JCPenney is following the lead set by Kohl’s and testing Apple Pay support for its store credit cards, according to a new report.
JCP shoppers in Texas are being added to a pilot program that allows them to set up their store cards on their mobile devices for use in stores. The program seems to be limited to only one store at the moment, with a full rollout planned for spring 2016.
We’re all discussing this here and wondered what the wider Apple community thinks.
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Former Apple Retail Chief Ron Johnson is out at JCPenney after his radical retail redesign failed to ignite sales in the same manner in which Apple Stores had grown accustomed. Ron Johnson left Apple in 2011 for the JCP job after a decade at Apple. He helped design the original Apple Store concept after being lured away from Target by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He pioneered concepts like the Genius Bar which was unheard of at the time but still a growing trend in the industry.
We know more than a few folks who would like to see him back at Apple which meanwhile has found him difficult to replace. One such attempt was the hiring and subsequent firing of John Browett, a former Dixon’s UK CEO.
Johnson continued to live in the Bay area during his stint at JCP commuting to Plano Texas via Jet so…
BREAKING: Ron Johnson out as J.C. Penney CEO – source • $JCP QUOTE: http://t.co/aP20vqeZqF
— CNBC (@CNBC) April 8, 2013
JC Penny CEO inventory apparently out of stock.
— M.G. Siegler (@mgsiegler) April 8, 2013
I'd rather see a guy fail like Ron Johnson did any day compared with all the corporate drones who just play it safe all day long.
— Adam Lashinsky (@adamlashinsky) April 8, 2013
J. C. Penney appoints Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III as CEO succeeding Ron Johnson #breaking
— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) April 8, 2013
We’ve reached out to JCP and Apple for comment and will update as appropriate. Press release follows:
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Fortune is asking 21 luminaries the best advice they ever got. One of them is Apple’s former Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson:
-Ron Johnson (CEO of J.C. Penney) on leadership lessons from Apple and how he’s applying them to his new position: “I remember when Apple went through a tough period. I didn’t feel the pain as much as Steve [Jobs] did. When you are in the leadership position, the tough times can be much more difficult, because your job is really to shield your team through that, to keep them from taking shortcuts. We are building J.C. Penney for the next century. It’s not about the quarter or the year.”