JCP J C Penney Company Inc

J.C. Penney Co. named a former Home Depot Inc. executive as its new head of stores, reuniting him with Marvin Ellison who joined Penney as chief executive from the home-improvement retailer last year.

The department-store retailer named Joe McFarland as its executive vice president of stores, replacing Tony Bartlett. Mr. McFarland spent more than 20 years at Home Depot, most recently as the president of the northern and western divisions. He was responsible for the sales and operations of up to 800 stores and led a team of 110,000 associates.

At Penney, he will oversee the chain's approximately 1,020 stores and will be tasked with other initiatives, like same-day pickup, in-store jcp.com fulfillment and improving sales productivity.

Mr. Bartlett, meanwhile, had assumed the role in 2013, after former CEO Myron "Mike" Ullman returned to the company.

Penney has seen a number of executive shuffles in recent months. The company replaced its chief merchant ahead of the holiday shopping season, elevating insider John Tighe to the role to replace Elizabeth Sweney, who had held the job since 2012. It also named a former Target Corp. executive as chief information officer last month.

The Plano, Texas-based retailer has reported a string of losses over recent years as it struggled with its online sales strategy and attempts to attract customers with its merchandise. Since taking the helm in August, Mr. Ellison has pulled Penney back from the brink of financial collapse by improving e-commerce capabilities and reining in expenses.

Write to Lauren Pollock at lauren.pollock@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2016 19:35 ET (00:35 GMT)

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