J.C. Penney’s Next CEO Said to Plan to Give Managers More Leeway

Incoming J.C. Penney Co. Chief Executive Officer Marvin Ellison told store managers that he’ll give them more leeway to select merchandise and make other crucial decisions as the struggling chain works to boost sales.

Ellison, who replaces Mike Ullman in August, talked about his plans last month at a conference in Dallas that doubled as a pep rally for store managers and a coming-out party for the new leader, according to three people familiar with the meeting. The event, the first of its kind in five years, was attended by the employees who run the chain’s 1,000 locations, said the people, who asked not to be named because the conference wasn’t public.