Susan Henderson, a Kohl's vice president, tells GlobeSt.com that the chain will open about 50 stores, a number of which will be in the Phoenix and Las Vegas areas and California by fall 2003. California also is ticketed for a distribution center, set to open in spring 2003. "Going into California, Phoenix and Las Vegas is part of our southwest expansion that will take us coast-to-coast as a national retailer," she says.

The strong population growth in Phoenix and Las Vegas provided incentive for the expansion, Henderson adds. "We go into demographic locations that have families with children and those areas are certainly experiencing a high population explosion. It's a great opportunity for us and we think we'll do well there."

Henderson says it is still unclear how many new stores Kohl's will build in the Phoenix area or where they will be located, but each building will offer about 67,000 sf of retail space geared toward bargain conscious consumers.