Elgin Area Chamber Of Commerce: Office Use Returning, Kohl's Faces New Investor Push

Elgin IL

20 January, 2022

2:30 AM

Description

Press release from the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce: January 19, 2022 Office Use Returning Many major metropolitan areas saw employees return to the office, bringing cities back closer to what has become a pandemic normal. All the major metropolitan areas tracked by Falls Church, Virginia-based security firm Kastle Systems saw office use increase in the week that ended Jan. 12. But the numbers still are not back to those before the holidays and a record rise in coronavirus cases from the omicron variant. Kastle gathers anonymous employee data from workplaces where it provides access-control technology. While it is only a sampling of buildings by one security company, the data gives a peek into how employees and employers are responding to office use during the pandemic. Metropolitan Washington, D.C., had an 8.6 percentage point increase but still landed at just 23.3% office use. The Bridgeport, Connecticut, area outside New York City, had crossed the midway point but is only back to 33.1%. Kohl's Faces New Investor Push An activist investor is pressing department store chain Kohl's to reshape its board to improve the company's stock price or consider selling. New York City-based Macellum Capital Management, which owns 5% of Kohl's stock, called 2021 "another wasted year" in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday. The investor said the company has trailed competitors in stock performance and lost market share "as well as the opportunity cost of letting $7 billion to $8 billion of owned real estate sit idle on the balance sheet." Macellum succeeded last year in putting two people on Kohl's board. But it said the company has rejected further efforts by the investor for more realignment on the board, and that there are probably plenty of interested buyers. Hedge fund Engine Capital pushed last month for the company to sell or shed its online business. In response to Macellum, Kohl's said in a statement that its strategy is producing results, which includes a brand partnership with cosmetic retailer Sephora that led to 200 openings in the fall. "We believe the continued execution of our strategy will position us to further improve our overall performance," the company said in a statement. Source: www.CoStar.com This press release was produced by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author's own.