• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, January 24, 2011

Board meetings are about to get more interesting at JC Penney. The Plano, Tex.-based retailer says it has agreed to appoint activist investor William Ackman and Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, to its board. It also says it will close five underperforming stores, shut two call centers, and finally lower the curtain on its catalog business.

Ackman, whose Pershing Square is now Penney's largest shareholder, is known for taking large stakes in underperforming retailers, which have included McDonald's, Target and Borders, and pressuring them to improve results. In press interviews, he has said that while Penney is a great brand, its performance lags its competitors. Penney also says it will wrap up its catalog operations, a move that has been in process since 2009. That includes exiting all 19 of its catalog outlets, scheduled for the next two years. It is also streamlining other businesses to increase profitability, including consolidating its furniture outlet business, closing one store in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., as well as its custom decorating business.

And in addition to the five stores is shuttering, it says it will also close call centers in Grand Rapids, Mich. and Albuquerque, NM.