Kohl’s closure of 18 stores this year is a shift away from its aggressive expansion of stores in recent years across the country. CEO Kevin Mansell said the stores to be closed account for less than 1 percent of the company’s sales.

NBC News reported that seven smaller-scale stores will open this year.

Kohl's will also add two of it's Off/Aisle discount stores and 12 outlet stores.

Kohl’s has not announced which stores will be involved. It will announce those stores by the end of March, the company said Thursday.

The Wisconsin-based retail chain reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $296 million Thursday on net income of $1.58 per share. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The department store operator posted revenue of $6.4 billion for the quarter.