JCPenney Co.

New York City -- With same-store sales increases of 6.7% and 7.5% respectively, Macy’s and Kohl’s outperformed rival J.C. Penney in June, as J.C. Penney came up short of Wall Street estimates with a slight 2% gain.

Macy’s saw total sales rise 7.5% in June to $2.4 billion.

“Sales growth in June exceeded our expectations,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO. “Once again, the growth came from across the company -- Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores and online sites.”

Orlando, Fla. -- Boston-based The Wilder Cos. said that Bealls will open a new department store at Loop West, located in the southern portion of the Orlando, Fla., market.

Loop West, along with adjacent center The Loop, make up an 840,000-sq.-ft. shopping complex housing 14 specialty anchors and 55 shops, services and eateries. Anchors include Kohl’s, J.C. Penney, TJ Maxx, Bed Bath & Beyond, DSW Shoes, Regal Cinema and more.

New York City -- Do you think Apple retail guru Ron Johnson will transform J.C. Penney Co.?

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New York City -- J.C. Penney Co. on Monday detailed the timeline of its upcoming change in executive management with the news that current CEO and chairman Myron “Mike” Ullman will leave the company and the board in February 2012 after a three-month transition period during which he will hand over the reins in full to his successor, Apple retail guru Ron Johnson.

PLANO, Texas — Last week, RetailingToday.com reported that former Apple executive Ron Johnson would succeed Mike Ullman as CEO of JCPenney. Today, JCPenney announced that Ullman, who was originally slated to remain on the company's board of directors indefinitely, will now be leaving the company on Feb. 1, 2012.

My husband loves Apple. In fact, I cannot remember one single trip to Mall of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) that hasn’t included a stop-in at the Apple store. There, he plays with the gadgets -- iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, iMacs, iPods -- and wanders the store, as content to browse the high-tech aisles as I am to shop the designer shoe department at Dillard’s.

It was the biggest story in the retail world last week when JCPenney announced it had hired Ron Johnson as its new CEO with the incoming executive vowing to transform the way America shops by reinventing the department store. Such statements normally elicit a yawn because they are so common, but Johnson is the former SVP retail at Apple and spent the past 11 years overseeing the development and growth of the company’s wildly successful and widely heralded retail operation.