Penney CEO Ullman to leave company in 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc <JCP.N> said Chief Executive Officer Myron Ullman will leave the retailer and step down from its board in February.

The news came less than a week after the department store chain named Ron Johnson, Apple <AAPL.O> senior vice president of retail, as its next CEO.

Ullman was set to stay on as executive chairman for an intermediate period.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan and Phil Wahba; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)