Kohl's will partner with Canadian shoe maker Aldo on products to be sold exclusively at the department store chain.

Aldo Int'l will design and produce exclusive footwear products to be sold at Kohl's and Kohls.com under select private and exclusive brands. A first of its kind for both Kohl's and Aldo Int'l, the agreement encompasses a range of footwear products for women and men, including fashion shoes in a variety of styles such as dress and casual. The Aldo Int'l-designed products will be available in all Kohl's stores and Kohls.com beginning Spring 2011.

For Kohl's, the partnership with Aldo Int'l continues to build on its successful private and exclusive brand strategy, which accounted for 47 percent of sales in the first quarter of 2010, up significantly from 2009. Footwear continues to be a key growth area and one of the strongest performing categories for the company, and has outpaced performance plans for the past year.

“Kohl's is incredibly excited to announce this unique collaboration with Aldo, who is globally respected for its design expertise and leadership in the footwear industry,” said Don Brennan, senior executive vice president at Kohl's Department Stores. “Bringing this level of design to our exclusive and private brand portfolio in footwear allows us to increase the value proposition to our customer and delivers on our commitment to offer world-class partnerships in each category.”

“Aldo is very proud to partner with Kohl's on this exciting initiative. We look forward to helping Kohl's make their exclusive and private brand offerings even stronger by providing exciting, on trend styling at a great value,” said David Bensadoun, group vice president, Aldo Group Retail.

As part of the agreement, Aldo Int'l will be responsible for the design and production and will have a dedicated design team on the business. Kohl's will collaborate on the design process. Sold under select private and exclusive brands, the footwear will include fashion-based styles exclusive to Kohl's.

Financial terms of the deal with Kohl's Corp. were not disclosed.

The shoes will be available beginning in the spring of 2011.