So it was that J.C. Penney (jcp), the long - stagnating mid-tier
department store chain,
announced in June 2011 that it was hiring Ron Johnson, the man in charge of Apple's (aapl) wildly profitable retail
stores and a Steve Jobs acolyte whose golden halo also included past triumphs as an executive at Target (tgt).
Department store chains Macy's and J.C. Penney may have gotten the lion's share of attention when they
announced store closings at the beginning of the year, but both retailers remain viable as operating concerns.