Kohl's hires Foot Locker's Rodgers as COO to fix store operations

Kohl's named Elliott Rodgers as its new chief operating officer, giving him oversight of the company's 1,200-store fleet and its corporate strategy. Rodgers arrives from Foot Locker, where he spent more than 15 years, most recently as senior vice president of global operations.

The appointment fills a role that had been vacant since late last year. Kohl's has been looking for an operations leader with deep store-level experience as it tries to reverse a multi-quarter sales slide. Same-store sales fell 4.4% in the fiscal fourth quarter. The company has warned that revenue could drop again in 2024.

Rodgers's background fits that need. At Foot Locker, he oversaw supply chain, store formats, and inventory allocation across thousands of locations. That kind of retail-floor expertise is rare in department-store COOs, who often come from finance or merchandising. Kohl's chief executive, Tom Kingsbury, said in a statement that Rodgers “understands the operational levers that drive results in a large store network.”

The hire signals a shift in emphasis. Kohl's has spent the past two years cutting costs and closing underperforming locations. Rodgers's mandate is more offensive: improve in-stock rates, speed up checkout, and make the stores work better for shoppers who increasingly buy online and pick up in person. That omnichannel execution–getting the right item to the right store at the right time–has been a weak spot for Kohl's relative to Target and Walmart.

Inventory discipline will be a particular focus. Kohl's ended last year with inventories down 8% from a year earlier. Clearance levels were still high. Rodgers has experience managing markdown cadence and vendor partnerships. If he can reduce the amount of merchandise that ends up on clearance racks, gross margins should improve.

The appointment does not fix Kohl's more fundamental challenge: getting customers to visit. Foot traffic at department stores has been flat to negative for years as shoppers shift to off-price chains and direct-to-consumer brands. Rodgers cannot change the traffic equation by himself. If in-stock rates improve and the in-store experience gets better, Kohl's could hold onto the shoppers it still has.

Kingsbury also announced that the company's chief merchant, Nick Jones, will now report directly to the CEO rather than to the COO. That change shortens the chain of command on buying decisions. Jones has been restructuring Kohl's merchandise mix, adding more national brands like Sephora and cutting proprietary labels. The shift gives him more autonomy to move quickly.

Rodgers starts immediately. He will report to Kingsbury.