After shopping around for the right fit, CBRE has hired Kohl’s former head of real estate to support its retail growth strategy.

Scott Schnuckel will be joining the world's largest commercial real estate services firm as managing director of Americas Retail.

Schnuckel led all things new locations and store redevelopment for the discount retailer. In his nearly 20 years there, he generated $300M in disposition proceeds. He also garnered $200M for the company through lease restructuring.

He was also part of creating the retailer's partnership with Sephora, leading sales forecasting and planning new stores. Kohl's added 140 Sephora locations last year, bringing the total number to over 1,000.

This partnership was a positive on the retailer's disappointing earnings report following the 2024 holiday season. The 750 SF in-store shopping destinations brought in $1.8B in sales last year, growing 13% year-over-year in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, holiday sales were down 20% from prepandemic levels. Net sales for Q4 fell 9.4% to $5.2B.

Kohl's expects this trend to continue, forecasting a decrease in net sales of 5% to 7% for 2025.

CBRE is in a better place in terms of earnings. It ended last year with its best quarter ever for core earnings and free cash flow, CEO Bob Sulentic said during a call with investors.

The firm brought in $487M in profit during Q4, over half of its $968M net income for the year.

CBRE plans for its earnings per share this year to grow by over 10%, driven by rising deal volume and recent acquisitions paying dividends. The firm will report its Q1 results on April 24.