Kohl’s appoints new chief operating officer

American department store chain Kohl’s has named Elliott Rodgers as its new chief operating officer to support the Milwaukee-based retailer’s ongoing strategic turnaround, which is looking to stabilise its market position amid changing consumer habits.

Rodgers brings more than two decades of “strong cross-functional leadership experience,” and will be responsible for Kohl's enterprise operations, including its nearly 1,200 stores, global supply chain and distribution centres, procurement, and loss prevention.

He will join the retailer on September 9 and will report to Kohl’s chief executive, Michael J. Bender.

Commenting on the appointment, Bender said in a statement: "We are thrilled to welcome Elliott to our senior leadership team as we continue our transformational efforts to drive the business forward.

"With more than 20 years of leadership experience in retail and large-scale operational roles, he has helped brands navigate through change, embrace innovation, and drive results through operational execution. Importantly, as he fills the role which oversees the largest portion of our associate population, Elliott thrives at bringing people together to create an inspiring work environment and a winning team mindset. I'm excited for Elliot to take on this important role during a time of exciting change and opportunity."

Rodgers has more than 20 years of leadership experience across supply chain, technology, strategy, finance, and HR disciplines at retail, technology, and financial service companies. Most recently, he was chief operations officer at Foot Locker, Inc., where he led technology, supply chain, procurement, customer care, operations strategy, and enterprise transformation.

Before that, he was chief people officer at Project44, held leadership roles at Ulta Beauty, including chief supply chain officer and chief information officer, spent six years at Target in distribution and omnichannel operations, and three years as a vice president at Citigroup.

Kohl's Corporation has had a difficult few years, but has shown signs of operational stabilisation under Bender, with results from its first quarter of the year, for the three months ended May 2, showing net sales decreased 1.7 percent to 3 billion US dollars, with comparable sales down 1.1 percent.