Kohl's chief executive Michelle Gass will exit the department store chain to become the CEO at Levi Strauss.

The company has received investor pressure in recent years to spin-off its online business and sell real estate or choose to take the company private.

Amazon and Target have taken over market share along with discount retailers like TJ Maxx, hurting businesses like JCPenny, Macy's and Kohl's.

Despite multiple plans to turn the company around, including a returns program with Amazon, the brand has found itself continuing to struggle, CNN reported.

As the Wall Street Journal reported, Gass will exit Kohl's on Dec. 2 and join Levi's on Jan. 2 to serve as president with oversight of Levi's brand and global digital and commercial operations.

Gass studied chemical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and spend six years in marketing at Procter & Gamble before she joined Starbucks Corp. in 1996.