Kohl's Corp. plans to lease space left vacant after shrinking some of its stores to retailers such as grocery stores or convenience stores, Chief Executive Kevin Mansell told CNBC.

Not all of Kohl's roughly 300 "right-sized" stores will necessarily lease unused footage, at least at the start, Mansell said.

He added that the company has already identified "a whole list of partners" and was also considering partnerships with competitors.

"If we had our preference, we are going first after well-capitalized companies, and preferably ones that have high traffic in grocery and convenience," Mansell told the news channel on the sidelines of the ICR Conference in Orlando.

Kohl's could not be immediately reached for comment.

The company has been cutting the size of some of its large stores to better manage inventories and other costs, and is also building out small-format stores to access customers in suburbs.

It posted strong holiday sales on Monday, helped by online sales, the revamp of its beauty departments, and partnerships with brands such as Under Armour and Nike.

The company's shares are up 9 percent since the report and hit a more than one-year high of $59.25 on Wednesday.