Dive Brief:
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Kohl’s Corp. has finally named a CMO, tapping chief customer officer Michelle Gass to a new principal officer position of chief merchandising and customer officer.
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Gass will lead Kohl's merchandising, planning and allocation, and product development as well as the customer engagement strategy she has been leading. Gass arrived at Kohl’s in 2013 after serving as an executive at Starbucks for 16 years.
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CMO Donald Brennan, left last April after 13 years at the company and CEO Kevin Mansell has been under pressure to find a replacement.
Dive Insight:
When Brennan left last year, Mansell noted that merchandising had been an issue at Kohl’s, which had increased its number of higher-margin private brands to 50% of its offerings from 28% eight years before. Mansell said the company must "rebalance" that, and bringing on national brands Izod and Juicy Couture was part of that effort.
This move positions Michelle Gass to eventually take the baton from CEO-president Mansell. For now, though, the retailer finally has a chief merchandising officer, a key part of its so-called “Greatness Agenda,” the name the retailer’s given to its efforts to charge up stalled sales. And meanwhile Mansell himself is taking on direct oversight of Kohl’s digital and e-commerce strategies and operations.
