By Suzanne Kapner

Kohl's new CEO has a message for customers: "We hear you."

After years of missteps that included scaling back petite and fine jewelry departments as well as popular private brands, Kohl's has been trying to reverse course. That included naming its interim chief executive, Michael Bender, to the CEO role officially on Sunday.

"We are trying to restore some of those things that made Kohl's great, while evolving to become a more modern retail platform," said Bender, who had served as the retailer's interim CEO since May, after its then chief, Ashley Buchanan, was fired for violating the company's ethics code.

Bender previously ran optical retailer Eyemart Express and worked in various roles at Walmart. His predecessor, Buchanan, was ousted after he had helped arrange a deal to sell his girlfriend's coffee products at Kohl's.

Bender is the department-store chain's fourth CEO in as many years. He had served as Kohl's chairman until May and he will continue to sit on the board.

Kohl's shares have rebounded since their April low, rising 156% through Friday's close. But the company's sales have been declining, falling 5.1% in the period ended Aug. 2. Kohl's is set to report quarterly results on Tuesday.

Bender is largely continuing a strategy that has been in place for some time. Under Tom Kingsbury, who was named CEO in February 2023, Kohl's scaled back petite and fine jewelry departments and popular private brands. Kingsbury acknowledged that strategy had turned off shoppers and moved to restore some of those categories before he stepped down in January.

"Our strategy is to become more customer-led," Bender said. "In the six months I've been in the job, we've been more focused on listening to customers."

That includes moving some departments to make them easier for shopping. For instance, the juniors department will be moved closer to Sephora shops in Kohl's stores.

Bender said he is also focused on curating a more balanced assortment of products. He wants his team to buy greater quantities of the most popular products and scale back the overall number of items Kohl's sells -- going for depth over choice. "When shoppers come, we want to make sure we have the item they want in stock," he said.

Write to Suzanne Kapner at suzanne.kapner@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 24, 2025 09:44 ET (14:44 GMT)

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