Macy's CFO Slams J.C. Penney's Reinvention Plan

All’s fair in retail war.
Karen Hoguet took a swing at Ron Johnson’s reinvention plan for J.C. Penney’s at a conference on Wednesday.
The Macy’s CFO completely scoffed at the idea that J.C. Penney’s could “change retail” as we know it.
While Penney’s is trying to succeed with shop-in-shops, Karen says:

I think he [Johnson] said localization is overrated, omnichannel was not a part of their presentation and I don’t believe there was much conversation about the selling floor experience vis-├â┬á-vis sales associates.
So interestingly their team [offers] a very different approach to the business than we are. I have been with Federated/Macy’s 30 years, I’ve grown up believing the product is where it all starts, and I think you’ll find the Macy’s merchants and our approach is a lot more focused on product and merchandising than I think the approach they’re taking vis-├â┬á-vis marketing.
Obviously, it’s a good team of people, so we’ll see what happens, but it’s certainly challenging me to think, you know, is everything I’ve always believed to be true right. We’ll find out.

Snap, snap!
A little friendly competition is always good for business though! Maybe with the two of them failing to see eye to eye, the companies will in turn work harder to satisfy their customers.
Thoughts??
[Image via AP Images.]