Kohl's operates 350 stores nationwide, but its westernmost outlet is currently in Denver. Though Kohl's officials won't comment on where new West Coast stores may be located, one Southerland commercial real estate source who met with the retailer's execs recently tells GlobeSt.com that the chain is eyeing several sites in virtually every Southland county.

"They want to open 35 stores here [in Southern California] over the next 24 to 36 months," says the source, who requested anonymity. "They must have said that three or four times over the course of our discussion."

Kohl's representatives reportedly have told city officials in Anaheim, Ventura and the Inland Empire communities of Temecula and Corona that the chain wants to establish at least one retail store in each of those cities. The report also says civic leaders in Lancaster and Riverside were contacted by Kohl's execs, but that the pair of cities have since been scratched from the chain's expansion list.

An announcement by Kohl's could come sooner rather than later. In Ventura, about 80 miles north of Downtown LA, a second source tells GlobeSt.com that the development arm of Southland-based Pacific Theatres Realty Corp. is about to sign an 87,000-sf lease with Kohl's for the department store to anchor a planned 26-acre mall.

Expansion by Kohl's into Southern California markets certainly would be welcomed by retail-property owners here, many of whom have been battered by bankruptcies and consolidations in several segments of the industry. A number of theater chains filed for Chapter 11 protection over the past several months, home-improvement giant HomeBase announced the closure of 22 Southland stores a few weeks ago and venerable retailer Montgomery Ward said just last week that it will shut all 250 of its U.S. stores.

Such closures are creating gaping holes at many SoCal retail projects, and there are few other credit-worthy tenants willing to fill them. The problems are exacerbated by the fact that many owners have relied on those tenants to bring shoppers to their malls or shopping centers: Without a rent-paying theater or big retail store, many retail-property owners are having trouble attracting shoppers to their projects.