A seasoned retail veteran whose resume includes 13 years at Burlington Stores will oversee store operations at Kohl’s.
The department store retailer has appointed Fred Hand as senior VP, director of stores, reporting to president and COO Dave Alves. Hand will overseee Kohl’s 1,100-plus stores, store operations & experience, loss prevention and store experience and design functions.
From May 2021 to November 2022, Hand served as CEO of Tuesday Morning. (The off-price home goods went out of business in May 2023 following a court-approved bankruptcy sale to Hilco Merchant Resources.)
Before that, he spent 13 years at Burlington Stores in various executive roles, including COO, chief customer office and executive VP stores and operations.
Prior to joining Burlington in 2008, Hand was executive VP stores, Macy’s.
“Fred has a deep appreciation and passion for the power that brick & mortar plays in an omnichannel business model,” said Alves. “He is committed to serving customers by empowering stores and associates and we are excited to welcome him to the Kohl’s team.
As part of the Kohl’s senior executive leadership team, Hand will support the chain’s strategic focus on driving store sales and productivity as a key component of the company’s omnichannel business.
“During my years in the retail industry,” he said. “I’ve deeply admired Kohl’s and am so excited to now be a part of this well-loved brand. I look forward to with the senior leadership team and all of the associates across the company as we continue to serve millions of customers in our stores and execute our long-terms strategy.”
In August, Kohl’s reported that its second-quarter net sales dropped 4.8% year-over-year to $3.7 billion from $3.9 billion, with same-store sales declining 5%.
“Many of our strategic efforts are just underway, which we expect will contribute incrementally in the back half of the year, and even more so in 2024 and beyond,” stated CEO Tom Kingsbury. “We have enhanced the store experience and recently opened an additional 200 Sephora at Kohl’s shops and are taking steps to further optimize our assortment and simplify our value strategies.”