Michelle Gass, chief executive officer, is responsible for Kohl’s long-term growth and profitability, along with strategic direction.
Gass joined Kohl’s in 2013 as chief customer officer and was named chief merchandising and customer officer in 2015. Gass was promoted to CEO-elect in October 2017 and assumed the CEO role in May 2018. Gass was an integral leader of the creation of Kohl’s long-term strategic framework, the Greatness Agenda, in 2014.Gass also led the company’s focus on becoming an active and wellness destination, launched Kohl’s new loyalty program and is responsible for bringing in new categories, partners and brands, including Under Armour and Amazon.
Prior to Kohl’s, Gass spent more than 16 years with Starbucks Corporation holding a variety of leadership roles across marketing, global strategy and merchandising, including president, Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa, overseeing and growing the company's 1,900 owned and licensed store operations across the region. Gass has more than 25 years of experience in the retail and consumer goods industries.
Kohl's Corporation, d.b.a. Kohl's, is an American department store retail chain. The first store was a supermarket founded in 1946, and the first department store was founded in 1962. In 1972, British-American Tobacco Company took a controlling interest in the company and the Kohl family left the management of the company in 1979. A group of investors purchased the company in 1986 from British-American Tobacco and later took it public in 1992. It is the second largest department store by retail sales in the United States after Macy's.
