Mike Ullman of JC Penney: 'Our Fundamental Business Processes are Still Strong'

After J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) missed Q1 EPS estimates by more than 50 percent last week, Mike Ullman described the tough situation he faces as CEO in a conference call with investors. Ullman opened the call by noting his conversation with investors and stating, “our fundamental business processes are still strong and our senior leadership is intact.”

“One of our top priorities this year is to restore traffic and drive purchase conversion in our stores” Ullman says. Traffic has been declining for the past several years, with same store sales falling more than 25 percent last year.

Commenting on Ron Johnson's performance as CEO, Ullman noted “J. C. Penney has made very good progress over the last 18 months, improving how our stores look and how our brand assortments like Joe Fresh and Happy Chic by Jonathan Adler look in our stores.”

Ullman went on to explain the importance of merchandising, “Next, we obviously need to get the right merchandize in the right place at the right time. We'll refine our merchandising strategy to focus on the right mix of private, national, and exclusive brands as well as attractions.” Brands Ullman specifically mentioned throughout the conference call include St. John's Bay, Arizona, Liz Claiborne, Levi, Sephora and IZOD. He also named merchandising issues for a decrease in sales on jcp.com, among other reasons.

Concerning the firm's workforce, the CEO stated, “We don't anticipate making a large number of new hires nor do expect any further meaningful workforce reductions. We'll focus on building the bench strength and make sure that we have succession plans in place for key roles.”

When asked about marketing by Deborah Winswig of Citigroup, Ullman emphasized the importance to target customers at “key shopping occasions throughout the year.” He went on to note that J.C. Penney has identified about 20 of these occasions.

Mike Ullman finished the call by stating, “We appreciate your willingness to bear with us while we're enduring this somewhat quiet period.” Shares of J.C. Penney closed at $18.01 on Friday.