Fired Kohl’s CEO said to have had history of mixing relationship with work

The relationship that cost Ashley Buchanan his job as CEO of Kohl’s began roughly 10 years ago. It was described by some as an open secret among colleagues and spanned his earlier, high-profile stints at Walmart and Michaels.

On May 1, Kohl’s board fired Buchanan after determining he had directed millions of dollars of business to someone he has had a personal relationship with, without disclosing the relationship — a violation of the company’s ethics policy. That person was Chandra Holt, whom he has been romantically involved with, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to speak on the relationship. The scandal rocked the retailer and reverberated across the industry.

The decision to part with Buchanan — made only months after his arrival — raised questions about what the company knew, or should have known, about a relationship that had long blurred the lines between personal and professional. Buchanan and Holt’s careers had repeatedly overlapped and at times drew scrutiny from colleagues, before culminating in the controversial dealings at Kohl’s. It was unclear when during that decade they were involved romantically.

“While it’s reasonable to expect a board to uncover potential conflicts of interest during the vetting process, when someone actively conceals a relationship, even the best-run process can be compromised,” said Lawrence Cunningham, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. “The lesson might be that boards need to go beyond résumés and references — comprehensive vetting should include deeper background checks, conflict-of-interest screenings, and broader interviews with former colleagues.”

Buchanan didn’t respond to requests for comment for this article. Kohl’s said that before Buchanan was hired, the board conducted a “thorough and customary background check” with an investigative firm and detailed reference checks.

“This process did not surface any evidence or allegations of previous instances of violation of company policy in his prior employment,” a company spokesperson said in a statement Saturday. “Mr. Buchanan’s recent violations of Kohl’s company policies were surfaced during the Kohl's vendor onboarding process. Upon learning of these policy violations, the Board acted swiftly to commence an investigation and take appropriate actions which ultimately resulted in Mr. Buchanan’s termination for cause.”

New details have begun to emerge that show early signs started to come out about a decade ago when Buchanan and Holt both served as executives at Walmart and its warehouse division Sam’s Club, according to people familiar with the executives’ relationship who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

These people say employees believed the close relationship between Buchanan and Holt led to preferential treatment by Buchanan, who was chief merchant of Sam’s Club. For a time, Holt was one of his direct reports.

For example, they said employees thought Holt was shown partiality when she was allowed to redesign part of the corporate office to her tastes, which included purple velvet couches and crystallized accent tables, one of the people said. (Buchanan didn’t have oversight of the corporate office budget, according to a different person familiar with the matter.)

Eventually, just before Buchanan got the top job at the arts and crafts chain Michaels in 2020, some Walmart employees were questioned about Buchanan and any personal relationships he may have had with people at the company, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to speak on the matter.

No formal complaints or investigations were lodged on the matter, according to another person familiar with the company’s investigations team who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Walmart declined to provide a comment for this story.

Holt declined to provide a comment about her time at Walmart.

Michaels Recruitment

Buchanan left after 13 years at the world’s largest retailer to lead Michaels, which Apollo Global Management said in 2021 it would acquire for $3.3 billion in cash.

While Buchanan was CEO of Michaels, Holt was being recruited by the craft chain, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Ultimately, she wasn’t eligible to join Michaels because of Buchanan’s non-solicit agreement, which prevented him from poaching other Walmart executives, this person said, noting that she was also up for a promotion at Walmart. Michaels didn’t respond to requests for comment.

In an email from February 2022 that was reviewed by Bloomberg News, a lawyer for Buchanan’s ex-wife acknowledged “Mr. Buchanan’s extramarital affair and there’s no dispute as to that.”

“Mr. Buchanan was recruiting Chandra Holt to be part of Michaels’ executive team. Ms. Holt is not simply a paramour, but instead is someone who very likely was privy to communications” relevant to the case, the lawyer added, referencing the divorce proceedings.

Buchanan’s divorce lawyer didn’t respond to a request for comment.

After Buchanan left for Michaels, Holt got promoted to chief merchandising and integration officer for Walmart.com. More than a year later, she left to serve as CEO of Conn’s HomePlus, a furniture and appliance retailer that went bankrupt a few years later.

Holt, who served at Conn’s for a little over a year and Bed Bath & Beyond for four months, earlier this year launched Incredibrew, a company that sells coffee pods infused with dietary supplements like collagen and protein. The pods have been available on Walmart’s and Michaels’ website.

On Thursday, Kohl’s said a board investigation found that Buchanan pushed the retailer to do business with a vendor “that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest.” Buchanan also directed Kohl’s to enter a multi-million dollar consulting agreement with Boston Consulting Group, where Holt served as an adviser, according to a person familiar with the arrangement who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

“BCG was shocked to learn of the relationship between Chandra Holt and Ashley Buchanan,” said a BCG spokesperson in a statement to Bloomberg News. “We have strict guidelines for our senior advisers to disclose any conflicts of interest. As a result of this non-disclosure, we have terminated Chandra Holt’s contract.”

“She was not involved in structuring the project or negotiating any contract terms and was not expected to lead any part of the project,” BCG said in a follow-up statement.

Holt previously told Bloomberg News that she has “known Ashley Buchanan for 10 years, but I have not received any compensation for my Incredibrew business from Kohl’s.”

She plans to continue her Incredibrew business, according to a person familiar with Holt’s company.