Kohl’s revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Paul Gaffney, the retailer’s Chief Technology and Supply Chain Officer, will leave the company Aug. 1, 2022. Effective immediately, Siobhán Mc Feeney has been appointed as the retailer’s new CTO.
Gaffney joined Kohl’s as CTO in September 2019; in April 2021 he added the role of Supply Chain Officer. Kohl’s did not provide a reason for Gaffney’s departure from the company.
Mc Feeney joined Kohl’s in January 2020 and served most recently as the company’s EVP of Technology. Prior to working with Kohl’s, Mc Feeney fulfilled a number of leadership positions with AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah, including CIO and Interim CEO. Mc Feeney’s career also has included roles as an audit manager for Deloitte and auditor at KPMG Ireland.
The news of Gaffney’s departure was made public two weeks after Kohl’s ended sales talks with prospective purchaser Franchise Group (FRG). Kohl’s had been seeking a buyer since early in 2022 and had been holding exclusive negotiations with FRG since June, but challenges including inflation scuttled the deal.
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In May, Kohl’s revealed that two of its C-level executives — Chief Merchandising Officer Doug Howe and Chief Marketing Officer Greg Revelle — would depart. The announcement of these leadership changes coincided with the release of the retailer’s Q1 2022 results, which showed a 5.2% net sales drop and total revenue falling 4.4%. However, Kohl’s was not an outlier: results across retail were disappointing, with supply chain issues, inflation and increasing workforce costs among the culprits.