Ashley Buchanan is by all accounts a talented retail executive. He worked for 13 years at Walmart in top roles including chief merchant of its massive e-commerce business and Sam’s Club division. Buchanan then became CEO of crafts retailer Michaels in 2020, improving its stores, merchandise assortment, and digital business.
But none of these were big turnaround jobs. That’s why, despite an impressive résumé and executive track record, Buchanan has his work cut out for him as the new CEO of the deeply troubled Kohl’s department store chain.
On Tuesday, the retailer reported yet another dismal quarter, with comparable sales down 6.7% during the crucial holiday season, and the expectation of another 4% to 6% drop this year. The company’s shares fell almost 20% on the news to their lowest level since 1995, while its market cap dropped to around $1 billion. Other retailers, including Macy’s, Dillard’s, Target and T.J. Maxx have all fared much better, suggesting Kohl’s is losing market share to its competitors.
Buchanan, who took the reins at Kohl’s in January as its third CEO in three years, responded to the brutal numbers by laying out the broad outlines of his plan to fix the struggling retailer. That includes doubling down on its beauty business, remodeling outdated stores, and honoring the core consumer. But he insisted that the company was capable of transformation.
“Kohl’s is built on a solid foundation,” Buchanan told Wall Street analysts in his first conference call with them on Tuesday.
The trouble with Kohl’s
Founded in 1962, Kohl’s became one of the fastest-growing U.S. retailers by focusing on strip malls and following a no-frills strategy centered on low prices.
But its once-popular store brands lost ground more recently to competitors like Target, which swooped in with its own discount brands that caught on with shoppers. Kohl’s was also late to the beauty game that has become so crucial to getting shoppers into department stores, finally settling a few years ago on a strategy centered on opening Sephora shops within its stores.
On Tuesday’s call, Buchanan made it clear he understood the store atmosphere is wanting and the assortment limited. The chain has failed to invest in store renovations, leading to a dated look. Its sparse inventory has also made it vulnerable to shoppers who have their pick of shopping options, and can buy major national brands like Nike, Under Armour, and Levi’s elsewhere.
Previous company CEO Michelle Gass, who left in 2022 and is now chief at Levi Strauss, made a big bet on store-branded activewear and jewelry that has yet to pay off. Buchanan didn’t get into the specifics of how he plans to treat that investment, but he did mention its potential pitfalls.
“While the intention of this strategy to engage a new customer has been important, it has also caused friction with our core customer,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan was clear, however, that he wants to build on the Sephora success at Kohl’s, one of the brightest spots of Gass’s tenure. Sephora now has 1,000 shops at Kohl’s and those “shop-in-shops” took in $1.8 billion last year.
Kohl’s is now at a crossroads. Buchanan must reinvent the brand, and make clear to shoppers why they should shop there instead of at competitors like Target, Amazon, or Walmart. Failing to do so could lead to the kind of downward spiral that J.C. Penney and Sears experienced a decade ago.
“What Kohl’s desperately needs to do is to create a more compelling proposition that is properly targeted at its core shoppers,” GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders wrote in a research note. “However, it seems to have lost the ability to do this and, as a result, has become a confusing muddle of a retailer.”
