DALLAS _ Mike Amend likes to say he heads a startup inside 115-year-old J.C. Penney.
The division he leads as executive vice president of omnichannel is housed in newly converted space inside Penney's suburban Dallas headquarters. The gray fabric cubicles are all gone.
Amend, 39, with a LinkedIn profile summary that includes "Future CEO," has a standing desk on one side of the large, open office. It's staffed with rows of data scientists, site reliability engineers, page designers and product managers. Upholstered furniture settings are mixed in for small groups to meet. There are phone rooms for private calls.
Another large, L-shaped space has glass walls, whiteboards and the department's only large conference table. Around the corner are foosball and indoor basketball table games.
The setting "releases our capabilities," Amend said, and matches a new workflow with empowered teams completing two-week implementations of decisions that are driven by data. "Sure, we still have one-, two- and three-year visions and strategies, but we have to break up the execution into chunks."
Having a strong digital platform is even more important as Penney has been closing stores. CEO Marvin Ellison has said more stores could close. But for now, Penney still has a large fleet of 875 stores, and those locations have been immersed in the online business.
Amend spoke confidently about progress in Penney's online operation during interviews last month, at about the same time Amazon.com and Sears were announcing they've partnered to sell Kenmore appliances. Just a year ago, Penney started selling 1,200 GE, LG and Samsung kitchen and laundry appliances, first online and then in 600 stores.
In a second punch, Nike confirmed that it's partnering with Amazon on a limited assortment. Penney expanded its Nike merchandise earlier this year and carved out 500 square feet of prominent space in 600 of its stores for Nike men's shops. Then Amazon offered to buy items in high demand from tens of thousands of its third-party merchants and U.S. retailers for full price. Amazon confirmed to CNBC that it made the offer because it wants to be able to deliver those goods faster from its own warehouses.
Asked about the daily barrage of new challenges, Amend said niches of competition are constantly springing up. Penney is in the mattress business fighting with new online-only sellers Casper and Helix, "just two of so many home goods competitors," he said.
