Closure of Coronado Center Kohl's leaves customers confused

At least three customers walked up to Kohl’s at Coronado Center on Wednesday only to be greeted by signage showing the store had shut down.

It was an abrupt end to one of the Uptown-area mall’s anchor tenants, which now joins a short list of large companies that have shuttered stores in the Albuquerque area this year.

The department store closed Saturday.

In March, the Walmart at 301 San Mateo SE in the International District shut its doors.

A Kohl’s spokesperson in a statement to the Journal last week said it regularly evaluates its portfolio “to ensure our fleet of stores is providing the best experience for our customers,” but did not comment further about whether crime played a factor in closing the Coronado Center location.

A Coronado Center representative could not be reached for comment.

Shoplifting operations in recent years had shown Kohl’s was an attractive target for thieves, according to previous Journal reporting. Earlier this year, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Sgt. Donnie Hix said thieves would “enter the store in the morning when it opened, immediately steal items, use the free public bus system to get away, and then come back toward the end of the day and do it again.”

But one local shopper wondered if the lack of employees played a factor in the closure. Coleen Hess came to Kohl’s last week to redeem a discount coupon, though the store had already shut down.

“This was a good location,” she said. “I can’t understand (why it closed) because every time I came here, it was always busy. … I’m wondering if maybe they didn’t have the (workforce).”

The Kohl’s spokesperson told the Journal that employees at the now-closed Kohl’s will be offered positions at nearby stores, which in Albuquerque include stores at 3715 Ellison NW on the West Side and 6800 Holly NE near Paseo and Louisiana. They did not say how many employees worked at the store before its closing.

The company spokesperson did not respond to Journal questions regarding how long the closure had been in the works and if the company plans on opening another Albuquerque store.