Kohl's opens 2nd area store

Mount Pleasant location is second anchor at new mall

Mount Pleasant location is second anchor at new mall

Shopping at the newly opened Kohl's in Mount Pleasant on Tuesday, Laura Glaser admired the discount department store's variety of fashions and its uncluttered layout.

While many chain stores resemble "rummage sales," the new Kohl's has roomy aisles and well-spaced displays, she said. That's important for the stay-at-home mom, who was accompanied by her newborn son.

"You can get a stroller through," she said.

Kohl's customers should notice similar "convenience" features throughout the new store, which opened for business Sunday and will hold a grand opening celebration this morning.

The store in The Market at Oakland shopping center is among 200 Kohl's outlets nationwide featuring an updated look and shopper-friendly touches such as automatic doors, wider aisles and lounge areas outside the dressing rooms.

It also stocks some of the chain's newest exclusive brands, including a clothing, accessory and home goods line by designer Vera Wang, and a line of housewares developed by chefs from the Food Network.

Such design improvements and product additions came directly from suggestions by Kohl's customers like Glaser, said Phillip Daniels, a district manager who oversees the company's 12 South Carolina locations.

The retailer continually seeks customer feedback through surveys, and store managers regularly interact with shoppers, asking, "What can we do better?" Daniels said.

Store upgrades and the addition of more fashionable merchandise in recent years helped propel the company's sales to almost $16 billion in 2006, up 16 percent from the previous year. The chain also has been recognized for its customer service, receiving high marks in surveys by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which measures customer satisfaction in retail and other industries.

Good service is one reason Summerville grandmother Jenny Leonard keeps returning to Kohl's.

"I love the people," said Leonard, who regularly shops at the company's Summerville store and stopped by to check out the new Mount Pleasant location on Tuesday.

"They'll go out of their way to help you," she said.

Based in Menomonee Falls, Wis., Kohl's bills itself as a "moderately priced" specialty department store selling national brand and private-label clothing, shoes, accessories, beauty and home products.

The company has been expanding rapidly in recent years.

To wit: The Mount Pleasant store, along with another one in Irmo, is one of 95 new locations the chain is opening in October and November — its most aggressive fall store-opening schedule to date.

The retailer announced Tuesday that it hopes to operate 1,400 stores by 2012, up from about 930 today.

Kohl's is the second anchor tenant to open in The Market at Oakland, a retail and office project off U.S. Highway 17 that's being developed by Greenville-based Avtex Commercial Properties. A Wal-Mart Supercenter opened there two weeks ago.

Avtex Chief Executive Robert "Tex" Small Jr. said he's excited about how the complex is shaping up. "I don't think anything (in Mount Pleasant) compares to it," he said, pointing to the center's "high-quality architecture and landscaping."

When complete, it will include about 415,000 square feet of retail space — slightly smaller than the nearby Mount Pleasant Towne Centre — housing a mix of local, regional and national tenants.

Reach Caroline Fossi at 937-5524 or cfossi@postandcourier.com.