J.C. Penney names a new chief

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Oct 28, 2004 | by Associated Press

PLANO, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. Inc. named a former chairman and chief executive of Macy's to lead the department store company, replacing Allen Questrom.

Myron E. Ullman III, currently an executive with luxury retailer LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, will take Questrom's place on Dec. 1, Penney said Wednesday.

Questrom, 64, had led a 4-year turnaround effort that recently resulted in rising sales at Penney's department stores. He had hinted he planned to leave when his 5-year contract expired in September 2005, and the company had hired a search firm, but the timing of his departure came as a surprise.

Questrom said in an interview with The Associated Press that he had planned to finish his contract but left early when the company had a chance to hire Ullman, whom he knew from his days leading Federated Department Stores Inc., which bought Ullman-led R.H. Macy & Co. Inc. in the mid-1990s.

"When you find a candidate that you think is the best candidate, you move forward," Questrom said.

Questrom said the board considered six or seven finalists and narrowed its choice to Ullman and Vanessa Castagna, Penney's CEO of department stores. He said Ullman's broader experience and background as a CEO were deciding factors.

In a telephone interview, Ullman said he was eager to return to a CEO's job -- it's been nine years since he left the top spot at Macy's -- and was impressed with Penney's turnaround since 2000.

Ullman, 57, said he would continue Penney's push into off-mall locations -- the company plans to open 75 to 100 freestanding stores in the next few years -- and to stress more fashionable merchandise. He declined to discuss specific changes he might pursue.

"Retailing being a very competitive business, there is always going to be a certain amount of change in taking the business to the next level," he said.

Questrom was chairman and CEO of Barneys New York when he took the top job at Penney in September 2000. At the time, Penney was losing sales to discounters and other rivals.

Questrom closed poorly performing stores, updated hundreds of others, overhauled the company's purchasing system and sold the struggling Eckerd chain of drugstores for $4.5 billion. Last year, Penney posted its first sales increase in several years.

Ullman was chairman and CEO of Macy's from 1992 to 1995. He joined Macy's months after it filed for bankruptcy protection and led it during a time of major organizational and financial upheaval and its acquisition by Federated in 1995.

"Macy's was quite distressed -- a weak company. He did a lot to stabilize it and get it to the point where it could be rescued by Federated," said Richard Hastings, a retail analyst at the Bernard Sands credit-advisory firm.

For the first time in several years, Penney is opening a number of new stores. Hastings said Ullman's challenge will be to guide the company through a period of measured growth.

"I wouldn't even describe Penney as a turnaround anymore," he said. "Now it's time for them to become a little bigger. There's still room to grow for a moderately priced department store."