J.C. Penney Taps Former Wal-Mart Exec as CFO

Credit: Darden Restaurants Inc.

J.C. Penney has named a new chief financial officer two weeks after its previous executive’s departure. Jeffrey Davis takes J.C. Penney’s executive vice president and CFO role effective immediately, the company announced Monday. He replaces Andrew Drexler, who served in the role on an interim basis following former CFO Ed Record’s resignation.

Davis most recently served as CFO at Darden Restaurants. He has also held senior leadership positions at Wal-Mart U.S. stores, Lakeland Tours, McKesson Corp. and The Hillman Co. With J.C. Penney, Davis will be in charge of all of financial operations, and will focus on earnings opportunities; optimizing pricing; managing selling, general and administrative costs; overseeing inventory levels; and deleveraging debt.

“(Davis) brings decades of finance, treasury and strategy experience from a host of leading companies, and will make an outstanding addition to our team," J.C. Penney CEO Marvin Ellison said. "Jeff's expertise will also be a tremendous asset to J.C. Penney as we continue to differentiate our business in a competitive retail climate and further strengthen our balance sheet moving forward."