Plano, TX, September 13--Vanessa Castagna's five-year contract at J.C. Penney Co. has been amended to run through mid-November as the board continues to work on a leadership succession plan for the department store chain, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Ms. Castagna, 54, chief executive officer of J.C. Penney stores, catalog and Internet, is considered a top internal candidate to succeed chairman and CEO Allen Questrom, whose contract expires in September 2005.
The amendment, included in Penney's quarterly filing to the Securities & Exchange Commission this week, extends Ms. Castagna's contract from a July expiration to Nov. 14.
It allows her to leave the company with full pay and benefits if she doesn't enter into a new contract.
Mr. Questrom, 64, has said he doesn't plan to stay on beyond next year.
"The board's search is ongoing, and no time frame has been set for completion," a Penney spokesman said Thursday.
"The search is proceeding as quickly as possible to identify the best candidates."
Mr. Questrom first addressed the succession issue in April, telling Wall Street analysts that Penney's board would follow practices put in place in recent years that include looking inside and outside the company to fill top management vacancies.
Penney's board surprised the industry when it named Mr. Questrom, an outsider, to the top spots in 2000.
Ms. Castagna was hired a year earlier from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where she was the top female executive.
Among her achievements, Ms. Castagna orchestrated the company's transition to a centralized buying operation.
The company's performance this year – the fourth in a five-year turnaround – has been among the strongest in the industry.
