J.C. Penney appoints former Walmart exec as CFO

J.C. Penney has a new finance chief.



The department store retailer named Jeffrey Davis as executive VP and CFO. Davis will report to Marvin R. Ellison, Penney’s chairman and chief executive officer.



Davis will succeed Andrew Drexler, senior VP and chief accounting of-ficer and controller. Drexler stepped in as interim chief financial officer when Edward Record announced on July 11 that he was stepping down as CFO, according to a regulatory filing. He will remain in an advisory capacity with the company until Aug. 7.



Davis will be responsible for all of the company’s financial operations, including the oversight of finance teams at the J.C. Penney home office and shared services center in Salt Lake City. Among his primary objec-tives will be to continue the company's progress in identifying earnings growth opportunities, optimizing pricing, exercising SG&A discipline, managing inventory levels and deleveraging debt.



Davis most recently served as CFO at Darden Restaurants, overseeing fi-nance and accounting, corporate reporting, tax, internal audit, treasury and investor relations. He also oversaw Darden's real estate acquisitions, as well as the company's restaurant development.



Prior to Darden, Davis served as executive VP and CFO for Walmart U.S. stores. Upon joining Walmart in 2006, he served as VP of finance for its U.S. specialty division before assuming positions of increasing responsi-bility, including senior VP of finance and strategy, followed by a promo-tion to senior VP and treasurer.



Before Walmart, Davis held multiple finance-related positions with Lake-land Tours, McKesson Corporation and The Hillman Company.