JCPenney has appointed Therace Risch as its EVP and CIO, succeeding Scott Laverty in the position, effective immediately. Risch most recently was the EVP and CIO of Country Financial.
“Therace is an outstanding IT professional with an extensive background of merging innovative retail technologies and powerful applications to drive both brick-and-mortar and online growth,” said Marvin R. Ellison, CEO of JCPenney. “We are pleased to blend her 20 years of experience with the recently announced leaders of e-Commerce and Supply Chain to offer a seamless omnichannel shopping experience across multiple customer touch points.”
The hiring is designed to reinforce JCPenney’s commitment to bolstering its omnichannel initiatives companywide. The retailer is one of the major department stores that is struggling to regain financial stability amidst the entry of more market options and changing consumer purchasing preferences.
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JCPenney spearheaded its turnaround efforts with the hiring of Ellison as its CEO back in August 2015. Ellison has pushed omnichannel as a major goal of the department store’s quest to rebuild its brand.
Along with the selection of Risch, in the past few months Ellison has brought in Michael Amend to serve as the retailer’s EVP of E-Commerce and Omnichannel, and Mike Robbins as Senior VP of Supply Chain.
Prior to working at Country Financial, Risch spent 10 years at Target in a variety of roles, including VP of Technology Delivery Services.
