JC Penney Co Inc. had named an insider to be the new head of its struggling home goods section. The retailer's Chief Executive Myron Ullman had tapped a company veteran to fill a big gap in its executive ranks as JC Penney tries to revive its sales.

The 25 year company veteran Jan Hodges was appointed into office and would take on the job of senior vice president and general merchandise manager for the struggling retailer's home goods division. This would be effective on November 1, Ullman told company employees in a memo this week, seen by Reuters last Thursday.

Hodges is a senior marketing executive in the company. He would not take the task of improving sales of a department that makes only 12% of revenue last fiscal year. This was comparable with the 21% revenue it made in 2006. Hodges would replace Paul Rutenis who left the retailer after only 14 months in the job.