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Asked to leave Kohl's

Beau

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
672
Location
East of Aurora, Colorado, USA
Well it finally happened. After years of OC with no negative interactions I was asked to disarm and told not to carry in their store.

Location: Havana and Mississippi in Aurora.

Date and Time: March 15th at Approximately 1500

Place: Kohl's

Today I went into Kohl's to exchange a couple online purchases. I walked to the rear of the store to the customer counter. Stood in line for about 10 minutes. Spoke with service desk lady and went to find the item I wanted. Walked around store for about 15 minutes. When I returned to the customer counter there was a man there talking on the phone. He approached me and introduced himself. He then asked if I was law enforcement and when I said no he asked the reason for my carry. He then informed me that they don't allow that there and I would need to exit the store and disarm.

I left the store, placed my firearm inside my vehicle and went back in to further speak with this person. I won't type everything that was said. The conversation did go quite well. He is an ex cop and is now in charge of loss prevention. He explained that the policy was from corporate and not the store. He did seem quite surprised when I informed him that this was the first time I had been asked to leave a business because of my OC.

I have sent the letter three times and still have not received a response. Their website states they will reply within 24 hours.

Letter I sent:
To whom it may concern,

I am writing about an experience I had while shopping at the Aurora West location on March 15, 2011. I was at this store with my two children and my mother to exchange a couple of on-line purchases. The customer service we received while exchanging the items was terrific.

What was not terrific is that I was asked to leave the store because I was openly carrying a firearm in a legal and safe manner. In the state of Colorado it is legal to carry a firearm in plain view.

After standing in the customer service line for about 10 minutes my family and I then walked through the store to locate the items for our exchange. This took another 10 minutes at least. We then returned to the customer service line to complete our exchange. While standing in line I was approached by a gentleman who introduced himself as Brian Akonom. He stated he was the head of the loss prevention department. He asked me if I was in law enforcement. When I informed him that I was not he asked why I was carrying. I replied for the protection of myself and my family. He then stated that the carry of firearms, except for law enforcement, was not allowed in Kohl's and asked me to leave. I immediately complied and left the store. I placed my firearm in my vehicle and returned to the store to further speak with Brian. He informed me that the rule regarding the carry of firearms is a corporate policy and not a store policy. I was also led to believe that concealed carry was allowed by default since there is no way to regulate that method of carry. Also that had I been a law enforcement officer, even if not on duty, I would have been allowed to carry.

In no way am I complaining about my interaction with Brian. He was very polite and professional while answering my questions.

My main question is this. Does Kohl's prohibit the legal and safe carry of firearms in their stores? If so, I can no longer give any Kohl's store my business. Nor will I continue to shop on-line.

If it is Kohl's policy to abide by local and state laws regarding the carry of firearms then please inform the Aurora West location of the proper policy.

Thank you for your time in this matter.

Sincerely,
Beau
303-xxx-xxxx


Update:
I spoke with Amy again.
Her answer was a non answer. Kohl's does not prohibit carry in their stores. Nor do they allow it.

Apparently Kohl's policy is to take matters regarding firearms on a case by case basis. In my case two customers and a sales associate complained about my carrying a firearm. So the store decided I should leave.

When I asked if I could have this policy in writing I was told that would not be possible.

I asked to speak with someone higher. She told me she would have the regional manager call me. I have not heard anything further.
 
Last edited:

aadvark

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
1,597
Location
, ,
Beau:

Kohl's is an Elitist Store that Caters to The Rich and The Wealthy.

I Trust that You would not to 'Scare' Those Persons while They make Their 'Choicer' Selections..., now would You?

aadvark
 

Beau

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
672
Location
East of Aurora, Colorado, USA
Beau:

Kohl's is an Elitist Store that Caters to The Rich and The Wealthy.

I Trust that You would not to 'Scare' Those Persons while They make Their 'Choicer' Selections..., now would You?

aadvark
Hmmm. My mother shops at Kohl's a lot. I would not describe her as an Elitist or Rich. Then again she does now own a coffee maker that retails for over $200. It's almost embarrassing to admit that.
 

mahkagari

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2009
Messages
1,186
Location
, ,
Kohl's is an Elitist Store that Caters to The Rich and The Wealthy.

Just curious what your standard of measure is. Kohl's is a department store and IMO, by definition beneath the contempt of "the rich and the wealthy". The price point is around Target's and Shopko's, but above Walmart and Ross. It's not even as high falutent as Dillards. If Kohls caters to the rich and wealthy, I'd expect to be running into Bill Gates and Warren Buffet at Macy's.
 

Gunslinger

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
3,853
Location
Free, Colorado, USA
Just curious what your standard of measure is. Kohl's is a department store and IMO, by definition beneath the contempt of "the rich and the wealthy". The price point is around Target's and Shopko's, but above Walmart and Ross. It's not even as high falutent as Dillards. If Kohls caters to the rich and wealthy, I'd expect to be running into Bill Gates and Warren Buffet at Macy's.

Lord and Taylor, Bloomingdales and Saks are 'elitist,' I suppose. Kohls is well below them in merchandise. Kind of like Jordan Marsh was in New England or Carsons in Chicago--maybe not as good, but then they did both get bought out by Macys and Saks, as I recall. I like Dillards better, but put it on about the same scale.
 
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Lokster

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
127
Location
Unincorporated Jefferson County
I was planning on stopping at that same store on Wednesday to return a couple items myself. Maybe I'll go to a different store and see if I get a similar response. It's odd that you haven't received a response yet. If it turns out that it is their corporate policy to prohibit lawful carry then I won't be spending a dime there either. Have you tried calling?
 

rushcreek2

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
909
Location
Colorado Springs. CO
I am a card-carrying Khols account holder. A couple of years ago my wife and I spent perhaps an hour shopping at the Khols on Powers and N. Carefree in Colorado Springs.
I was wearing a Glock 23 in an IWB holster. When we exited there were two CSPD units parked at the front curb. I didn't think much about it - figured they had a shop-lifting incident. I wheeled my wife's wheel chair out of the store to the handicap parking space, and then returned the Khols wheelchair back into the store. Twice I walked directly in front of one patrol unit occupied by an officer behind the wheel. No response directed at me, so I figured they were there in regards to a shop-lifting call. Now , I wonder.

Private property rights trump - EVERY TIME. I don't like it - but if Khols doesn't want me and my wife cruising their property BEARING a holstered Glock on my belt- that is their RIGHT.

The BIGGER PICTURE in all of this "open carry" issue IS THAT WE HAVE A CHALLENGE BEFORE US - CONVINCING THE SHEEP THAT AN ARMED LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN STANDING BESIDE THEM IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE INCREASES SECURITY FOR ALL OF US.
 

Gunslinger

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
3,853
Location
Free, Colorado, USA
I am a card-carrying Khols account holder. A couple of years ago my wife and I spent perhaps an hour shopping at the Khols on Powers and N. Carefree in Colorado Springs.
I was wearing a Glock 23 in an IWB holster. When we exited there were two CSPD units parked at the front curb. I didn't think much about it - figured they had a shop-lifting incident. I wheeled my wife's wheel chair out of the store to the handicap parking space, and then returned the Khols wheelchair back into the store. Twice I walked directly in front of one patrol unit occupied by an officer behind the wheel. No response directed at me, so I figured they were there in regards to a shop-lifting call. Now , I wonder.

Private property rights trump - EVERY TIME. I don't like it - but if Khols doesn't want me and my wife cruising their property BEARING a holstered Glock on my belt- that is their RIGHT.

The BIGGER PICTURE in all of this "open carry" issue IS THAT WE HAVE A CHALLENGE BEFORE US - CONVINCING THE SHEEP THAT AN ARMED LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN STANDING BESIDE THEM IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE INCREASES SECURITY FOR ALL OF US.
COS is used to OC. I'm not surprised the cops didn't give you a second look.
 

ooghost1oo

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
262
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Beau:

Kohl's is an Elitist Store that Caters to The Rich and The Wealthy.

I Trust that You would not to 'Scare' Those Persons while They make Their 'Choicer' Selections..., now would You?

aadvark

Kohl's has good sales. Definitely not a 'rich' store. I frequently find stuff for my wife there in clearance for just a few bucks per article of clothing. Almost thrift store prices, if you look in the right place.

Hasn't anyone looked into the whole 'corporate policy' thing? Many stores like that adhere to the rules of the state. Like Wal-Mart. Kohl's is probably the same.

(I'll have to try OC'ing there sometime.)
 
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