After Shuttering 27 Stores, Kohl’s CEO Makes Decision About Remaining Locations

Kohl’s halts store closures as new CEO bets on optimizing its existing footprint

BY MOSES JEANFRANCOIS, NEWS WRITER @MOSESJEANS

Photo: Mike Mozart from Funny YouTube via Wikimedia Commons

After shuttering 27 of its stores in 2025, the new CEO of Kohl’s, Michael Bender, is saying there will be no more store closures for the foreseeable future. 

A recent earnings call detailing the company’s Q4 2025 results showed that revenue was down 3.9% year over year, now sitting at $4.97 billion. 

“We take accountability for our performance each quarter while making decisions for the long term with the understanding that progress will not be a straight line,” said Bender at the March 10 Q4 report. 

Back in November 2025, the company had announced that Bender would be its new CEO, the third chief executive for the department store chain in nearly three years. Then CEO-Tom Kingsbury, Bender’s predecessor, had already begun the closure of underperforming locations in 15 states, a move he said was necessary “to support the health and future of our business for our customers and our teams.” 

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Bender however is changing strategies. Despite declining sales, Kohl’s does not plan to pursue additional store closures. Instead, Bender has attributed the recent closures as a consequence, not a cause, of declining sales 

“The decline was mainly driven by closures of stores and one of our e-commerce fulfillment centers last year.” 

Bender noted that the “vast majority” of the companies locations are still doing well, claiming a 90% profitability rate at Kohl’s 1,150 stores. This difference comes after the shut down of 27 stores from the Wisconsin-based chain due to poor performance. The now-shuttered stores only accounted for 3% of its overall store count. 

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