Management

Myron Ullman has another item on his to-do list as he tries to revive J.C. Penney: dealing with litigation alleging the department store chain didn't pay for store upgrades ordered by predecessor Ron Johnson. EMJ Corp., a general contractor based in Chattanooga, Tenn., has filed liens totaling $2.3 million and lawsuits against the retailer in three states, saying it refused to pay for work completed in September. R&R Packaging Inc. of Gravette, Ark., has a pending action claiming it's owed $4 million for installing wireless internet networks in J.C. Penney stores across the country last year.

Jones Group, the owner of the Jones New York, Nine West and Anne Klein fashion brands, will close 170 stores and cut 8 percent of its workforce after first-quarter profit trailed analysts’ estimates. The actions will generate about $40 million in annual pretax savings by mid-2014, New York-based Jones Group said today in a statement. The plan will result in costs of $40 million to $60 million in the next 15 months, the company said.

The Canton, Mass.-based athletic brand, a division of Adidas Group, said in a statement that it's dropping the hip-hop star over the artist's lyrics in the single "U.O.E.N.O," which many have claimed glorify rape. According to Reebok's statement, "Reebok holds our partners to a high standard, and we expect them to live up to the values of our brand. Unfortunately, Rick Ross has failed to do so." 

A few short years ago, it was rare to see CEOs with double-digit, multimillion dollar salaries. With stocks up and jobs growing, some believe the economy is beginning to look up. While progress is slow, many retail CEOs are feeling the benefits. There were some surprising results in who made the Top 10 — and who didn't — so, who can truly say retail has been very good to them?

Ron Johnson lasted just 17 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. A J.C. Penney spokeswoman confirmed that Johnson is stepping down and will be replaced by his predecessor, Myron "Mike" Ullman, effective immediately. Ullman has also been elected to Penney's board of directors. "We are fortunate to have someone with Mike's proven experience and leadership abilities to take the reins at this important time," said Thomas Engibous, chairman of the board of directors, in a statement. "He's well-positioned to quickly analyze the situation J.C. Penney faces and take steps to improve the company's performance."

Former J.C. Penney Co. Chief Executive Officer Allen Questrom said the retailer should be prudent as CEO Ron Johnson implements a plan to turn most of the chain’s locations into collections of boutiques. “In high-risk situations, one needs to be prudent," Questrom said in a telephone interview. "Decisions can't be Powerball chances. You're responsible for employees and managing shareholders' money."

Someone's head was inevitably going to roll after lululemon's see-though pant scandal last month, and it looks like the company has found its fall guy: Chief Product Officer Sheree Waterson will depart on April 15 after nearly five years with the retailer, WWD reports, even though it sounds like technically she was doing her job. lululemon admits that the fabric in its signature Luon pants passed testing standards, but says a combination of factors led to the sheerness. 

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is on the list of top CEOs. So is Larry Page of Google and Larry Ellison of Oracle. And joining them are six highly regarded retail CEOs. But some big names are absent. Find out where Amazon, Home Depot, Nordrstrom, Macy’s,...

Shortly after abandoning buyout possibilities of his former company, Best Buy Co-Founder and former Chairman Richard Schulze announced Monday that he's returning to the retailer as chairman emeritus. Schulze, who is Best Buy’s largest shareholder, is nominating two former Best Buy executives to join him on the board: former CEO Brad Anderson and former COO Al Lenzmeier.

People returning recalled yoga pants to athletic apparel store lululemon athletica were reportedly asked to bend over to prove their sheerness. Fans of the wildly popular yoga apparel maker took to the internet to express their outrage after the Canadian company acknowledged it wasn't sure why the pants were so sheer. Instead of accepting the returns, customers were being required to prove their pants were actually sheer.