Mike Ullman might most accurately be known as a pioneer of modern department retail. When he died last week in his Colorado home at 77, articles galore touted his C-suite experience at JCPenney and Macy’s, along with his contributions to nonprofit Mercy Ships.
To Planoites, Ullman was the CEO that loved JCPenney so much that he was CEO twice. Once from 2004-2011 and then again from 2013-2017.
During his time at JCPenney in its former headquarters in Plano, he was credited with bringing in Sephora during his first term.
“Mike was an amazing human; he was one of the main reasons I came on board to Sephora at JCPenney. It wasn’t proven and they had not opened the stores yet but when I googled him I has complete trust in his vision. He did so much for the company and the people in it,” former employee Rebekah Mayes commented on JCPenney’s LinkedIn post regarding Ullman’s death.
After briefly being replaced by Target/Apple exec Ron Johnson, who “infamously tried to blow up the company’s discounting and sales model, a move that blew up itself,” the Dallas Morning News stated, Ullman returned just two years after leaving.
Various news articles discussing his death have commented on the other parts of Ullman’s career: director and chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, White House fellow in the Reagan administration, CEO of DFS Group, and decades on the board of directors of Starbucks. But for the thousands of employees who worked under Ullman in Plano, his commitment to JCPenney is where he shined.
“Mike was CEO when I started at JCPenney. He was so inspirational during the Pep Rallys. I was fortunate enough to ride in the elevator with Mike a few times at the end of the day. He was always so polite and nice to all associates. And he was always careful to not run over you with his Segway. RIP Mike Ullman. Condolences to his family and friends,” Patricia Oakley, a marketing project specialist at JCPenney commented on JCPenney’s LinkedIn post regarding Ullman’s death.
Ullman retired as chairman of Mercy Ships in 2021. Mercy Ships is an international charity that uses hospital ships to deliver free healthcare services to developing countries. According to Women’s Wear Daily, the Ullman family requests that donations be made to Mercy Ships International, the Warren Bennis Leadership School at his alma mater, The University of Cincinnati or his home church in Colorado in leu of flowers.
