Kohl’s Corp. CEO and president Kevin Mansell will step down next year, and the retail chain is promoting a pair of executives to replace him.

Sona Chawla

Michelle Gass

Chief merchandising and customer officer Michelle Gass will take over as CEO at Kohl’s, No. 18 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, once Mansell steps down in May. Chief operating officer Sona Chawla will become president.

Gass joined Kohl’s as chief customer officer in June 2013 after having spent nearly 17 years at Starbucks Corp. (No. 462). In announcing her promotion, Mansell credited Gass in part with the company’s recently announced cooperation with Amazon.com Inc. (No. 1).

Earlier this month, Kohl’s said it will begin selling Amazon devices in October in 10 of its stores in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas as part of the Amazon Smart Home Experience. The devices include the voice-activated Amazon Echo, which is powered by the Alexa digital assistant software, and Amazon Fire TV. Last week, Kohl’s said it would accept returns of Amazon online orders, free of charge, next month at 82 of its stores, also located in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Kevin Mansell

“The retail industry is going through a transformational amount of change and Michelle is extremely well-qualified and positioned to lead Kohl’s through this evolution,” Mansell said.

Chawla, meanwhile, joined Kohl’s as the retailer’s chief operating officer in November 2015, overseeing the retailer’s e-commerce and omnichannel operations. Prior to joining Kohl’s, Chawla had been president of digital and chief marketing officer at Walgreen Co. (No. 39). She also spent two years as vice president of global online business at Dell Inc. (No. 4).

“She has been laser-focused on delivering a seamless omnichannel customer experience, leveraging technology to make us more productive, and amplifying the role and relevancy of our stores as our biggest strength,” Mansell said. According to Kohl’s, Chawla will continue to oversee e-commerce and omnichannel at Kohl’s. No replacement has been named for Chawla or Gass.