Kohl's blamed its rough quarter on a squeezed middle class, but one analyst says it's because stores are a mess

• Kohl's saw a decline in sales during the holiday quarter, due in large part to inflation. 
• But one analyst blamed messy Kohl's stores and "dispiriting" stores during the holidays. 
• Kohl's has struggled to fend off pressure from activist investors and grow sales in recent years. 

Inflation hit Kohl's shoppers hard during the holiday quarter, the retailer said Wednesday.

The department store reported a 6.6% drop in sales and $302 million in losses during the quarter ended January 28. Executives blamed the diminished sales on inflation continuing to squeeze middle-class consumers, but inflation isn't the only culprit, according to GlobalData analyst Neil Saunders.