Stock Market Watch

J.C. Penney Appoints Top Target Executive as President (JCP, TGT)

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J.C. PenneyJ.C. Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP) has hired Target Corporation’s (NYSE: TGT) top marketing executive as its new President. The Plano, Texas-based retailer’s incoming CEO, Ron Johnson said that the company has hired Michael Francis to redefine the department store experience at its 1,100 stores.


Francis will join J.C. Penney as President and will be in charge of merchandising, marketing and product development. Francis helped Target in turning itself into one U.S.’s top retailers. Johnson will be hoping that Francis can deliver the same results at J.C. Penney. Francis was appointed as Target’s Chief Marketing Officer back in 2008.

Francis’ appointment comes at a time when J.C. Penney has made a number of changes to its management to modernize its image. The company had appointed Ron Johnson, who was previously in charge of Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) retail stores, as its new CEO in June this year.

Johnson is expected to focus on revamping stores and also expand the company’s mobile and web efforts. Johnson is replacing Myron Ullman III, who has been in charge of J.C. Penney since 2004. Johnson will take charge of the company from November.

J.C. Penney is among the many retailers which struggled due to a weak U.S. economy. Also, competition from department stores such as Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) and discount retailers such as Target and H&M has hurt the company. The company will be hoping the new management team will bring fresh ideas to the table.

J.C. Penney shares fell sharply today following a sell-off in the broad market. The stock closed 2.46% lower at $26.12. However, shares of the retailer bounced back in after-hours trading, climbing more than 1%.

J.C. Penney shares’ performance over the last three months has been disappointing, falling 25.44%. This compares with a decline of 17.94% for the S&P 500. Year-to-date, the stock has once again underperformed the broad market, falling 19.37%, compared with a decline of 12.60% for the S&P 500.

 

edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.


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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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