Who is Chandra Holt? The former Walmart manager in Spotlight as Kohls CEO Ashley Buchanan fired the seller contract

Chandra Holt, once one of the most promising managers in American retail, is now at the center of A Corporate scandal included with her former Walmart colleague and reported the former romantic partner Ashley Buchanan.
Buchanan was released this week as CEO of Kohls after the company accused him of developing a provider deal with “non -mentioned conflicts of interest”.
According to a submission to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Buchanan Kohls indicated that with a seller to conclude a multimillion dollar contract that was supposed to have “very suspicious” and “favorable” conditions. The submission neither named the seller nor the person involved, but the Wall Street Journal identified the woman as Chandra.
Holt replies
In a statement by the journal, Holt confirmed that she had known Buchanan for a decade but contested any business misconduct. “I have known Ashley Buchanan for 10 years, but I have not received any compensation for mine Incredible Kohls business, ”she said.
Holt is the founder and CEO of Incredibrew, a coffee brand that she launched in 2022 and who claims to promote drinks with vitamins and minerals. It remains unclear whether Incredibrew was the provider who was involved in the lower exam of the Kohl deal.
Corporate relationships and common history
Buchanan and got the paths in Walmart for the first time, where they worked exactly before they went for other leadership roles at about the same time. Buchanan left in early 2020 to contest the giant Michaels from the chief art and in 2021 to CEO from Conns Homeplus.
Most recently, between February 2024 and June 2024, she worked as CEO of Beyond, Inc, the parent company of Overstock.com and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Their impressive curriculum vitae includes leadership stays in Target, Sam's Club and Walgreens. She has a Bachelor of Arts in advertising, PR and communication from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and an MBA in strategy and marketing at the Carlson School of Management.
Fallout at Kohl's
Buchan's exit takes place in the middle of a challenging time for Kohls. The company reported a decline in annual sales by 7.2% to $ 15.4 billion and announced that it would close more than two dozen leading business. The shooting caused serious consequences: Buchanan must now extend all equity prices granted during his term and repay a prored part of its 2.5 million dollar signage bonus.
While Kohl emphasized that the termination of the CEO “had no influence on the company's financial performance”, the incident gives a company that had already been struggling with Leadership instability. Buchanan was the third CEO in just as many years after Tom Kingsbury and Michelle Gass short -lived term.
What's next for Holt?
Although no formal allegations were made against Holt, its name is now connected to a controversy of the meeting room that could make their professional path more difficult. With her management balance and entrepreneurial success through Incredibrew, the coming months can determine whether it can get a distance from the scandal or whether her past will throw a longer shadow with Buchanan.