Kohl’s is an American department store chain founded by Maxwell Kohl, who opened the first Kohl’s department store in Brookfield, Wisconsin, in 1962 as an offshoot of his grocery business.[1] The company’s visual identity has evolved through three distinct wordmark designs since that time, with the current mark in continuous use since 1985.
Design and History
The first Kohl’s logo was introduced in 1962 alongside the opening of the first department store. It was a wordmark-based design consisting of the company name “Kohl’s” and “Department Stores” in a slightly slanted serif typeface.[2]
A second version of the logo appeared in 1979. While still a wordmark, the typeface changed: the “Kohl’s” portion appeared hand-drawn, while “Department Stores” was rendered in uppercase sans-serif letters for a more modern look.[2]
The current logo dates to 1985. Like its predecessors, it is a wordmark, but the retailer removed the “Department Stores” text, leaving only the company name. This simplification was driven by increased consumer awareness of the brand at the time, and the shorter mark made it easier to use across marketing materials and branding applications.[2]
The current wordmark is protected under U.S. trademark registration number 2292684, filed September 29, 1998, and registered November 16, 1999, for retail department store services.[3] The trademark filing notes that color is not claimed as a feature of the mark, though the drawing is lined for the color maroon.[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The Kohl’s logo is a pure wordmark with no pictorial or symbolic elements. Its meaning derives entirely from the possessive form of the founder’s surname, “Kohl’s,” which maintains the family name connection established when Maxwell Kohl opened the first department store in 1962.[1] The apostrophe-S construction preserves this possessive, personal naming convention in the corporate mark.
Typography and Design
The current Kohl’s wordmark is rendered in a sans-serif typeface. The 1985 version dropped the serif styling of the 1962 original and the hand-drawn lettering of the 1979 iteration in favor of a cleaner, more contemporary letterform.[2]
While the logo is often perceived as black in many applications, brand color references list the maroon hex code #800033 as the Kohl’s brand color.[4] The trademark drawing itself is lined for maroon, indicating that color was part of the mark’s presentation at the time of registration.[3]
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