Kohl’s fires CEO Ashley Buchanan after probe uncovered personal ties to vendor

Kohl’s Corp. named an interim chief executive officer after it found the current CEO, Ashley Buchanan, engaged in “vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest.”

The company named Chairman Michael Bender as interim CEO and is starting a search to find a permanent replacement, according to a statement.

Kohl’s shares rose as much as 8.2% in New York trading on Thursday.

Buchanan’s termination follows an outside investigation overseen by the board’s audit committee. The probe determined that Buchanan “had directed that the company conduct business with a vendor founded by an individual with whom Mr. Buchanan has a personal relationship.”

Additionally, the the transaction included “highly unusual terms favorable to the vendor” and Buchanan failed to disclose the relationship as required, the company said in a filing.

The abrupt change adds more pressure to a retail business that’s struggled for years, posting 12 straight quarters of revenue declines.