American omnichannel retailer Kohl’s has appointed Michael Bender to the role of interim CEO, effective immediately following the board’s resolution to dismiss Ashley Buchanan with cause.
The termination was a result of findings from an external legal review, supervised by the board’s Audit Committee, which revealed that Buchanan had breached company policies.
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He was found to have directed the company towards engaging in vendor transactions tainted by undisclosed conflicts of interest — a breach deemed sufficient cause for dismissal.
Buchanan’s discharge is not connected to any issues regarding Kohl’s operational performance, financial reporting or results. No other personnel were involved in these infractions.
As stipulated by his employment agreement, Buchanan has been removed from his position on the board and will no longer be considered for re-election as a director at the forthcoming 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
The board also noted that it is pursuing a permanent replacement for the CEO position and will engage a search company to support this endeavour.
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By GlobalDataBender has been a member of the company’s board since July 2019 and became chair in May 2024.
He previously served at Eyemart Express, Walmart, Cardinal Health, Victoria’s Secret under L Brands, and PepsiCo.
Kohl’s has also provided preliminary insights into its expected financial outcomes for the first quarter of 2025.
It anticipates that comparable sales will experience a decline between 4.3% and 4% to around $40m to $45m. It expects diluted earnings per share to range from a loss of $0.24 to a loss of $0.20.
Kohl’s has also paused its partnership with Amazon regarding return services at specific locations as part of an exploratory internal test.
This pilot programme affects stores in Leominster, Eau Claire and Washington.
The chain has more than 1,100 stores across 49 states in the US.
