After harming core customers through bad decisions, the huge task for Kohl's third CEO in 3 years - find an omni-channel future

It’s been a couple of years since we last took a close look at US retailer Kohl’s efforts to transform itself into an omni-channel retailer at a time of enormous turbulence and uncertainty in the sector. Since then, the firm has gone through two CEOs and the latest incumbent finds himself dealing with a company that remains essentially an omni-channel basket case and one that’s arguably running out of options fast.

The latest man at the top is Ashley Buchanan, whose first couple of months in the hot seat have just ended, a period of time that saw another set of dismal quarterly numbers send the share price plummeting 20% to its lowest level since 1995.

Buchanan comes to Kohl’s with a wealth of retail experience, notably more than 12 years at Walmart, including time as Chief Merchant for Walmart US’s e-commerce division, before becoming ...