Myer's second largest shareholder, Investors Mutual founder Anton Tagliaferro, welcomed Mr King's appointment, saying he appeared to have deep retail experience and, importantly, experience running department stores.
"He is obviously fully aware of the challenges of running a department store in the current environment with so many challenges," Mr Tagliaferro told The Australian Financial Review. "He's managed a department store chain through the hard times during the GFC and came out of that well.
"He appears a logical appointment and we remain very supportive of the hard work Garry Hounsell and [chief financial officer] Nigel Chadwick are putting in at Myer.
"There's a sense of urgency and they're not leaving any stone unturned."
Mr Tagliaferro said Mr King would no doubt develop his own strategy but in the short term he expected the 55-year-old retailer to continue to implement the key priorities under Mr Umbers' strategic plan, including stepping up negotiations with landlords to close or shrink underperforming stores and improving Myer's merchandise mix.
"Clearly John's job is to get up to speed and take it forward from there," he said. "I'm sure in six months he'll have his own strategy in place but ... despite the noise and negative criticism from one shareholder I don't think Garry and Nigel have not been doing a good job."
Myer's largest shareholder, Solomon Lew's Premier Investments, which has been threatening to call an EGM to oust the entire board, declined to comment.
Mr King, who started his retail career at supermarket retailer Sainsbury's in the 1980s and ran clothing and homewares chain Matalan for three years until joining House of Fraser in 2006, said he was excited to lead the iconic Australian company.
"Like all global retailers,[Myer] is facing significant change in both the retail environment and consumer shopping habits. I'm looking forward to the challenges and opportunities of this role," he said.
Mr King will be paid a fixed salary of $1.2 million a year, a $900,000 sign-on bonus in the form of share rights, and could earn short-term incentives worth 80 per cent of his fixed salary and long-term incentives equivalent to 117 per cent if relevant performance measures are achieved.
In the event of a takeover or change of control – which analysts believe is looking increasingly likely – Mr King will be entitled to at least 12 months' pay.
Mr King left House of Fraser in February 2015, after eight years at the helm, just months after the storied UK retailer was acquired by China's Sanpower Group for £480 million.
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