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He's a one trick pony and clearly out of touch. He doesn't really seem to have any grasp of the market JC Penny was actually in or that discount cheap clothes i
by mindstab 14y ago
He's a one trick pony and clearly out of touch. He doesn't really seem to have any grasp of the market JC Penny was actually in or that discount cheap clothes is a pretty radically different market then high end premium electronics. (further whereas Apple was the sole supplier/manufacturer, JC Penny was just reseller of various brands they picked). Then he executed the one strategy he know that apparently just luckily worked for him at Apple. Sadly, based deeply outside of reality it epically failed to execute as hoped here and JC Penny lost half their market.
The whole thing is a little sad. Thankfully he's gone and maybe for the company's sake they can pull out of his tailspin. If not oh well, that's also what you get for not vetting people and just buying into their PR and dropping a rockstar into the driver seat and giving him the keys without vetting him.
- nell 14y agoHe ran merchandising at Target before Apple, which was pretty successful. He clearly made a mistake at JCP. That doesn't make all his previous successes invalid or luck.
- chucknelson 14y agoExactly. For some reason everyone remembers Apple as his only success story, but he was leading Target merchandising during their transformation to what they are today.
- nlh 14y agoI don't think that's a fair appraisal. He's a smart guy, he tried a bold, risky strategy at JCP that he _thought_ would work well, and it didn't. Sometimes when you take bold risks, you win. Sometimes you lose. I actually don't think one iota less of the guy after this experience - I think he tried and failed and that's fine. The guy should be commended for his effort, despite it's lack of success.