News

Johnson ousted as JCP CEO

April 9, 2013

The board has had enough: JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson is out and its former CEO, Mike Ullman, will rejoin the company.

CNBC reported that Ullman was approached by JC Penney's board of directors over the weekend to lead the troubled retailer.

"We are fortunate to have someone with Mike's proven experience and leadership abilities to take the reins at the company at this important time," Thomas Engibous, chairman of the company's board, said in a statement. "He is well-positioned to quickly analyze the situation JC Penney faces and take steps to improve the company's performance."

It is unclear at this point whether Ullman will lead a long-term turnaround effort, or serve as an interim CEO. Either way, analysts agree that he has his work cut out for him.

"I think this announcement suggests to us that things are very much in flux at JC Penney," said Liz Dunn of Macquarie Capital, in the CNBC article. "I don't think they can simply return to the old strategy and all will be well. They've got some big questions to answer, and I think the release sort of hinted at that when Ullman said he's got some work to do to even figure out what's salvageable."

Read more about customer experience.