J.C. Penney board seeks to replace Ullman soon

Allen Questrom, a retail legend in his own right who turned J.C. Penney around once before, has agreed to come back as board chairman if he approves of the retailer’s candidate to replace interim CEO Mike Ullman soon.

Questrom said on CNBC Thursday (Aug. 8) he would consider a return to J.C. Penney as chairman if he agrees with the new CEO choice. Though he supported the company’s decision to name Ullman as an interim back in April, he said the board has drug their feet in naming a permanent CEO.

Bill Ackman, the retailer’s largest investor who also has a board seat, wants to see a new CEO in place within the next 30 to 45 days, noting in a letter obtained by CNBC his frustration with the lag time in the search process to replace Ullman.

Ullman came on as interim CEO in April with the exit of Ron Johnson after the retailer’s failed efforts to rebrand itself to reach young professionals via a shop within a shop model.

Analysts said Ullman did a good job securing bridge funding for the retailer, but even though the company added back coupons, it has not been able to woo back its core customers.

Questrom said there is only four or five possible candidates with the expertise to take the helm at J.C. Penney and it should not have taken the board this long to start the search.