Kohl's CEO fired over ties with vendor

Kohl's said on Thursday it had fired CEO Ashley Buchanan after an investigation found he had pushed for deals with a vendor with whom he had a personal relationship, after little more than 100 days in the CEO job.

- JUVERIA TABASSUM

Mr Buchanan engaged in transactions with this person's company on “highly unusual terms”, Kohl's said in a filing, and also caused the company to agree to a multi-million-dollar consulting agreement with a team that included this person he was involved with. He also did not disclose the relationship, the company said.

Mr Buchanan’s firing makes the third change at the helm in as many years for the beleaguered department-store retailer, which has been struggling with several quarters of sagging sales due to stiff competition from e-commerce firms and big-box retailers such as Walmart, as well as its own strategic missteps.