After less than 100 days in the role, the firing of Kohl’s CEO Ashley Buchanan could not have come at a worse time for the discount department store chain. Buchanan was Kohl’s third leadership hire in just four years. The odds are not looking good for the department store chain, which is dealing with underperforming stores and “abysmal” sales numbers. “While not related to business performance, this disruption and distraction is the last thing that Kohl’s needs as it tries
tries to turn itself around,” GlobalData’s managing director Neil Saunders stated.
“Kohl’s needs stability. It currently has chaos.”
Saunders pointed to poor stats such as the brand’s loss of 1.3 million customers over the past five years and the brand’s 18.5 per cent drop in sales over the same period. He remarked that “Buchanan was supposed to fix this”. However, Kohl’s is “now back to the drawing board to find a new leader.”
The decision to terminate Buchanan’s employment was announced on Thursday following an investigation conducted by outside counsel and overseen by the audit committee of the board, which found that Buchanan violated company policies by directing the company to engage in vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest.
Kohl’s stated in a corporate release that Buchanan will be replaced, effective immediately, by board chairman Michael Bender.
“The one saving grace is that the board of Kohl’s did the right thing: it made a tough call and implemented it quickly. They deserve credit for the honesty and transparency,” Saunders acknowledged.
However, as Carreen Winters, president of corporate reputation at MikeWorldWide, a US-based public relations agency, noted, Kohl’s reflects a necessary “wake-up call for crisis management”.
What retailers can take away from Kohl’s situation
Winters stated that the termination of Kohl’s CEO over conflict of interest concerns, less than 100 days into the role, offers three important reminders for business leaders, communicators and corporate boards.
Not all crises come from the outside
“In recent months, much of our crisis attention has been focused on external forces,” Winters observed, referring to factors such as government policy, public scrutiny and political shifts.
However, in situations where the crisis comes from within, such as a CEO being fired over a conflict of interest, Winters emphasized the importance of a company’s timely response rate as “trust erodes even faster”.
“If your comms team relies solely on the C-suite for board access, you’re already on your back foot,” Winters warned.
“Build those relationships early. Align on values, priorities and frameworks before you need them. Inside-out crises demand inside-track readiness,” the crisis management expert advised.
Transparency isn’t optional – it’s foundational
“This [situation] doesn’t appear to be about what business was done, but rather what wasn’t disclosed,” Winters said.
“Relationships are the currency of business; we all partner with people we know and trust. That’s not the issue.
“The issue is failing to disclose a conflict and letting that omission jeopardize the integrity of the organization. Disclosure is not just compliance; it’s good governance,” she emphasized.
Culture absorbs the fallout
“We don’t know all the details yet, and it’s likely employees will be the ones to fill in the gaps,” Winters remarked. This makes international communications especially critical.
“Leadership must refocus the organization on shared values, clarify expectations and channel energy toward the business turnaround. Culture can either fracture or unify after a reputational shock. It depends on how you lead.”
Winters, like Saunders, credited Kohl’s board with acting swiftly and communicating shifts in the company’s leadership team clearly.
However, “now that all eyes are on the brand, who comes next – and how they lead – will define what comes next,” she said.
Nic Bryant, the co-founder of public relations agency Lunch & C, said retailers should view Kohl’s crisis as a reminder to stay ready for situations like this.
“This is a strong reminder that every retailer needs a crisis communications plan ready before a scandal hits, including a clear chain of command and legal team-approved messaging for several different potential scenarios,” Bryant said.
“Acting quickly is key here,” he elaborated. “The sooner a retailer or brand can issue a statement, the more control it retains over the narrative and the less room there is for speculation.”
As Nantale Muwonge, founder of Black Girls PR, pointed out, trying to bury company news leaves “the door wide open for ‘people familiar with the matter’ to leak information that fills in the gaps that you created.”
While there may be details businesses can’t disclose for legal reasons, Muwonge stated that “being upfront about what you can share and why you can’t share the rest shows integrity, sets expectations and signals that your brand takes accountability seriously.”
However, Bryant said the main focus for companies in this situation should be on what comes next.
This includes the credentials of new leadership and what they can bring to the table, the concerns being addressed internally and the systems being put in place to prevent future issues and to reassure stakeholders that the company is taking accountability and moving forward with integrity.
Further reading:
Kohl’s CEO crisis and the lessons other retailers must learn: PR experts
