Why CEO Candidates Shouldn't Even Take An Interview With JCPenney
"The best thing a new CEO can do is to make it go away as soon as possible," Bradt said. "The faster the new CEO can sell its assets to one of the winning retailers, the better for all involved."
The longer the company struggles to hold on, the worse things will get, and the less it will eventually sell for, he said.
"What do you do when the reason for your existence ceases to exist? You go away," Bradt said. "You don't have a choice in that. All you can hope to influence is when and how you go away."It's a harsh assessment, but there's no doubt the company is badly struggling. It's not clear that the company has enough cash left to go through with Ron Johnson's ambitious plans, or to return to the discounting strategy that made it profitable, if stagnant, under Ullman in the mid-2000s.
With the company's biggest shareholder, Bill Ackman, reportedly thinking about selling his shares, and with the stock down 12 percent today alone, the company doesn't have that long to work things out.