Kohl’s appoints Sona Chawla as Chief Operating Officer

Kohl’s Department Stores has appointed Sona Chawla to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer (COO), reporting directly to Kohl’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Kevin Mansell.

Chawla, who will join Kohl’s on November 30, will have leadership responsibility for Kohl’s full omni-channel operations. She will oversee all store operations, logistics and supply chain network, information and digital technology, e-commerce strategy, planning and operations, and store construction and design.

“The search for this role has been exhaustive and dynamic,” said Mansell, adding, “As our future vision for Kohl’s developed under our Greatness Agenda, the search for this role dramatically evolved. We saw an enormous opportunity to create something truly unique in retail – a leader that has oversight for the full omni-channel experience. When stores, online and digital teams are not just compatible but truly integrated, new thinking and new ways of delivering a seamless customer experience emerge.”

“We’ve never been more clear about the future of the company or the types of leaders that we need in place to deliver against our vision and Sona is exactly the right leader to join us,” added Mansell.

Along with Chief Merchandising and Customer Officer Michelle Gass, Chawla is expected to be a potential candidate in the company’s long-term CEO succession planning.

Prior to joining Kohl’s, Chawla spent seven years with Walgreens in a variety of senior leadership roles including president of e-commerce. Most recently, Chawla was president of digital and chief marketing officer. Prior to joining Walgreens, she was vice president of global online business at Dell and before Dell, she worked at Wells Fargo’s Internet Services Group, where she held several roles including executive vice president of online sales, service and marketing. Chawla also worked at Andersen Consulting and Mitchell Madison Group.