J.C. Penney fires chief operating officer

Posted 12/28/2006 5:38 PM ET

PLANO, Texas (AP) — Department-store operator J.C. Penney (JCP) said Thursday it fired its chief operating officer but gave no reason for the move.

Catherine West, 47, who also held the title of executive vice president, had been COO since July. She had no retail experience, according to the biography Penney issued at the time.

A two-sentence news release from Penney Thursday gave no explanation for West's firing, and the company declined to make Chairman and CEO Myron E. Ullman III available for comment.

"Her dismissal has nothing to do with performance of the company or holiday sales," said Penney spokeswoman Darcie Brossart. She declined to comment further.

Penney posted impressive same-store sales gains above 8% in September and October, although November sales at stores open at least one year rose just 1.4%, below the 3.7% increase predicted by analysts and last year's November gain of 3.6%.

Deborah Weinswig, a Citigroup analyst who was briefed by Ullman, said in a note to clients that the firing "came as a result of Ms. West not being a good fit for the company."

"Although this announcement was a surprise to us, we do not believe Ms. West's departure represents a big loss for J.C. Penney, as she has only served and contributed in her role for about half a year," Weinswig said.

Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Consulting Group in Nutley, N.J., said "Penney has been doing very well, so (West's firing) couldn't possibly be that. A terse statement like this invites speculation."

West joined Penney from Capital One Financial, where she had been president of its U.S. credit card division. She also spent nine years at First USA Bank, rising to executive vice president of marketing services, and began her career at People Express airline in 1981.

Upon her hiring, Ullman had called West "a world-class service sector executive" with a strong record in financial performance and customer and employee relations. Ullman had said her experience would help Penney plan for growth.

The Plano-based company said officials in store operations, property development and logistics would report directly to Ullman, as they had before West's hiring.

The property-development unit is key to Penney's plans for adding 150 stores over the next three years. Penney has been looking for real estate outside of malls. Its new locations compete with Kohl's Corp. and other stand-alone retailers.

Penney shares fell 76 cents, or about 1%, to close at $77.64 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

She was just profiled with all of the other WF CEOs of Fortune 500s. I ain't cryin for her though since she'll land on her feet quite ably with the help of a well-lined golden parachute.