JCPenney hires former Walmart exec Jeffrey Davis as CFO

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Jul 25, 2017

JCPenney announced on Monday the appointment of Jeffrey Davis as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. He succeeds Andrew Drexler, who has been serving as interim CFO following the departure of Edward Record this month.

Record stepped down from his role in July after three years with the company. He will remain with the company through August 7 2017 to ensure a smooth transition, and Drexler, the Chief Accounting Officer and Controller, was serving in the interim until a successor was named.
 
Davis, who joins JCPenney from Darden Restaurants, where he served as CFO, possesses several years of experience in retail, having worked at Walmart as VP of Finance the US specialty division, and SVP of Finance and Strategy, SVP and Treasurer, and eventually EVP and CFO of Walmart US stores.
  
"On behalf of the board of directors and executive leadership, I'm pleased to welcome Jeff to JCPenney,” said Chairman and CEO Marvin Ellison. “He brings decades of finance, treasury and strategy experience from a host of leading companies, and will make an outstanding addition to our team. Jeff's expertise will also be a tremendous asset to JCPenney as we continue to differentiate our business in a competitive retail climate and further strengthen our balance sheet moving forward."

In his new role, Davis is responsible for all financial operations of the company, including oversight of finance teams at the JCPenney home office and shared services center in Salt Lake City. He will be tasked primarily with continuing the company’s progress in identifying earnings growth opportunities, optimizing pricing, exercising SG&A discipline, managing inventory levels and deleveraging debt.
 
Davis will also report directly to Marvin Ellison.