JCPenney Dismisses COO West
JCPenney Co. fired its chief operating officer, Catherine West, last Thursday. The company did not comment on the reason for her immediate dismissal.
West had only been with Plano, TX-based JCPenney since July.
West, who also held the title of executive vice president, had overseen store operations, property development, and logistics. Those duties have been returned to CEO Mike Ullman, who handled them all before JCPenney brought West on board.
She had been president of Capital One Financial Corp.’s U.S. Card division before joining JCPenney, and was considered a key player in executing the department store chain’s long-range growth plan.
JCPenney is in the midst of upgrading its merchandise by adding a handful of upscale brands. The chain will bow a new lingerie brand, Ambrielle, and add two lines of Liz Claiborne apparel early this year. JCPenney launched Sephora cosmetics in five store-within-a-store boutiques (and at JCP.com) before the holidays.
The chain also continues to move beyond malls: Twenty-two of the 25 stores that JCPenney added in the third quarter were off-mall stores. The retailer plans to add another 150 stores by 2009. It now operates 1,037 stores.
JCPenney’s overall sales rose 5.5% to just over $13 billion for the first nine months of 2006. Same-store sales were up 4.4%. The chain has not reported its holiday sales yet.
