Kohl's Spinning in Circles

Retail
Written By Rick Watson

WSJ had an interesting quote last week: "New Kohl's CEO hired to undo the actions of the old CEO." Well, the old CEO had layoffs and cut stores.

The new CEO? Just had layoffs and cut stores. Corporate workforce reduced by 10%, which ... I hate to say they will probably not be missed if they have been the ones determining strategy. 27 stores + a fulfillment center will also be closed.

Question: What do you call a shuttered Kohl's fulfillment center?

Answer: A warehouse of broken dreams 😅

What about the incoming CEO? The new CEO Ashley Buchanan previously built a marketplace for Michael's which ... went so well he immediately left before he got left holding the bag. I worry for Kohl's if this is the thinking. A Lowe's Marketplace I can see, but Michael's? Meh.

Stop me if you've heard this before:

A chain of old school stores with an increasingly questionable reason to exist whose real estate is more valuable than the chain itself in drastic need of turnaround. Send help fast.

Should Kohl's ultimately be combined with Macy's and be re-named Mohl's?

These cuts are not even the tip of the iceberg. Yes they should be able to walk and chew bubble gum but who is the consumer? Why do they walk in the door?

All these things are unclear and unexplained.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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