So far Kohl's has opened urban-format units in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens and the Chicago neighborhood Lincoln Park. A store is planned to open this year in Jersey City, NJ. Urban locations management is considering average 130,000 sf, according to the report, as opposed to its typical suburban stores, which comes in at 86,500 sf.

Meanwhile, executives at the Menomonee Falls, WI-based company forecast 500 new stores in the next five years. They plan 80 to 85 units this year and 115 to 120 in 2007. Primary markets Kohl's is targeting include Miami; Portland, OR, which it entered last month; and Seattle, where it will open its first stores in the fall.

Kohl's is also exploring growth through the closed stores of other retailers. Of the company's current store base of 652 units, 25% are in spaces vacated by other chains because of vacancies and other factors. Kohl's management sees opportunities for growth at stores left behind by Sears Holdings Corp. and Mervyns, the report says.

In March, Kohl's year-over-year same-store sales rose 3.7%. Total sales leaped 12.7%, to just north of $1.2 billion. On a year-to-date basis, the retailer has posted a same-store sales lift of 3.6%.