USA TODAY: …Activist investor William Ackman’s departure from the J.C. Penney board at least temporarily ends the months-long boardroom drama that seized the faltering retailer and potentially sets the stage for a long and slow recovery, experts said Tuesday.
Ackman, Penney’s largest investor with a nearly 18% stake through his Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund, stepped down after earlier saying he’d lost confidence in the board and calling for the replacement of Chairman Thomas Engibous…
Penney’s alienated longtime customers by cutting its tradition of regular sales and trying to lure Millennial-generation customers during the tenure of former CEO Ron Johnson, said Andrew Reid, founder of Vision Critical, a firm that helps connect major brand firms such as Banana Republic with their shoppers. Ackman had championed Johnson, a former Apple executive who lacked experience in the retail clothing industry… (more)
EDITOR: Johnson either was a bachelor or isolated from the financial realities of life, in that he didn’t understand that women, especially housewives, love to shop for what they perceive as discounts and bargains. Men also look forward to season end clearance sales.
