Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) was once considered a survivor of the retail apocalypse. It rotated its products quickly, kept its inventories low, distanced itself from sickly malls with stand-alone stores, and kept its products organized on easy-to-navigate "racetracks."
Those strategies enabled Kohl's to generate positive comparable-store sales growth as it expanded its gross margins. Unfortunately, Kohl's first-quarter report in May indicated that it was gradually succumbing to industry headwinds, and its recent second-quarter report raised more red flags.
Image source: Kohl's.