's), and Filene's.

Nick Jones

Mr. Jones has served as Chief Merchandising Officer since March 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Jones served as Chief Executive Officer at Joules Group — a premium British lifestyle clothing brand from September 2019 to August 2022. Mr. Jones has also held a variety of business and merchandise leadership positions with ASDA/Walmart UK and Marks & Spencer.

Jennifer Kent

Ms. Kent has served as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since February 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Kent served in various legal leadership roles at Quad/Graphics, Inc., a publicly traded Milwaukee-based company, from 2010 to February 2023, most recently having served as its Executive Vice President and Chief People and Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Kent also held a variety of other legal roles throughout her career, including as an Associate General Counsel at Harley-Davidson Motor Company, an Assistant United States Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and as an associate at Foley & Lardner LLP.

Siobhán Mc Feeney

Ms. Mc Feeney has served as Chief Technology and Digital Officer since July 2022. She joined the Company in January 2020 as Senior Vice President, Technology. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Mc Feeney served in a number of technology leadership roles, including leading innovation and strategy at Pivotal Software, Inc. from 2014 to January 2020. Ms. Mc Feeney has also held various leadership roles at AAA Northern California, including Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Interim Chief Executive Officer.

Christie Raymond

Ms. Raymond has served as Chief Marketing Officer since August 2022. She joined the Company in October 2017 as Senior Vice President, Media and Personalization and was promoted to Executive Vice President, Customer Engagement, Analytics & Insights in June 2020. Prior to joining the Company, she served in marketing, new business, and strategic planning leadership roles at The Walt Disney Company and Aspen Club Technologies.

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market information

Our Common Stock has been traded on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") since May 19, 1992, under the symbol “KSS.”

Holders

As of March 12, 2025, there were approximately 3,100 record holders of our Common Stock.

Performance Graph

The graph below compares our cumulative five-year shareholder return to that of the Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) 500 Index and the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Distribution & Retail Index. The S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Distribution & Retail Index was calculated by S&P Global, a Standard & Poor’s business and includes the same companies within the S&P Consumer Discretionary Distribution & Retail Index. The S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Distribution & Retail Index is weighted by the market capitalization of each component company at the beginning of each period. The graph assumes an investment of $100 on February 1, 2020 and reinvestment of dividends. The calculations exclude trading commissions and taxes.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities

We did not sell any equity securities in fiscal year 2024 that were not registered under the Securities Act.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

In February 2022, our Board of Directors increased the remaining share repurchase authorization under our existing share repurchase program to $3.0 billion. Purchases under the repurchase program may be made in the open market, through block trades, and other negotiated transactions. We expect to execute the share repurchase program primarily in open market transactions, subject to market conditions. There is no fixed termination date for the repurchase program, and the program may be suspended, discontinued, or accelerated at any time.

The following table contains information for shares repurchased and shares acquired from employees in lieu of amounts required to satisfy minimum tax withholding requirements upon the vesting of the employees’ restricted stock during the three fiscal months ended February 1, 2025:

Item 6. Reserved

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Executive Summary

Kohl's is a leading omnichannel retailer operating 1,175 stores and a website (www.Kohls.com) as of February 1, 2025. Our Kohl's stores and website sell moderately-priced private and national brand apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and home products. Our Kohl's stores generally carry a consistent merchandise assortment with some differences attributable to local preferences, store size, and Sephora shops. Our website includes merchandise which is available in our stores, as well as merchandise that is available only online.

Key financial results for 2024 as compared to 2023 include:

Our Strategy

Kohl's remains committed to driving long-term shareholder value by providing our customers with great product, great value, and a great experience. To achieve this, we will offer a curated balanced assortment, reestablish Kohl’s to be a leader in value and quality, and enhance our omnichannel platform to deliver a frictionless experience to customers.

Financial and Capital Outlook

For fiscal year 2025, the Company currently expects the following:

Results of Operations

For our comparison and discussion of 2023 and 2022, see Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Part II of our 2023 Form 10-K.

53rd Week

The retail calendar for fiscal January 2023 included a fifth week, resulting in a 14-week fiscal fourth quarter and a 53-week year. Our comparable sales in 2024 exclude the impact of the 53rd week in 2023 and compare the 52 weeks ended February 1, 2025 and January 27, 2024.

Net Sales

Net sales includes revenue from the sale of merchandise, net of expected returns and deferrals due to future performance obligations, and shipping revenue.

Comparable sales is a measure that highlights the performance of our stores and digital channel by measuring the change in sales for a period over the comparable, prior-year period of equivalent length. Comparable sales includes all store and digital sales, except sales from stores open less than 12 months, stores that have been closed, and stores that have been relocated where square footage has changed by more than 10%.

The following graph summarizes net sales dollars and the change in comparable sales over the prior year.

Digital sales decreased 9% in 2024. Digital penetration represented 28% of net sales in 2024 and 29% of net sales in 2023. We measure the change in digital sales by including all sales initiated online or through mobile applications, including omnichannel transactions which are fulfilled through our stores. We measure digital penetration as digital sales over net sales. These amounts do not take into consideration fulfillment node or digital returns processed in stores.

Comparable sales and digital penetration measures vary across the retail industry. As a result, our comparable sales calculation and digital penetration may not be consistent with the similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

2024 compared to 2023

Net sales decreased $1.2 billion, or (7.2%), to $15.4 billion for 2024.

Other Revenue

Other revenue includes revenue from credit card operations, third-party advertising on our website, unused gift cards and merchandise return cards (breakage), and other non-merchandise revenue.

The following graph summarizes other revenue:

Other revenue decreased $54 million in 2024 due to lower credit revenue, driven by a decrease in net sales, lower revolving credit balances, and an increase in loss rates.

As it relates to our credit business and recent regulatory developments, on March 5, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a final rule reducing the safe harbor dollar amount for credit card late fees and eliminating the automatic annual inflation adjustment to such safe harbor dollar amount. The rule is subject to legal challenge, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a preliminary injunction, staying implementation of the rule, on May 10, 2024. As of February 1, 2025, this injunction remains in effect. The ultimate outcome of this legal challenge, along with the rule’s effectiveness and implementation under the new presidential administration, remains uncertain. If implemented, this rule could adversely impact Kohl’s credit card revenues; however, we are actively pursuing various mitigation strategies should the rule become effective.

Cost of Merchandise Sold and Gross Margin

Cost of merchandise sold includes the total cost of products sold, including product development costs, net of vendor payments other than reimbursement of specific, incremental, and identifiable costs; inventory shrink; markdowns; freight expenses associated with moving merchandise from our vendors to our distribution centers; shipping expenses for digital sales; and terms cash discount. Our cost of merchandise sold may not be comparable with that of other retailers because we include distribution center and buying costs in selling, general, and administrative expenses while other retailers may include these expenses in cost of merchandise sold.

The following graph summarizes cost of merchandise sold and gross margin as a percent of net sales:

Gross margin is calculated as net sales less cost of merchandise sold. Gross margin in 2024 was 37.2% of net sales, an increase of 50 basis points to last year. The increase in gross margin was driven by lower freight costs and strong inventory management as our receipts were down 5% to last year as we continue to benefit from operating with greater flexibility. This was partially offset by elevated shrink levels.

Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses

SG&A includes compensation and benefit costs (including stores, corporate, buying, and distribution centers); occupancy and operating costs of our retail, distribution, and corporate facilities; freight expenses associated with moving merchandise from our distribution centers to our retail stores and among distribution and retail facilities other than expenses to fulfill digital sales; marketing expenses, offset by vendor payments for reimbursement of specific, incremental, and identifiable costs; expenses related to our credit card operations; and other administrative revenues and expenses. We do not include depreciation and amortization in SG&A. The classification of these expenses varies across the retail industry.

Many of our expenses, including store payroll and distribution costs, are variable in nature. These costs generally increase as sales increase, and decrease as sales decrease. We measure our expenses as a percentage of revenue and changes in this percentage compared to the prior year. If the expense as a percent of revenue decreased from the prior year, the expense "leveraged". If the expense as a percent of revenue increased over the prior year, the expense "deleveraged".

The following graph summarizes the changes in SG&A by expense type between 2023 and 2024:

SG&A decreased $204 million, or 3.7%, to $5.3 billion in 2024. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A deleveraged by 118 basis points.

The decrease in SG&A expenses was driven by strong cost discipline across the organization. In addition, as sales declined, expenses were further reduced across stores and distribution centers. Distribution costs, which exclude payroll related to online originated orders that were shipped from our stores, were $378 million for 2024 compared to $406 million for 2023.

Other Expenses

Depreciation and amortization decreased in 2024, primarily driven by reduced capital spending in technology. This was partially offset by increased store investments, including Sephora shops and queuing lines.

We recognized $76 million in Impairments, store closing, and other costs related to the closure of our San Bernardino E-commerce Fulfillment Center and 27 underperforming stores in 2024. Included in this amount was $43 million of fixed asset impairments, $11 million of lease Right of Use (“ROU”) asset impairments, $14 million of severance, and $26 million in other costs relating to the closure of these locations. The $26 million in other costs includes $32 million of costs offset by $6 million in cash proceeds related to lease termination agreements. Offsetting these costs were $18 million in non-cash lease gains, where upon the remeasurement, the reduction recorded to the lease liability was greater than the remaining value of the related ROU asset.

Net interest expense decreased in 2024 compared to 2023 due to reduced outstanding unsecured senior debt and a lower average outstanding balance on the revolving credit facility throughout the year. Decreases in interest expense were partially offset by a $5 million loss on extinguishment of debt recognized in connection with a voluntary redemption of the remaining $113 million of outstanding 9.50% notes due May 15, 2025 completed in June 2024.

Income Taxes

The effective tax rate for 2024 was lower than the effective tax rate for 2023 because of the impact of favorable results from uncertain tax positions and federal tax credits relative to consolidated book net income.

GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliation

In addition to reporting our financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for fiscal 2024, this Annual Report on Form 10-K contains certain non-GAAP financial results, including adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share. These adjusted results exclude the gains, impairments, and other costs associated with the closing of 27 underperforming stores and our San Bernardino, California E-commerce Fulfillment Center, as we believe such costs and charges are not representative of our normal business activity. We believe these non-GAAP measures are useful, as they are more representative of our core business, enhance comparability across reporting periods and to industry peers, and align with the measures used by management to evaluate the Company’s performance. The adjusted, non-GAAP results are provided and should be evaluated in addition to, and not as an alternative for, our results reported in accordance with GAAP. Shown below is a reconciliation of each non-GAAP measure referenced throughout this report to the most comparable GAAP measure. No adjustments were made to our results for fiscal years 2023 and 2022 and therefore these results are not included in the table below. Net income was $317 million, or $2.85 per diluted share, in 2023, and a net loss of $19 million, or ($0.15) per diluted share, in 2022.

Inflation

We expect that our operations will continue to be influenced by general economic conditions, including food, fuel, and energy prices, higher unemployment, wage inflation, and costs to source our merchandise, including tariffs. There can be no assurances that such factors will not impact our business in the future.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Capital Allocation

Our capital allocation strategy is to invest to maximize our overall long-term return and maintain a strong balance sheet. We follow a disciplined approach to capital allocation based on the following priorities: first we invest in our business to drive long-term profitable growth; second we pay a quarterly dividend; third we will complete debt reduction transactions, when appropriate; and fourth, when appropriate, we return excess cash to shareholders through our share repurchase program.

We will continue to invest in the business, as we plan to invest approximately $400 to $425 million in 2025, which includes the investments to complete the roll out of Sephora, expansion of impulse queuing lines, omnichannel enhancements, and two new store openings. On March 11, 2025, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share. The dividend will be paid on April 2, 2025 to all shareholders of record at the close of business on March 21, 2025. Although we remain committed to returning capital to shareholders, this reduction in the quarterly dividend allows for greater balance sheet flexibility. In June 2024, we completed a voluntary redemption of the remaining $113 million of outstanding 9.50% notes due May 15, 2025. We did not complete any share repurchases during fiscal 2024.

Our period-end cash and cash equivalents balance decreased to $134 million from $183 million in 2023. Our cash and cash equivalents balance includes short-term investments of $9 million and $15 million as of February 1, 2025, and February 3, 2024, respectively. Our investment policy is designed to preserve principal and liquidity of our short-term investments. This policy allows investments in large money market funds or in highly rated direct short-term instruments. We also place dollar limits on our investments in individual funds or instruments.

The following table presents our primary uses and sources of cash:

The following table includes cash balances and changes:

Operating Activities

Our operating cash outflows generally consist of payments to our employees for wages, salaries and other employee benefits, payments to our merchandise vendors for inventory (net of vendor allowances), payments to our shipping carriers, and payments to our landlords for rent. Operating cash outflows also include payments for income taxes and interest payments on our debt borrowings.

Operating activities generated cash of $648 million in 2024 compared to $1.2 billion in 2023. Operating cash flow decreased due to a lower net income and inventory increasing 2% to last year as we invested into private brand inventory. Receipts decreased 5% in 2024 compared to a decrease of 9% in 2023 due to the private brand investment.

Investing Activities

Our investing cash outflows include payments for capital expenditures, including investments in new and existing stores, improvements to supply chain, and technology costs. Our investing cash inflows are generally from proceeds from sales of property and real estate.

Net cash used in investing activities decreased $95 million to $467 million in 2024. The decrease was primarily driven by fewer Sephora shop openings and other investments, consistent with our reduced capital expenditure plans for fiscal 2024.

The following chart summarizes capital expenditures by major category:

At the end of 2024, we had a Sephora presence in over 1,000 of our stores, including 861 full size 2,500 square foot shops and 190 small format Sephora shops. We also had 350 locations with impulse queuing lines, launched 200 Babies "R" Us shops, and had six new store openings, including one relocation. In 2025, we anticipate capital expenditures of approximately $400 to $425 million, which includes the investments to complete the roll out of

Sephora, expansion of impulse queuing lines, omnichannel enhancements, and two new store openings. We will continue to invest in enhancing our omnichannel capabilities.

Financing Activities

Our financing strategy is to ensure adequate liquidity and access to capital markets. We also strive to maintain a balanced portfolio of debt maturities, while minimizing our borrowing costs. Our ability to access the public debt market has provided us with adequate sources of liquidity. Our continued access to these markets depends on multiple factors, including the condition of debt capital markets, our operating performance, and our credit ratings.

During 2024, S&P downgraded our senior unsecured credit rating from BB to BB-, Moody's downgraded our rating from Ba3 to B1, and Fitch downgraded our rating from BBB- to BB. Fitch revised their outlook to stable while S&P and Moody's reaffirmed their outlook at negative.

As of February 1, 2025, our credit ratings and outlook were as follows:

As a result of the downgrades, the interest rate on our 3.375% notes due May 2031 will increase an additional 50 basis points in May 2025 due to the coupon adjustment provision within the note. Our credit rating was also downgraded in 2023 and 2022. This resulted in the interest rates on our 3.375% notes due May 2031 and 9.50% notes due May 2025 increasing 100 basis points in 2023 and 25 basis points in 2022. In total, the interest rates on the notes due May 2031 have increased 175 basis points since their issuance, of which 50 basis points becomes effective in May 2025, and the rates on the notes due May 2025 increased 125 basis points from their issuance to their redemption in June 2024. Each of the credit rating agencies reviews its rating periodically and there is no guarantee our current credit ratings will remain the same.

The majority of our financing activities generally include proceeds and/or repayments of borrowings under our revolving credit facility and long-term debt, dividend payments, and repurchases of common stock. Financing cash outflows also include payments to our landlords for leases classified as financing leases and financing obligations.

Financing activities used $230 million in 2024 compared to $576 million in 2023.

In 2024, we had net borrowings of $198 million on our $1.5 billion credit facility compared to net borrowings of $7 million in 2023. Borrowings under the revolving credit facility, recorded as short-term debt, had $290 million outstanding as of February 1, 2025, and had $92 million as of February 3, 2024.

In the second quarter of 2024, we completed a voluntary redemption of the remaining $113 million of outstanding 9.50% notes due May 15, 2025. In February 2023, $164 million in aggregate principal amount of our 3.25% notes matured and was repaid, and in December 2023, $111 million in aggregate principal amount of our 4.75% notes matured and was repaid.

There was no cash used for treasury stock purchases in 2024 or 2023. Share repurchases are discretionary in nature. The timing and amount of repurchases are based upon available cash balances, our stock price, and other factors. While we are not currently planning for share repurchases, we expect to resume share repurchases over the long-term following improvement in overall leverage.

Cash dividend payments were $222 million ($2.00 per share) in 2024 and $220 million ($2.00 per share) in 2023.

Adjusted Free Cash Flow (Non-GAAP measure)

We generated $104 million of adjusted free cash flow for 2024 compared to $519 million in 2023. The decrease was primarily driven by less cash provided by operating activities due to a lower net income and inventory increasing 2% to last year as we invested into private brand inventory. Receipts decreased 5% in 2024 compared to a decrease of 9% in 2023 due to the private brand investment. Partially offsetting this was a decrease in capital expenditures related to fewer Sephora shop openings and other investments.

In addition to net cash provided by operating activities, we provide Adjusted Free Cash Flow as a useful measure of our financial performance and position and our ability to generate additional cash flow from our business operations. We believe the presentation of Adjusted Free Cash Flow is relevant and useful for investors to evaluate the cash generated from operations consistent with the method used by management. Adjusted free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure which we define as net cash provided by operating activities and proceeds from financing obligations (which generally represent landlord reimbursements of construction costs) less capital expenditures and finance lease and financing obligation payments. Adjusted free cash flow is provided and should be evaluated in addition to, and not as an alternative to our other financial GAAP measures such as net cash provided by operating activities or net income.

The following table reconciles net cash provided by operating activities (a GAAP measure) to adjusted free cash flow (a non-GAAP measure):

Key Financial Ratios

Key financial ratios that provide certain measures of our liquidity are as follows:

Our working capital and inventory levels typically build throughout the fall, peaking during the November and December holiday selling season.

The decrease in our working capital and current ratio are driven by increased borrowings under the revolving credit facility and additional long-term debt due within the next year.

Debt Covenant Compliance

Our senior secured, asset based revolving credit facility contains customary events of default and financial, affirmative and negative covenants, including but not limited to, a springing financial covenant relating to our fixed charge coverage ratio and restrictions on indebtedness, liens, investments, asset dispositions, and restricted payments. As of February 1, 2025, we were in compliance with all covenants.

Contractual Obligations

Material contractual obligations arising in the normal course of business primarily consist of long-term debt and related interest payments, principal and interest payments for leases, and other purchase obligations. See Notes 2 and 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for amounts outstanding on February 1, 2025 related to debt and leases.

Other purchase obligations primarily include royalties, legally binding minimum lease and interest payments for stores opening in 2025 or later, as well as payments associated with technology, marketing, and donation agreements. The obligations were $599 million as of February 1, 2025.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have not provided any financial guarantees as of year-end fiscal 2024.

We have not created, and are not party to, any special-purpose or off-balance sheet entities for the purpose of raising capital, incurring debt, or operating our business. We do not have any arrangements or relationships with entities that are not consolidated into the financial statements that are reasonably likely to materially affect our financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, or capital resources.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts. Management has discussed the development, selection, and disclosure of these estimates and assumptions with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.

Retail Inventory Method and Inventory Valuation

The majority of our merchandise inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market using the retail inventory method (“RIM”). Under RIM, the valuation of inventory at cost and the resulting gross margins are calculated by applying a cost-to-retail ratio to the retail value of inventory. RIM is an averaging method that has been widely used in the retail industry due to its practicality. The use of RIM will result in inventory being valued at the lower of cost or market since permanent markdowns are taken as a reduction of the retail value of inventories. A reserve is recorded if the future estimated selling price is less than cost.

RIM inherently requires management judgment and estimates, such as the amount and timing of permanent markdowns to clear unproductive or slow-moving inventory, which may impact the ending inventory valuation as well as gross margin. Factors considered in the determination of permanent markdowns include current and anticipated demand, customer preferences, age of the merchandise, fashion trends, and weather conditions.

Inventory shrinkage is estimated as a percent of sales for the period between the last physical inventory count and the balance sheet date. Shrink is the difference between the recorded amount of inventory and the physical inventory. We perform an annual physical inventory count at the majority of our stores, E-Commerce fulfillment centers, and distribution centers. The shrinkage rate from the most recent physical inventory, in combination with current events and historical experience, is used as the standard for the shrinkage accrual rate for the next inventory cycle. Historically, our actual physical inventory count results have shown our estimates to be reliable.

Vendor Allowances

We frequently receive allowances from our vendors for markdowns that we have taken in order to sell the vendors' merchandise and/or to support gross margins earned on those sales. This markdown support generally relates to sold inventory or permanent markdowns and, accordingly, is reflected as a reduction to cost of merchandise sold. Markdown support related to merchandise that has not yet been sold is recorded in inventory.

We also receive support from vendors for marketing and other costs that we have incurred to sell the vendors’ merchandise. To the extent the reimbursements are for specific, incremental, and identifiable costs incurred to sell the vendor's products and do not exceed the costs incurred, they are recognized as a reduction of Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses. If these criteria are not met, the support is recorded in inventory and reflected as a reduction of costs of merchandise sold when the related merchandise is sold.

Insurance Reserve Estimates

We are primarily self-insured for costs related to workers’ compensation, general liability, and employee-related health care benefits. We use a third-party actuary to estimate the liabilities associated with these risks. The actuary considers historical claims experience, demographic and severity factors, health care trends, and actuarial assumptions to estimate the liabilities associated with these risks. Historically, our actuarial estimates have not been materially different from actual results.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

We review our long-lived assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances, such as decisions to close a store or significant cash flow losses, indicate the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable. All long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment at least annually.

If our evaluations, which are performed on an undiscounted cash flow basis, indicate that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable, the potential impairment is measured as the excess of carrying value over the fair value of the impaired asset.

Identifying impaired assets and quantifying the related impairment loss, if any, requires significant estimates by management. The most significant of these estimates is the cash flow expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the asset. When determining the stream of projected future cash flows associated with an individual store, management estimates future store performance including sales, gross margin, and controllable expenses, such as store payroll and occupancy expense. Projected cash flows must be estimated for future periods throughout the remaining life of the property, which may be as many as 40 years in the future. The accuracy of these estimates will be impacted by a number of factors including general economic conditions, changes in competitive landscape, and our ability to effectively manage the operations of the store.

Income Taxes

We regularly evaluate the likelihood of realizing the benefit for income tax positions we have taken in various federal and state filings by considering all relevant facts, circumstances, and information available to us. If we believe it is more likely than not that our position will be sustained, we recognize a benefit at the largest amount which we believe is cumulatively greater than 50% likely to be realized.

Unrecognized tax benefits require significant management judgment regarding applicable statutes and their related interpretation, the status of various income tax audits, and our particular facts and circumstances. Also, as audits are completed or statutes of limitations lapse, it may be necessary to record adjustments to our taxes payable, deferred tax assets, tax reserves, or income tax expense. Although we believe we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, no assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different. Income taxes are further described in Note 5 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Leases

Accounting for leased properties requires compliance with technical accounting rules and judgment by management. Application of these accounting rules and assumptions made by management will determine if the lease is accounted for as a finance lease, an operating lease, or a financing obligation.

The following are estimates used by management in accounting for real estate and other leases:

Leases are further described in Note 3 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Sephora Arrangement

In 2020, we entered into an arrangement with Sephora to be the exclusive beauty offering at Kohl's and bring a transformational, elevated beauty experience to Kohl’s. We sell prestige beauty products through Sephora-branded retail shops in certain Kohl’s stores and through a Sephora-branded offering on Kohls.com. We have opened 861 full size 2,500 square foot Sephora shops and 190 small format Sephora shops to date.

Both parties to the arrangement are active participants and are exposed to significant risks and rewards dependent on the success of the activities of the arrangement. The arrangement involves various activities including the merchandising, marketing, and operations of the shops and Kohls.com. Kohl’s is the principal on sales transactions with our customers and we recognize sales, cost of merchandise sold, and operating expenses in the respective lines on our consolidated statements of operations. Kohl’s owns and manages the inventory and funds capital expenditures for the arrangement. The parties share equally in the operating profit of the arrangement which incorporates all expenses to run the arrangement including depreciation expense related to the assets. Amounts due to Sephora for their share of the operating profits are recorded in cost of merchandise sold.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Our operating results are subject to interest rate risk as the $500 million of notes issued in March 2021 include coupon rate step ups if our long-term debt is downgraded to below a BBB- credit rating by S&P Global Ratings or Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service, Inc., both of which occurred in 2024, 2023, and 2022. All other long-term debt is at fixed interest rates and, therefore, is not affected by changes in interest rates. When our long-term debt instruments mature, we may refinance them at the existing market interest rates, which may be more or less than interest rates on the maturing debt.

We are also subject to interest rate risk from changes in the interest rates under our $1.5 billion revolving credit facility. Outstanding borrowings under the credit facility bear interest at a variable rate based on SOFR plus the applicable margin. Outstanding borrowings under the revolving credit facility, recorded as short-term debt, were $290 million as of February 1, 2025.

We share in the net risk-adjusted revenue of the Kohl’s credit card portfolio as defined by the sum of finance charges, late fees, and other revenue less write-offs of uncollectible accounts. We also share the costs of funding the outstanding receivables as interest rates exceed defined rates. As a result, our share of profits from the credit card portfolio may be negatively impacted by increases in interest rates. The reduced profitability, if any, will be impacted by various factors, including our ability to pass higher funding costs on to the credit card holders and the outstanding receivable balance, and cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. Additionally, the CFPB finalized a rule in March 2024 which lowers the safe harbor dollar amount credit card companies can charge for late fees for a late payment. The rule is subject to legal challenge, and implementation of the rule has been delayed following a preliminary injunction. As of February 1, 2025, this injunction remains in effect. If implemented, this rule could adversely impact Kohl’s credit card revenues; however, we are actively pursuing various mitigation strategies should the rule become effective.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

Schedules have been omitted as they are not applicable.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of Kohl’s Corporation

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company‘s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company‘s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 1986.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

March 20, 2025

KOHL’S CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

KOHL’S CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

KOHL’S CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

KOHL’S CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements