J. C. Penney Names Marvin Ellison CEO-Designee

(RTTNews) - Troubled department store chain J. C. Penney Co., Inc. (JCP) Monday appointed Marvin Ellison, currently executive vice president of stores at Home Depot Inc.(HD), as President and CEO-Designee, effective November 1. Ellison will also join the Board.

He will then succeed Myron (Mike) Ullman, III as CEO of JCPenney on August 1, 2015. At that time, Ullman will become Executive Chairman of the Board for one year.

Commenting on the appointment, Thomas Engibous, Chairman of JCPenney's Board of Directors, said, "He brings to the role, among other assets, an extensive knowledge of store operations and supply chain management as well as a demonstrated ability to successfully run large retail organizations."

Ellison, 49, has nearly 30 years of experience in the retail industry. He has spent the last 12 years at Home Depot. As executive vice president of U.S. stores since August 2008, he has been the senior-most operations head for Home Depot's about 2,000 stores.

Prior to that, he was president of the Northern Division, with responsibility for the sales and operations of more than 700 stores in 21 states, leading a team of more than 150,000 associates.

Previously, he was senior vice president of global logistics, with oversight of domestic distribution, transportation, store and appliance delivery, import distribution and international logistics throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, China and more than 35 other countries.

Prior to joining Home Depot, Ellison spent 15 years with Target in several operational roles, including Corporate Director of Asset Protection.

Ellison said, "As President and, ultimately, CEO, I will be focused on positioning the Company to compete in a rapidly changing retail environment for the benefit of our customers, shareholders, suppliers and associates."

JC Penney has been restructuring itself ever since Mike Ullman took over reins after the forced exit of Ron Johnson, who failed in his attempts to boost sales by pulling out coupons and discounts.

Last week, the retailer had slashed its same-store sales guidance for the third quarter, citing weak sales in September due to lower levels of clearance and tough retail environment.

JCP, which closed lower by 6.8 percent at $7.12 on Friday, climbed 3.5 percent in the pre-market activity.