Kohl's coming?

Kohl's seems to be moving ahead with plans to build at Hollymead Town Center.
FILE PHOTO

Lovers of trendy discount department stores may soon have reason to celebrate (even as big box-haters may soon be gnashing their teeth): signs point to the opening of a Kohl's in Hollymead Town Center.

In February, the Wisconsin-headquartered chain applied for a building permit for a $5 million, 87,367-square-foot store to be built on a Hollymead parcel south of Harris Teeter and Starbucks–- and at a distance from the shopping center's northernmost anchor, Target.

According to County building records, the zoning and building plans have already been approved for Kohl's. Still awaiting approval are engineering plans for the site.

Despite this evidence, Kohl's spokesperson Elizabeth DeLuca declines to confirm the company's plans to open a store here.

"Kohl’s has an ongoing real estate assessment process," she writes in an email. "At any given time, Kohl’s is reviewing sites in communities nationwide. We do not comment on real estate speculation. When we have firm details, we are happy to share it at that time."

According to its website, Kohl's currently has 1,011 locations in 48 states. The closest Kohl's to this area currently are in Waynesboro, Harrisonburg and Richmond.

If Kohl's does open at Hollymead, shoppers can expect to find exclusive-to-Kohl's brands, including the Jumping Beans brand of children's clothes and the Abbey Dawn line, which, according to the Kohl's website, is "a juniors' lifestyle brand that blends authentic rock with a feminine edge, inspired by rock sensation Avril Lavigne." Like Target, Kohl's also teams with exclusive designers to bring fancy names to the masses. While Target has Isaac Mizrahi, for instance, Kohl's has Vera Wang.

Kohl's website also boasts of its support for children in the communities in which it has stores. And in fact, that claim seems to provide yet another clue that a store will indeed be opening nearby. According to several published reports, Kohl's has partnered with UVA for a "Growing Up Healthy" campaign to help childrenin the Charlottesville area make healthy food choices. The chain has already donated $80,000 to the program.

–The image accompanying this post was updated to reflect the current logo.