J.C. Penney is getting a new chief executive officer soon, courtesy of Apple. Ron Johnson, who heads up Apple's wildly successful (and cool) retail stores will take over the job from Myron Ullman, who has led Penney since 2004.
The move has generated a lot of attention in the media because there will be a lapse of three months after Johnson starts in November while Ullman will remain on board. During that period Johnson will concentrate on merchandise and marketing, while Ullman will still focus on the physical stores.
What first crossed our mind is: Will Johnson be a good fit? Isn't retailing products like iPads and iPods at one of the most innovative, and pricey, electronics makers in the world quite a shift from pitching discount clothing?
It's not as if Johnson as no experience in mass-merchandise retailing. Before joining Apple in 2000, he was an executive at Target. But things have changed in the department-store sector in the last 10 years, after mega mergers, store closings and a move out of the malls.
Though Penney's sales haven't performed well during the recession, one can't blame the company for not at least trying to be innovative, which could kind of be considered a parallel to Apple. The retailer made a big push to go off mall, started a partnership that put Sephora stores within its locations and the chain is making efforts to boost its fashion offerings.
So is running J.C. Penney going to be a big learning curve, or will Johnson's success come easy?
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