He said Penney customers want to "physically touch" appliances before making the pricey purchases. On Thursday, Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette had left open the possibility of expanding into appliances and other categories to be more of a one-stop shop. Ellison said back-to-school sales were off to a "good start," echoing similar comments from executives at Macy's and Kohl's on Thursday. To get shoppers to spend more, Penney added toy sections in more stores in time for the back-to-school season after testing them last year. And the company hopes more young shoppers will visit the Sephora makeup shops inside Penney's 600 locations, one of the chain's biggest draws, when a new beauty line from singer Rihanna is launched. "Rihanna has one of the largest social media followings of any celebrity," Ellison said. Analysts at Jeffries said in a note Friday that they see "some traction" in Penney's turnaround plan, but said they "remain cautious given a challenged (department) store environment."