Kohl’s has promoted EVP of Finance Jill Timm to the role of CFO. She replaces current CFO Bruce Besanko, who will step down effective Nov. 1. Besanko will remain in a Senior Advisor role until he departs the company to assist with the transition.
Timm will oversee Kohl’s financial planning and analysis, investor relations, financial reporting, accounting operations, tax and treasury, reporting directly to CEO Michelle Gass. Timm has been with Kohl’s since 1999, and has served in several financial leadership roles.
“[Jill]’s been an invaluable partner to me, Bruce, and the entire leadership team supporting many of our top strategic initiatives,” said Gass in a statement. “Jill also has been the key architect of our Operational Excellence strategy, which continues to be a critical priority for the company. I have great confidence in her ability to manage the financial operations of the enterprise and accelerate our future growth.”
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Kohl’s has been struggling financially, with comparable sales down 2.9% in Q2 2019, but the retailer has been working to revive growth through various partnerships. Some of the initiatives include:
- Accepting Amazon returns at Kohl’s locations to boost in-store traffic;
- Working with Facebook to comb through social media trends and find up-and-coming products to feature at 50 stores and online through the “Curated by Kohl’s” program; and
- Leasing space to Planet Fitness to open 10 gyms adjacent to select Kohl’s locations.
These traffic-driving initiatives have started to bear fruit, according to Gass during a talk at the Consensus Great Brands Show. As many as 80% of customers who return Amazon merchandise in Kohl’s stores continue shopping afterward.
“We’re getting traffic,” said Gass. “We’re getting people coming into the store. While we’re growing our digital channels, stores are still 80% of our business. Now, with the resources we have, we’re able to think about our business differently. I would say that we’ve gone from a brick-and-mortar mindset to omnichannel to now thinking about Kohl’s as a platform.”
