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Kohl's Corp. announced Wednesday that board chair
Peter Boneparth will retire in May 2024 and board member
Michael Bender will take his place.
Boneparth has served on the Menomonee Falls-based retailer's board of directors since 2008 and was elected board chair in 2022. With his impending retirement, the former president and CEO of Jones Apparel Group (now known as Nine West Holdings) will not stand for re-election at Kohl's annual shareholders meeting next year, according to a news release.
Bender has served on Kohl's board since 2019 and is chair of its nominating and ESG Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. He most recently served as president and CEO of eye care retailer Eyemart Express LLC, from 2018 to 2022. Prior to that, he was chief operating officer of global e-commerce at Walmart, where he worked his way up through several senior management roles.
"I have every confidence that Michael is the right person to lead the Kohl’s board into the future," said Boneparth. "His retail experience and unquestionable personal integrity make him the ideal choice at this point in Kohl's history. He will be fortunate, as I have been, to lead the rest of the Kohl’s board, each and every one of whom I deeply respect for their commitment of time and energy to this wonderful company."
"On behalf of the entire board, I want to thank Peter for his extraordinary commitment to Kohl's during his 15-year board tenure," said Bender. "His leadership skills, retail acumen and his deep understanding of finance have proved invaluable over the past several years, in particular, as the company navigated a unique set of complex challenges stemming from the global pandemic. His unwavering focus on serving all of Kohl’s stakeholders throughout his time as board chair has left Kohl’s in a strong position as we move into the future.”
Kohl's also announced the appointment of
Adolfo Villagomez as a new independent board director, effective Nov. 7. Villagomez is CEO of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Progress Residential, an operator of single-family property rentals. He has more than two decades of leadership and retail experience, including at The Home Depot, where he oversaw its $20 billion online business and served as chief marketing officer for U.S. retail.
Villagomez has been appointed to a term expiring at Kohl's 2024 annual shareholders meeting in May and will stand for election by Kohl's shareholders at that time. He will initially serve on the Audit Committee.
With Villagomez's appointment, Kohl's has expanded its board to 12 directors, 11 of whom are independent.
