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JCPenney Names New CEO But Where's The Vision?

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JCPenney’s new pick for CEO reinforces the company’s new stability but proves once again, the retailer lacks vision when it comes to putting a fashionable foot forward in attracting new, younger shoppers.

JCPenney announced the appointment of Marvin Ellison, currently executive vice president of stores at Home Depot, as president and CEO-designee, effective November 1, 2014. Ellison will join the JCPenney’s board and succeeds Myron Ullman as CEO.

Ellison spent the past 12 year at Home Depot in various operations roles and was executive vice president of U.S. stores since August 2008. Prior to Home Depot, Ellison was at Target for 15 years, also in operations.

“He is a strong operations manager but he has spent a dozen years at a chain where fashion means orange aprons,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. “A lot has changed since his days at Target, and he will be challenged to crank up sales at Penney's, where sweater sets, not screwdriver sets, drive sales.”

Perhaps the company is so scarred by its experience with former CEO Ron Johnson, who was all original ideas with little thought to operations, logistics or finance. But it still needs someone with vision, creative ideas and merchandising prowess to move JCPenney forward.

Visionary leaders are high energy and hard on operations departments that are often expected to keep up. But someone with a  vision is critical to JCPenney’s success. Johnson went too far and Ullman did a good job of reining things in, reassuring investors and financiers

Additionally, Home Depot and Target have struggled to attract younger shoppers, the millennials. These shoppers are now aging into prime purchasing years as they marry, start families and buy or rent their first homes.

JCPenney shoppers are older on average than any other retailer except perhaps Sears. JCPenney’s management did an admirable job of halting its decline after some disastrous decisions, but it needs someone with some vision to move forward.

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