MILWAUKEE — Kohl’s Corp. announced Wednesday that e-commerce giant Amazon will take over 1,000 square feet in 10 Kohl’s stores to sell its smart home devices.
The spaces, which Kohl’s called an “Amazon smart home experience,” will showcase devices such as the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablets. The dedicated areas will open in 10 Kohl’s stores in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas starting in October.
Many of the devices are powered by Amazon’s Alexa, an intelligent assistant technology.
Kohl’s customers will be able to touch and interact with the smart home products in the stores. Amazon sales associates will staff the spaces and show how the products “can modernize and simplify home management, entertainment, security and more,” according to the release. The devices and accessories will be available for purchase directly from the Seattle-based company.
The Amazon devices are also in Best Buy retail locations.
While other brick-and-mortar retailers have closed stores, Kohl’s continues to develop its store portfolio. The company, based outside Milwaukee, has more than 1,100 stores in 49 states.
“We believe in the power of our store portfolio and know that our future as a best-in-class omnichannel retailer will be driven by how inventive, compelling and unique we can make our store experience,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s chief merchandising and customer officer in a release. “Kohl’s and Amazon share a customer obsession and we’ve joined together to leverage each other’s strengths and deliver a great experience customers can only find at Kohl’s.”
At the stores, customers will also be able to schedule evaluations of their homes from Amazon experts who will recommend and install smart home products.
“We are thrilled to offer a unique new way for customers to try out our lineup of Alexa-enabled Amazon devices, learn more about our smart home services from Amazon experts and then buy those items directly from Amazon — all within Kohl’s stores,” said Dave Zimmer, vice president, sales and marketing, Amazon Devices. “Teaming up with Kohl’s provides an incredible opportunity to pair world-class customer and shopping experiences.”
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