J. C. Penney Appoints Former Joann Stores Chief Jill Soltau As CEO

(RTTNews) - Shares of J. C. Penney Company Inc. (JCP) gained more than 10 percent on Tuesday's extended session after the retailer announced the appointment of veteran Jill Soltau as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Soltau will take over the reins of the company and will also become a member of the Board of Directors, effective Oct. 15, 2018.

Soltau is a 30-year retail veteran who most recently served as President and CEO of Joann Stores after serving as President of Shopko Stores.

"Jill stood out from the start among an incredibly strong slate of candidates," said Paul Brown, JCPenney board director and chairman of the search committee.

"As we looked for the right person to lead this iconic Company, we wanted someone with rich apparel and merchandising experience and found Jill to be an ideal fit. Not only is she an established CEO and former chief merchant, her depth of experience in product development, marketing, e-commerce and store operations have been an important basis for the turnaround work she spearheaded at prior companies."

Soltau succeeds former CEO Marvin Ellison, who left the company in May to join Lowe's Cos Inc. Last week, J. C. Penney's Financial Chief Jeffrey Davis also announced his decision to leave the department store chain to pursue another job.

"JCPenney is a quintessential American brand with a strong and loyal customer base, and I couldn't be prouder to lead such an iconic retailer," said Soltau. "I am highly passionate about the customer and I spent my entire career focused on the needs of a value-based consumer by researching, understanding and meeting her expectations for style, quality and inspiration."

JCP closed Tuesday's trading at $1.56, down $0.14 or 8.24%, on the NYSE. The stock, however, gained $0.16 or 10.26% in the after-hours trade.