Edward Record, who has served as the chief financial officer of J.C. Penney since 2014, is leaving the retailer to “pursue other interests.” Mr. Record will remain as an advisor to Penney until Aug. 7 to help with the transition to an interim CFO. The department store chain is in a years-long process to get its business turned around. Same-store sales at Penney stores in the most recent quarter fell 3.5 percent, worse than the 0.7 percent consensus by industry analysts.