Jill Soltau

Jill Ann Soltau (born 1967) is an American businesswoman who was the CEO of JCPenney from October 2018 until December 2020.[1] She was previously CEO of Jo-Ann Fabrics.[2]

Jill Soltau
Born1967 (1967)
Viroqua, Wisconsin
NationalityAmerican
Known forFormer CEO of JCPenney

Education

A native of Viroqua, Wisconsin,[3] Soltau is a 1989 graduate of University of Wisconsin–Stout’s retail merchandising and management undergraduate program.[4]

Career

Jill Soltau started her career at Carson Pirie Scott before moving into senior level positions at Sears and Kohl's. In 2007, she joined Shopko where she served in various roles before becoming president of the company in 2013.[5][6][7]

Soltau became CEO and president of Jo-Ann Fabrics on March 2, 2015.[8] As CEO, she opposed President Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods and testified in front of the administration in opposition due to American manufacturers not being able to meet Jo-Ann's quality or volume needs.[9]

On October 15, 2018, Soltau began as CEO[10] and a member of the board of JCPenney following Marvin Ellison's departure and the decline of the struggling company.[8][11] She was the 25th woman leading a Fortune 500 company at the time, Penney's fifth chief executive in the past decade and first woman executive.[12][11] Soltau was faced with an uphill battle to revitalize a brand that had lost customer confidence. Soltau moved to close stores, exit the appliance market, remodel fitting rooms and introduce workshops for customers.[13] Under her leadership in 2019, the company was scheduled to close dozens of stores after shifting its focus to home goods and women's clothes. Some criticized the slow approach pointing out that the slow approach might have been as dangerous as the previous CEO's quick approach[14] She had also brought in new talent and has cleaned out inventory.[15] On December 30, 2020 it was announced that Soltau would step down as CEO of JCPenney, effective December 31, 2020.[16]

Controversy

On May 14, 2020, after layoffs and furloughs of more than 80,000 employees and missing two payments on J.C. Penney debt, it was reported that Jill Soltau would receive a $4.5 million bonus.[17][18]

References
  1. Goldman, David (2020-12-30). "JCPenney's CEO is out after two years of failure". CNN. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  2. "JCPenney taps Jill Soltau for top job ending months-long search for CEO". Financial Times. October 2, 2018.
  3. "New CEO of J.C. Penney is UW-Stout graduate". Leader-Telegram. October 4, 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  4. Poling, Jerry. "New CEO of J.C. Penney is retail management alumna". Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  5. "Who is Jill Soltau? Profiling the first female CEO of JCPenney". Compelo - latest news, features and insight on influencers and innovators within business. 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  6. "JCPenney Welcomes Jill Soltau as Chief Executive Officer". J. C. Penney Company, Inc. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  7. "Leadership". J. C. Penney Company, Inc. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  8. Loeb, Walter (October 3, 2018). "Jill Soltau Is A Winning Choice As The New CEO Of JC Penney". Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  9. "Yarn and Fabric Stay on Trump's Tariff List Despite Crafters' Pleas". 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  10. Armental, Maria (October 2, 2018). "J.C. Penney Taps Former Joann Stores CEO as Next Leader". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  11. "J.C. Penney Names Jill Soltau of Joann Stores as Chief Executive". 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  12. Meyersohn, Nathaniel (October 2, 2018). "JCPenney names Jill Soltau as its new CEO". Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  13. www.bloomberg.com https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-17/can-j-c-penney-bounce-back-ceo-revamps-dressing-rooms-and-more. Retrieved 2020-02-26. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. "How JCPenney's New CEO Made $16.7 Million After Just 3 Months on the Job". Observer. 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  15. Shoulberg, Warren. "Jill Soltau's Slow Approach To Save JC Penney May Be As Dangerous As Ron Johnson's Quick Attempt". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  16. "J.C. Penney sale to landlords Simon and Brookfield is completed". Dallas News. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  17. Shoulberg, Warren. "Soltau And Team Taking $10 Million In Bonuses Out Of Sinking Penney". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  18. Brooks, Khristopher. "J.C. Penney offers top execs million-dollar bonuses as it faces possible bankruptcy". CBSNEWS.com. Retrieved 2020-05-15.


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