J. C. Penney president Michael Francis steps down

Steadily-dropping stock did Francis no favors.

Nine months into his tenure, J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson is once again tasked with hiring a new president for the Plano-based retail giant.

Michael Francis was named the company's president in October. During his stint at J.C. Penney, he was responsible for merchandising and marketing, responsibilities which will now be handled by Johnson.

"We thank Michael for his hard work at jcpenney and wish him the best in his future endeavors," Johnson said in a statement released Monday.

One of Francis' major projects was helping J.C. Penney implement a new pricing strategy which focused on everyday low prices, rather than frequent sales. Francis previously worked at Target, as well as Marshall Field's.

The multi-year turnaround planned by Johnson has gotten off to a slow start, a fact he acknowledged in May when the company reported that same store sales fell nearly 19 percent during the first quarter of 2012. The company's stock plunged the day after the May announcement, dropping $6.57 -- or nearly 20 percent -- to close at $26.75.

Since the initial drop, the stock has continued to fall. On Monday, the stock closed at $24.33. The announcement that Francis leaving came after the markets closed, but the company's stock has dropped another $1.33 in after-hours trading and sat at $23 as of 4:45 p.m. As recently as February 9, the stock was priced at more than $43.

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Sarah Blaskovich, staff:

Interesting note: The stock market analysis website Seeking Alpha says that in Francis' short time as president, he made $10 million. If he hadn't resigned, the site says he could have made $45 million.

11 months, 1 week ago
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djones014, anonymous:

The one thing that a sale does is give a sense of urgency to go out and shop. When the prices are permanently set, the urgency is gone, and without it, people can now wait until they actually need the product to buy it. Apparently no one needs what they are selling at JCPenny.

11 months, 1 week ago
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Teresa Gubbins, staff:

Observer speculates that his firing was related to JCP's recent ad showing a gay couple with their kids - a couple that was local. the ad got a lot of national attention.

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfai...

11 months, 1 week ago
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