Can you put a hold on items at Kohl’s? Woman tries with viral ‘spicy’ book blanket: ‘She asked her manager’
Few online communities are forces to be reckoned with quite as fiercely as BookTok. Famed for its buying power and proclivity toward impassioned fandom, BookTok has been driving literary pop culture for years now—particularly regarding the “romantasy” genre.
A portmanteau of “romance” and “fantasy,” romantasy has been enjoying a massive craze for years now, from the steamy fae romance series ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses‘ to the heat-filled dragons-and-magic books of ‘Fourth Wing.’
This genre is rife with swords, steam, and soulmates. It is famed for being chock-full of delicious romance tropes.
As such, is it any surprise that Kohl’s has made a “spicy blanket,” literally covered in romantasy tropes, and it’s gone viral?
The quest for the spicy blanket
In a viral TikTok first posted on Jan. 23, a book-lover named Abby (@abbyreads0) documented her search for the famed “spicy blanket.” Other videos on TikTok reveal this much-coveted blanket to be bright pink and covered in tropes like “enemies to lovers” and “slow burn.” Her clip has since racked up over 2.1 million views.
Abby starts off her on-camera journey “braving the rain and the cold” to find the blanket for a friend. She films herself walking through Kohl’s and arriving at the blanket section. However, she was met with a glaring absence of spicy blankets.
And so, in the same video, she documents another attempt on a different day, with no luck.
“It’s not looking good,” she frets. “I talked to someone and I said, ‘Are you getting more? And she said she doesn’t know, but they are still getting Valentine’s Day stuff, so there’s hope … I will come back next week.”
Alas, next week arrives, and Abby films herself not finding the blanket yet again. Thankfully, at this point, a worker swoops in to help.
“Hope is not lost,” Abby says, revealing that a “kind” Kohl’s employee gave her an insider scoop. “She asked her manager and he said to come back on Thursday ’cause they have another a truck coming. So I’m gonna come back on Thursday.”
Putting the blanket on hold
Then, the employee pulled the most helpful move of all: Offering to put the blanket on hold when it came in.
“She took my information down,” Abby says. “She was like … ‘If you like, ask me, I can put a hold on them.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, can you put a hold on them? So, we’re hopeful.”
Alas, Abby’s story ends in mild tragedy. On yet another day of searching, the blanket is still not in stock, and another employee says that might not be changing anytime soon.
“I’m officially calling it on the search,” Abby finishes. “I talked to another manager today, and she said that all the stuff has been taken off the truck. And then she looked up the blanket specifically and said, because it is out of stock online, they’re not likely to get it anywhere anymore. So, unfortunately, that’s it.”
Viewers applauded Abby for the lengths she went to in order to procure a gift for a friend.
“I think you’re an awesome friend for caring enough to go on a wild goose chase for something so simple you know it would be so meaningful to them,” one person commented. “I would love to have a friend who cared about me that much!”
@abbyreads0 #booktok #bookish #bookblanket #spicybookblanket #kohls ♬ original sound – Abby ?
What is Kohl’s official hold policy?
While Kohl’s website outlines its Buy Online, Pick Up in Store policy (which seems to be the “official” way to get something put on hold), it does not detail an official policy for in-store holds.
Instead, it seems in-store holds are subject to the policies of individual locations and their respective management personnel. Online members of the subreddit r/employedbykohls have referenced “Kohl’s [allowing] customers to hold items in [their] back room for a day or two.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to Abby and Kohl’s via email to request additional comment.
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