The second generation in a family of drugstore owners, this charismatic entrepreneur developed a global view as a World War II pilot, but couldn't convince his conservative father that big, self-service drugstores were the wave of the future. So he bought three drugstores in the Tampa Bay area in 1952. Using techniques he studied in California, he packed the shelves with everything from dish soap to fishing tackle. He followed Florida's shopping center pioneers into the emerging suburban sprawl, then bought out small family-owned chains to create the biggest drugstore chain in the Southeast. Jack Eckerd Corp. grew into a retailing conglomerate, but, his fortune secure, Eckerd drifted off in the 1970s to a career in philanthropy and politics. He ran for governor and U.S. Senate before being tapped by President Gerald Ford to run the U.S. General Services Administration. His contributions to Florida Presbyterian College led trustees to rename it Eckerd College in 1971. Ruth Eckerd Hall, named for his wife, got its name because of his financial help. He sold his interest in the company in 1986. Now 90, he lives in Clearwater with his wife.
Stewart Turley
Recruited to play for Adolph Rupp as a University of Kentucky basketball player, Turley was plucked from a management career in manufacturing to head the first team pruning and shaping Jack Eckerd's retailing empire. He guided the company for 22 years through the good times and bad as a retail conglomerate, a hostile takeover candidate and its successful return as a publicly traded stock in 1993. Soft-spoken but strong-willed, Turley was among the first to put the bug in J.C. Penney executives' ears that Eckerd would be a good fit with their Thrift Drug chain.
James Oesterreicher
The last of nine J.C. Penney top executives to rise from a store management job within the company's own ranks, "Jimmy O" saw the Eckerd purchase as his legacy to a tradition-rich corporate culture. The drugstores were supposed to smooth out the earnings bumps and spread the distribution points for Penney's catalog business. It also elevated the company's drugstore business from a sideline to 40 percent of Penney revenues. Once Eckerd faltered, however, the marriage was on the rocks. Rival executives jockeyed for position and limited resources when both Eckerd and Penney stores needed a fix. He resigned under pressure a month after shareholders called for his ouster at an emotional annual meeting.
Frank Newman
The English-born son of a British consulate officer, Newman grew up in such places as South Africa and California where his dad was a San Diego newspaper editorial writer. His retail career began as a student working in discount stores, graduating to executive jobs at Ben Franklin and F.W. Woolworth. Turley lured him to Eckerd after the 113-store Drug Emporium chain Newman headed in Michigan ran out of gas. As chief executive, Newman conflicted with the power circle at J.C. Penney which saw him as an ambitious outsider. Newman abruptly quit in 2000 to head an Internet retailing venture that cratered within months. Now he's heading a nutritional supplement start-up in Englewood, N.J.
Allen Questrom
Typically resplendent in dark pinstripes and bone-colored horn-rim glasses, this straight-talking Bostonian hopes to cap a stunning career in fashion retailing by bringing J.C. Penney into the 21st century. The one-time Neiman Marcus boss is credited with steering such American retailing legends as Federated Department Stores, R.H. Macy & Co. and Barney's New York out of bankruptcy. And that was just the 1990s. Known to the rank-and-file as "Q," he overhauled Penney as a moderately priced purveyor of apparel and linens while dumping its dated, decentralized buying bureaucracy. Upon arrival at Penney in 2000, he confessed he did not see how drugstores fit in. But he was willing to see if Eckerd could be fixed. He gave up three years later.
J. Wayne Harris
A supermarket guy groomed at Kroger Co., Harris turned around an A&P division in Canada. But his stint trying to resuscitate the dying Grand Union chain ended when his bosses decided to pull the plug. Installed at Eckerd in 2000, Harris quickly seized on the company's shortcomings: real estate and up-to-date technology. For three years Eckerd opened no new stores. He cut costs by closing storage rooms and dense-packing stores with bargains to boost traffic. But staffers could not always keep the stuff in stock, a sign of inadequate inventory tracking systems. And prices were not always bargains. After one good year, the chain's performance deteriorated as customers moved to rivals who had flooded Florida and Texas with new stores.
