Stage set for Kohl's entrance.(Kohl's Corp.)(Statistical Data Included)

High-flying Wisconsin retailer scouts Houston

Wall Street darling Kohl's Corp., one of only a few retail stocks currently in favor with investors, is gathering up its discount merchandise and heading to Houston.

Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Kohl's has hired a real estate brokerage firm to scout the city for sites to open at least 15 standalone department stores in Houston.

Those stores will span between 90,000 and 100,000 square feet, slightly smaller than the facilities of Kohl's competitors J.C Penney and Sears, hut larger than sites occupied by flailing Houston retailer Stage Stores, which announced this week it would close seven of its 43 Houston stores as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

Publicly traded Kohl's -- which has watched its stock rocket nearly 86 percent in the last six months, rising from $35 per share in February to $65.68 per share on July. 18 -- will likely fill the gap created when Stage shutters some of its Palais Royal and Bealls stores in …