If you’ve driven past the old Cincinnati Mills lately, you know the vibe is... haunting. It's that specific brand of "dead mall" energy that makes you feel like you’ve accidentally stepped into a 1990s time capsule. For years, the Kohl’s sitting there at 100 Cincinnati Mills Drive felt like a holdout—a bright, fluorescent-lit island in a sea of empty storefronts and shuttered escalators. But the island is sinking.
News broke recently that Kohl’s is closing two Cincinnati stores by April 2025, and honestly, it’s the end of an era for local shoppers who still prefer grabbing a physical shopping cart over scrolling through an app. The two locations on the chopping block are the aforementioned Forest Park store (the one in the mall) and the Blue Ash location at 4150 Hunt Road.
It’s a bummer, but is it a surprise? Not really. Not if you’ve been watching the retail sector bleed.
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The Forest Park and Blue Ash Shutdowns
Let's talk about the "where" and "why" because that's what everyone's asking. The Forest Park location has been on borrowed time since the rest of the mall basically evaporated. When Forest Fair Mall (or Cincinnati Mills, or Forest Fair Village—it had a lot of names) officially closed to the public in December 2022, Kohl’s and Bass Pro Shops were the only ones left with the lights on. Bass Pro has its own exterior entrance and a massive footprint, but for Kohl’s, being attached to a demolished-in-progress ghost mall isn't exactly a recipe for "high foot traffic."
The Blue Ash store on Hunt Road is a different story. It’s in a busy area, but "busy" doesn't always translate to "profitable." Kohl’s CEO Tom Kingsbury was pretty blunt about it in the company's January 2025 announcement. He called these 27 national closures—including our two Cincy spots—a "necessary action" to support the future of the business. Basically, they were underperforming. They weren't making enough money to justify the rent and the electricity.
Why the April 2025 Deadline Matters
You’ve probably seen the signs or heard the rumors that the doors will lock for good by April 2025. In fact, many of these "April" closures are actually wrapping up as early as late March. It’s a strategic move. By clearing the books of these stores before the middle of the fiscal year, Kohl’s is trying to show investors they are serious about "trimming the fat."
It isn't just about the stores, either. Over in Middletown, the Monroe e-Fulfillment Center is also shutting down by October 2025, which is going to hit about 768 workers. It’s a massive contraction for the brand in the Tri-State area.
The Numbers Nobody Talks About
Retail is a brutal game right now. Kohl's has seen something like 11 or 12 consecutive quarters of declining sales. Think about that. That's three years of "down." While you’re in there using your Kohl’s Cash to buy a new toaster, the company is looking at a 7% to 8% drop in annual sales.
- 27 stores closing nationwide.
- 15 states affected.
- 10 locations closing in California alone.
- 1,100 stores remaining in the total footprint.
The 27 stores they are closing represent less than 3% of their total fleet. To the big-wigs in Wisconsin (where Kohl's is based), this is just a rounding error. But to the person who has worked at the Blue Ash location for ten years? It’s a life-altering event.
The company says they are offering "competitive severance packages" or the chance to transfer to other locations. In Cincinnati, that means workers might have to trek out to the stores in Oakley, Anderson, or over the river into Kentucky if they want to stay with the brand.
What’s Actually Killing These Stores?
It's easy to blame Amazon. Everyone blames Amazon. But it's more complicated than that.
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First, there's the Macy’s factor. Macy’s is in the middle of closing 150 stores of their own. When the "anchor" stores of the American shopping experience start failing, the whole ecosystem collapses.
Second, consumer habits have gotten... weird. We're in a "bifurcated" economy. People are either hunting for extreme bargains at T.J. Maxx and Ross, or they're spending big at luxury spots. Kohl’s sits in that middle-ground "department store" space that feels increasingly irrelevant to Gen Z and younger Millennials.
Kohl's tried to fix this with the Sephora partnership. If you’ve been in a Kohl’s lately, the Sephora section is usually the only part of the store that looks like it belongs in 2026. It’s bright, it’s busy, and it brings in younger shoppers. But even a wall of Fenty Beauty can't save a store if the roof is leaking and the mall it's attached to is literally being torn down by wrecking balls.
What Happens Next for Cincinnati Shoppers?
If you're a regular at the Blue Ash or Forest Park locations, you've got a few months left to burn through your points. After that, the retail landscape in the northern suburbs is going to look a lot emptier.
The Forest Park site is likely destined for a total teardown. There have been talks for years about turning that massive Cincinnati Mills acreage into industrial warehouses or a mixed-use "live-work-play" space, but so far, it’s mostly just been talk and a lot of fencing.
Here is what you should do if you shop at these locations:
- Check your Kohl's Cash: Don't let it expire. If your local store is in the middle of a "liquidation" phase, you might find some deals, but usually, Kohl's just ships the good inventory to other nearby stores rather than running a 90% off fire sale.
- Update your "Home Store" in the app: If you do curbside pickup, make sure you don't accidentally order to a closed location come May.
- Watch the returns: One of Kohl's biggest draws is being an Amazon Return Center. With these two stores gone, those lines at the remaining Cincinnati locations are going to get significantly longer.
Honestly, seeing the Blue Ash store go is a bit of a shocker compared to Forest Park. Blue Ash is a solid, middle-class suburb with plenty of money. If Kohl's can't make it work there, it says a lot more about the brand's struggle than it does about the local economy.
Retail is changing, and the "Great Contraction" of 2025 is just getting started. Keep an eye on your local headlines, because if the rumors are true, this might not be the last "restructuring" announcement we hear before the year is out.
Next Steps:
If you frequent these stores, visit them before the end of March to check for any unannounced "store closing" markdowns. You should also verify the status of any pending ship-to-store orders to ensure they don't get caught in the transition period.