Max Kohl built a grocery store in 1946, the first in what would become an southeastern Wisconsin chain known as Kohl's Food Stores.[2] In 1962, he started the first department store, also called Kohl's. In 1972 the British-American Tobacco Company, then known as Brown and Williamson Tobacco, bought the department stores and food stores. The Kohl family, led by Herb and Allen Kohl, stayed on to manage the company. The family left the management in 1979, and Herb Kohl went on to become a senator and owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. This firm expanded Kohl's presence from 10 to 39 stores i ...
