Kohl’s names fourth CEO in four years as it seeks to move past leadership turmoil
MGN
Kohl’s on Monday said it has tapped its fourth CEO in as many years, attempting to staunch an extended sales slide and to move beyond a leadership scandal that led to the departure of its previous chief executive.
The company named Michael Bender as its permanent CEO nearly seven months after he took over on an interim basis.
Bender replaced Ashley Buchanan who was fired in May after an internal investigation found that he had directed the company to do business with a vendor founded by someone with whom he had a personal relationship.
At the same time, Kohl’s is struggling to reverse a long-term sales slump amid a challenging economic environment for many shoppers, who are grappling with an affordability crisis. Retailers are also navigating tariffs rolled out this year by the Trump administration, adding to their challenges.
“The appointment of Michael Bender as permanent CEO of Kohl’s brings some much-needed stability to the beleaguered chain,” said Neil Saunders, an analyst with GlobalData, in a Monday research note.
He added, “Unfortunately. Kohl’s has been one of the worst performers in retail – with sales and market share plummeting since 2019. This chronic underperformance is directly linked to operational sloppiness and the absence of a clear strategy.”
The board conducted a comprehensive search using an external firm before picking Bender as its next CEO, Chairman John Schlifske said in the statement.
Bender is a retail veteran with 30 years of experience at retailers from Walmart to PepsiCo.
Buchanan, who was Kohl’s CEO for less than four months, had replaced CEO Tom Kingsbury, who had served as the company’s leader from 2023 until early 2025. Prior to Kingsbury, Michelle Gass was Kohl’s CEO until she departed in late 2022 to become the president of Levi Strauss.
Kohl’s releases its third-quarter earnings results Tuesday.
Shares of Kohl’s Corp., based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, were unchanged Monday.
