J.C. Penney announced that Marvin Ellison, a vice president at Home Depot, will be joining the retailer Nov. 1 and assuming the CEO role from Mike Ullman in August, after a training / transition period. Ullman said he will stay on executive chairman for a full year.
Ellison, 49, has spent 12 years at Home Depot and 15 years at Target.
“I am honored by this appointment and excited about the opportunity to help lead the continued resurgence of J.C. Penney. This company has been an important part of the American retail landscape for over one hundred years,” Ellison said in a press release. “Today, it is moving in the right direction and there is an extraordinary passion to win at every level of the organization.”
“I am confident that we have the customer proposition, the brand, and the talent to make J.C. Penney successful over the long term,” Ellison added.
He is on the board of FedEx and is active with philanthropic efforts focused on inner-city school renovations, as well as mentoring programs aimed at developing inner-city youth. Ellison earned a business administration degree in marketing from the University of Memphis and an MBA from Emory University.
Ullman, who was actively involved in the search for his successor, said Ellison’s “experience and leadership are exactly what we need to accelerate the progress we have made over the last 18 months.”
Ellison has proven his ability to produce results by improving operations, building customer loyalty, and motivating his teams, Ullman said.
J.C. Penney chairman Tom Engibous expressed the board's “deep gratitude to Mike Ullman for all he has done, and will continue to do, for J.C. Penney.”
“After agreeing to return to the company during the most difficult period in its history, he has stabilized the business, improved performance across the board, and placed the company on a course for profitable growth,” Enginbous said.