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Store employees join manager Christine Bujanow to cut the ribbon on the new Kohl's department store in Lenox.
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The new Kohl's was constructed next to Marshalls in the The Center at Lenox.

Kohl's Cuts Ribbon on Lenox Location

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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Store manager Christine Bujanow prepares the sales floor before Kohl's grand opening
 

LENOX, Mass. — Store employees cut the ribbon on the Berkshire's newest retail store on Friday.

Centrally located on Pittsfield Road, Kohl's hopes to meet the local demand for shopping options while providing personable customer service. The small format department store had a soft opening on Sunday before its official debut at the end of the week.

This is the first Kohl's to open in Berkshire County. The closest stores are in Springfield and in Colonie, N.Y.

Manager Christine Bujanow said the store was brought to the region to offer more diversity in products and give residents another place to shop.

"We hope for amazing success and people in the community that really love to shop here and just have a great time here, make it feel more like a family store rather than a corporation just because we are a smaller style," she said.

"To make sure that everyone is just treated with the utmost greatest customer service that we can provide and hospitality."

There are currently 50 associates on staff and with the holiday season approaching, the store is looking for seasonal employees.

Bujanow has been with the company for over a decade and has worked in five different stores.

The building is new construction next to Marshall's. Employees were able to come in at the end of September, taking about a month to prepare the sales floor for opening.

Kohl's carries a number of brands including Nike, Under Armor, Adidas, Champion, and in-store-exclusive brands such as Sonoma Goods for Life, LC by Lauren Conrad, and Simply Vera by Vera Wang.



It also offers electronics, Amazon products through a partnership, and Fitbit health and fitness monitors.

All products are also available online and shoppers can opt for in-store pickup to avoid shipping fees.  If the item is in the store's inventory it can be picked up within two hours.

"I'm super excited and waiting years for this," said one customer who did not wish to give her name. She described the store as having "mini versions" of Kohl's housewares departments. 
 
But she thinks company "dropped the ball" by failing to include a jewelry counter or Sephora counter. There's another cosmetics outlet in the area that "could use a little competition," she said.
 
She hopes that Kohl's will listen to customers and consider adding those missing departments. 

Along with excited customers, company leadership came to the store to mark its opening day.

"I am absolutely thrilled that we're here in the Berkshires," Boston-Albany District Manager Sarena Bearce said.

"Our store is beautiful. we're very, very excited to be here and we cannot wait to be a bigger part of the community."


Tags: new business,   grand opening,   

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Pittsfield Schools May See Tighter Cell Phone Policy

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Superintendent Joseph Curtis would like to see the district's cell phone policy tightened up after more than 6,000 violations were accrued during the last school year.

"I think that we do need to do a hard examination of that," he told the School Committee on Monday. "I think that we are in our first year making every attempt to give every student the benefit of the doubt, and family."

This could mean locked cell phone cases — Yondr cases — for middle and high school students or increased regulations.  

A three-tiered response plan was approved about a year ago though the superintendent feels that it might be time to review it and lessen the number of warnings students are given "because we are clear about the expectation that cell phones not be used during instruction."

Having regulations that, in some cases, allow a student 10 attempts at using phones during prohibited times is not only sending the wrong message to students and families but is hard to keep track of, Curtis said.

Because of this, he wants to have a discussion with school leaders about reviewing and tightening the regulations. It has been referred to the subcommittee on social and emotional learning.

Data collected over the 2023-2024 school year showed a total of 6,358 districtwide referrals entered into the office discipline system. Reid Middle School had the highest number of violations, more than 2,200, Pittsfield High School had over 1,800, and Taconic High School had over 1,200.

Herberg Middle School had just more than 900 violations entered into the system.

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