Kohls Department Stores Inc., which recently bought a building at NorthTown Mall that Hayward, Calif.-based Mervyns LLC currently occupies, is looking at sites to open more stores in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene area, says the agent who handles the companys real estate transactions here.


While the large Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based department store chain has said it expects to open six stores in the Pacific Northwest this fiscal year, it hasnt announced publicly plans to open any stores in the Spokane area.


Nonetheless, Randy Cantrell, a partner at Seattle-based Northwest Retail Partners Ltd., which handles real estate transactions for Kohls in Washington state, says, We are looking at several opportunities in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene area. We will certainly have more than one store in that area.


Kohls typically opens new stores in the spring and fall of each year, Cantrell says. Two of the stores it plans to open this fiscal year would be in the Seattle area.


A representative at Kohls couldnt be reached for comment.


Meanwhile, commercial real estate specialists and developers here say Northwest Retail Partners has told them Kohls is looking at properties in the Spokane Valley and Coeur dAlene.


Its no secret that Kohls has been looking in Spokane, and would want to round out that market with other stores in addition to an outlet at NorthTown, says Dave Black, CEO of Tomlinson Black Commercial Inc., of Spokane.


Bob Boyle, vice president of Spokane Valley-based Hanson Industries Inc., which developed the Spokane Valley Mall property and owns land near there, says Cantrell contacted him recently and expressed interest in Hanson Industries property. Boyle says the two Hanson properties there that could accommodate a store like Kohls are Evergreen Crossing and Hanson Center East, because they have the necessary space and the high visibility from Interstate 90 that Kohls wants.


Evergreen Crossing is located at the southwest corner of Evergreen Road and Indiana Avenue, just west of the Spokane Valley Mall. To the east of the mall, the Hanson Center East development sits just northeast of the I-90-Sullivan Road interchange.


Marshall Clark, of Spokane-based Clark Pacific Real Estate Co., says Cantrell has contacted him, but he doesnt know specifically where Kohls is looking to open a store. Carl Guenzel, a real estate broker at Spokane-based Kiemle & Hagood Co., says a real estate representative for Kohls has been in touch with property owners in the Valley and Coeur dAlene, including one of his clients, whom he declines to name.


Kohls sells apparel, shoes, accessories, housewares, bedding, and luggage at mid-range prices. The companys Web site says it typically operates stores that have about 86,000 square feet of space, although the building that currently houses the Mervyns store at NorthTown Mall is about half that size. Kohls also bought a Mervyns store site in Redmond, Wash., this spring. Mervyns has said it intends to close its store here by February 2007 as part of a plan to shut down 20 stores in Washington, Oregon, and Utah.


Kohls plans to open a total of 85 stores during this fiscal year, and already has opened 17 during its first fiscal quarter, which ended April 29, including four in the Portland area, its Web site says. Kohls operates a total of 749 stores in 43 states across the U.S., its Web site says. The company expects to open about 500 stores over the next five years. Its net income in 2005 was $842 million, up nearly 20 percent from 2004.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.