• Chain Store Age, Tuesday, October 4, 2011 10:45 AM

Longtime Target Corp. veteran and chief marketing officer Michael R. Francis on Monday resigned from the discounter and was named president of J.C. Penney Co., effective Oct. 4.

In his new position, Francis, 48, will be responsible for all merchandising, marketing, planning and allocation, and product development and sourcing functions. His appointment is seen as the handiwork of Penney's incoming CEO, Ron Johnson, who is himself a former Target executive. Although Johnson is best known as the head of Apple stores, he previously served 15 years at Target, where he held various positions including VP merchandising.

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