J.C. Penney has had trouble for quite a while. So, it went way out on a limb; and in late 2011, it hired Ron Johnson, the person who had designed and overseen the highly popular Apple Store chain. But Johnson had no real experience with department store retailing. And this proved to be a big problem.
J.C. Penney’s woes had continued under Johnson — and their financial performance was very weak. Thus, it is not a surprise that Johnson, as of now, is the former CEO of Penney.
Here’s a good brief analysis of the situation by Tiffany Hsu and Alter Hamilton, writing for the Los Angeles Times:
“Ron Johnson was ousted as chief executive of J.C. Penney Co. after a remarkably short and gaffe-filled tenure that succeeded mainly in driving away customers. Johnson was lured 17 months ago from a top job at Apple Inc., where he was celebrated for pioneering the technology giant’s cutting-edge retail stores. But he stumbled badly at J.C. Penney, pursuing an unorthodox upscale strategy that alienated the company’s budget-minded base. His time at the helm of the 110-year-old department-store chain was marked by unusually sour statistics: Revenue tanked 25% in a single quarter. The stock has plunged nearly 53% in a year. And 19,000 J.C. Penney workers have lost their jobs.”
“But investors’ initial elation yielded to renewed anxiety when J.C. Penney revealed that Johnson is being succeeded by Myron E. Ullman III, his immediate predecessor. The shares then dropped to about 6% below their closing price.”
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Photo by Astrid Stawiarz, Getty Images for J.C. Penney
