After a long search, JCPenney has announced the appointment of a CEO, Marc Rosen, an executive who has long experience at Levi Strauss & Co. and Walmart.
JCPenney noted that Rosen brings more than 25 years of retail and e-commerce experience to his new CEO role, most recently serving as evp and president of Levi Strauss Americas at Levi Strauss, leading commercial operations for Levi’s, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co., and Denizen brands across all channels. In his work with the company’s Digital Enterprise Office, Rosen also drove the online strategy for Levi’s.
Before joining Levi Strauss, Rosen spent 14 years at Walmart in a variety of senior leadership functions, JCPenney maintained, ultimately serving as svp/global e-commerce. He began his career at Ernst & Young and currently serves on the board of Inspire Brands, a restaurant company with a portfolio that includes more than 32,000 chain restaurant units worldwide.
“Marc joins JCPenney following a year of focused work to stabilize the business, improve financials and position the retailer for long-term success,” said Shashoua. “Working with the phenomenal and dedicated JCPenney team as CEO has been immensely rewarding, and I look forward to my next step as executive chairman. Marc’s significant e-commerce and retail experience with companies like Levi’s and Walmart makes him the perfect fit to lead the next chapter of the company’s transformation as we work to better serve our customers.”
JCPenney pointed out that it has lately strengthened its omnichannel experience and strategically introduced and relaunched 16 private and exclusive national brands, six of which are entirely new private brands, across all divisions. Portfolio additions include Ryegrass, Linden Street, Thereabouts, Stylus and Juicy by Juicy Couture, according to the retailer. JCPenney has also improved its digital and fulfillment capabilities, it stated, and introduced JCPenney Beauty, the company’s new hyper-inclusive beauty experience.
