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Buchanan succeeds Tom Kingsbury, who will stay as an adviser to
the new CEO and retain his position on Kohl’s board until his
retirement in May 2025. Kingsbury served as Kohl's interim CEO
in December 2022 and was named its permanent leader in February
2023.
Buchanan will assume the leadership of Kohl's at a time when the
retailer has wrestled with sluggish sales. Its middle income
shoppers have pulled back on discretionary spending in the face
of still high prices for necessities. Like other department
stores, it's also faced stiff competition from Walmart and
Amazon, which have been improving their fashion offerings at
affordable prices.
Wisconsin-based Kohl's has around 1,600 locations across the
U.S.
Buchanan has been CEO of the arts and crafts retailer Michaels
Cos. since 2020 and, prior to that, he has held a variety of
senior executive roles at Walmart and Sam’s Club during his 13
years at the company.
Buchanan significantly expanded Michaels' digital business and
grew its small format stores, and simplified its merchandise
strategy.
At Walmart, Buchanan held positions including chief
merchandising and chief operating officer for Walmart's U.S.
e-commerce division. Before that, he was chief merchant at Sam’s
Club where he led merchandising strategy, private brands,
pricing, global sourcing, packaging and the supply network.
Buchanan joined Walmart from Dell where he held a variety of
positions in finance, and Accenture, where he focused on the
retail industry.
Kohl's shares fell nearly 5%, or 84 cents, to $17.50 in after
market trading on Monday when the announcement was made. The
company's stock was up nearly 8%, or $1.31 per share, to $18.34
in regular trading.
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