Kohl’s President Suddenly Departs
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After just eight months on the job, Kohl’s Corp. president and chief operating officer Dave Alves has left the company.
Kohl’s indicated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Alves’ last day at the company was Friday.
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On Monday, Kohl’s issued a statement to WWD which read, “Dave Alves, Kohl’s president and chief operating officer, is leaving Kohl’s to pursue other opportunities. We thank Dave for his leadership and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. We will not be backfilling his role.”
Alves reported to Kohl’s chief executive officer Tom Kingsbury. It’s likely that the responsibilities that Alves had will be redistributed to other executives including Kingsbury.
Alves joined Kohl’s when the company was rebuilding its senior leadership, bringing on Nick Jones as chief merchandising and digital officer, and elevating Kingsbury to CEO after he served as interim CEO following the departure of Michelle Gass, who left in early December 2022 to join Levi Strauss & Co. as president and CEO-in-waiting.
Alves’ departure comes at a crucial time for Kohl’s, with the holiday season about to enter high gear and the company working hard to improve its sales and profit trends amid softening consumer demand.
Kohl’s is scheduled to report its third-quarter results on Tuesday.
Kohl’s saw steep declines in both the top and bottom lines during the second quarter, but the results fell in line with the retailer’s expectations.
Net income for the period ended July 29 was $58 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, compared to net income of $143 million, or $1.11 per diluted share in the prior year. Operating income was $163 million compared to $266 million in the prior year. Net sales decreased 4.8 percent to $3.7 billion, from $3.86 billion in the year-ago period. Comparable sales were down 5 percent.
“Our second-quarter earnings were in line with our expectations,” Kingsbury said. “We maintained strong sales momentum in Sephora at Kohl’s, reduced inventory by 14 percent and managed expenses tightly. Further, solid cash flow generation allowed us to reduce our borrowings in the period.”
Alves has been in retailing, specifically department stores and off-price stores, for about 31 years. Prior to joining Kohl’s he served as the president and chief retail officer for the Bealls Retail Group. Before that, he held leadership roles at TJX Canada and TJX Europe, Hudson’s Bay and Sterling Shoes.
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