Ritz crackpot - CEO stays in luxe hotel while (JC) Penney flounders

New York Post ^ | February 11, 2013 | James Covert

[abb]

JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson is mounting a radical overhaul of the flailing department-store chain — but that doesn’t mean he’s stuck at the office on nights and weekends.

Over the past year, the former Apple exec only rarely spends a full work week at the retailer’s headquarters in Plano, Texas, sources told The Post.

“He’s there four days a week, if that much,” according to one source close to the company.

Commuting on a company jet from his home in Palo Alto, Calif., sources say Johnson stays during the week at Dallas’s swanky Ritz-Carlton hotel — a perk subsided by the company.

That’s in sharp contrast to Penney’s two previous CEOs, Allen Questrom and Mike Ullman, who took up permanent residence in Dallas and consistently worked long hours at the office.

“What does [Johnson] do the rest of the time?” one former exec asked. “If he’s doing this huge transformation, why isn’t he there 12 hours a day helping everybody get things done?”

Penney officials didn’t respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Johnson isn’t the only one skirting face time, sources said. Hundreds of workers at the Plano headquarters have begun showing up later for work and clocking out earlier, sources said.

“They used to be in the office at 7:30 in the morning, and they’d be calling you to get things done,” said an executive at one major Penney supplier. “Now, they’re rolling in at 8:30 or 9. If I got a 9:30 meeting with them, I’d be shocked.”

Instead of leaving at 5 or 5:30 p.m., sources said, the same workers now are routinely leaving at 4:30 — despite being saddled with more work in the wake of thousands of firings since Johnson took the helm in 2011.

snip

[abb]

If you can't sell it, there's no need in manufacturing it...

[GOPJ]

Sounds like their feelings of loyalty toward the company have died. It's just a job now... Isn't this the ‘we back gays’ company? The one that looks down on the white middle class traditional families?

Yeah, must be fun to work for liberal haters...

[abb]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/j-c—penney-releases-father-s-day-ad-featuring-two-gay-dads.html

[concerned about politics]

I don't really care what happens to JC Penny. Why not party while he can? The company has already sealed it's own fate.
They made their bed (and chose their partners), now let them sleep in it.

[BluH2o]

JC Penney was an account of mine, their headquarters in NYC was just a few blocks north of Times Square. They moved to Plano, TX in the 1980’s. My contacts at JC Penney were all from the greater NYC area and when they learned of their move to Plano weren’t all that thrilled. Some with enough time took early retirement and bailed, others transferred (usually the guys with several years at JCP but not enough time to take retirement). Met with some of then a few years later in Plano ... no one expressed any enthusiasm for Plano or the Dallas area.

[albie]

He has the Obama mentality. Fiddle while Rome burns. I firmly believe this is the wave of the future. Hard work ethics are dying while “slackerdom” takes over. It proves that GayC Penney has no future so he’s enjoying the perks while he has them.

[South40]

I read a story recently about the 10 most hated companies in America; JCPenney ranked high on the list.

And while it did credit Johnson for causing the company to fail it made no mention of the pro-gay direction he has taken the company.

[tflabo]

So he gets to live in CA. commute weekly on the corporate jet and live in the Ritz during the week. A nearby Marriott Residence Inn or similar is too beneath this CEO cretin who produces pee poor results for JC Penney? He should be living in the DFW area as a requirement for a highly paid CEO. His ash should be canned and pronto.

[GeronL]

private jets and swanky hotels while his company collapses... liberals must love him

[bikerman]

OH! those EVIL RICH./s

[Wolfie]

I know, right? Go figure.

[Wolfie]

I’ll also add that his only crime is not being a crooked banker. Those guys get a free pass as a matter of course.

[Rebel_Ace]

Seriously, who cares? If you are not a shareholder or employee of Jacque Penne, how does affect you? I don’t shop there, so if this jerk weed is living high on the hog, he is doing so without my money.

It is my same position about pro athletes making a bazillion dollars. I don’t buy tickets, and they cannot take my money by force. (Of course, tax subsidized stadiums are a whole ‘Nuther thang)

[Monty22002]

Yeah, going from one of the most liberal areas of the country to one of the most conservative probably pissed a lot of them off.

[BluH2o]

Yeah, going from one of the most liberal areas of the country to one of the most conservative probably pissed a lot of them off.

Back in that period I wasn't particularly attuned to the liberal/conservative aspect of it. My impression of their reluctance to move had more to do with leaving an area where they were well established in terms of family, professional contacts, etc.. One guy was the mayor of Co-Op City, a high rise complex on the outskirts of NYC. He didn't move to Plano.