Dive Brief:
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Kohl’s on Friday said that Chief Technology and Supply Chain Officer Paul Gaffney will leave Aug. 1, after three years at the department store.
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Siobhán Mc Feeney was promoted to chief technology officer effective immediately, per a filing from the Securities and Exchange Commission. She’s been at Kohl’s for two years, most recently as executive vice president of technology. Previously she spent six years at Pivotal Software.
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Gaffney’s role expanded to include supply chain chief in April 2021, according to the company’s most recent annual report. Greggory Barta, executive vice president of supply chain and logistics, will take over those duties in Gaffney’s absence, a company spokesperson said by email.
Dive Insight:
Kohl’s is regrouping after its board rejected a takeover bid from Franchise Group earlier this month, but its C-suite has been turning over for months. The department store announced the departure of its chief marketing and merchandising officers in May, as it was just beginning to look at offers.
At the time, GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders warned that the company needed to do more than replace key personnel. “A holistic change in mindset is needed,” he said then. “The problem is that Kohl’s now needs to deliver this change in a very tough consumer economy.”
In recent years the company has pulled on various levers, including its launch of Amazon returns and Sephora concessions in stores and revamps of its private label and loyalty programs. But it’s struggling at a time when other macroeconomic headwinds are growing more forceful, according to UBS analysts led by Jay Sole.
The retailer appears to be losing share to a variety of retailers, including online pure-players and off-pricers, and struggling to attract new customers and keep existing ones, per the UBS research released last week.
“It's possible Kohl’s Sephora initiative can change this trend,” Sole said. “However, we note Kohl’s has tried creative ways of adding new customers for the past few years, yet seemingly seen little benefit.”
