J.C. Penney fires chief operating officer

Department store operator J.C. Penney Co. said Thursday that it fired its chief operating officer but gave no reason for the move.

Catherine West, 47, who also held the title of executive vice president, had been COO since July. She had no retail experience.

A two-sentence news release from Penney gave no explanation for West’s firing, and the company declined to make Chairman and Chief Executive Myron E. Ullman III available for comment.

“Her dismissal has nothing to do with performance of the company or holiday sales,” Penney spokeswoman Darcie Brossart said. She declined to comment further.

Penney posted impressive sales gains, above 8%, in September and October at stores open at least one year, although same-stores sales rose just 1.4% in November, below the 3.7% increase predicted by analysts and last year’s November gain of 3.6%.

Deborah Weinswig, a Citigroup analyst who was briefed by Ullman, said in a note to clients that the firing “came as a result of Ms. West not being a good fit for the company.”

“Although this announcement was a surprise to us, we do not believe Ms. West’s departure represents a big loss for J.C. Penney, as she has only served and contributed in her role for about half a year,” Weinswig said.

Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard’s Retail Consulting Group in Nutley, N.J., said, “Penney has been doing very well, so [West’s firing] couldn’t possibly be that. A terse statement like this invites speculation.”

West joined Penney from Capital One Financial Corp., where she had been president of its U.S. credit card division. She also spent nine years at First USA Bank, rising to executive vice president of marketing services. She began her career at People Express airline in 1981.

Upon her hiring, Ullman had called West “a world-class service sector executive” with a strong record in financial performance and customer and employee relations..

Plano-based Penney said executives in store operations, property development and logistics would report directly to Ullman.

Penney shares fell 76 cents to $77.64.