Not so many years ago, the idea of an executive choosing to stick with Home Shopping Network over one of the nation’s most well-known retailers would have seemed like madness. But with the two businesses headed in very different directions, it’s not really a surprise that HSN CEO Mindy Grossman has, like much of America, decided to stay home rather than go to JCPenney.

It’s been more than a year since JCP ended the brief-but-disastrous Ron Johnson era, which saw the supposed retail guru try to undertake a drastic overhaul of the department store chain, doing away with sales and eschewing numerous store brands. The changes would have been welcome, had they not resulted in the loss of $1 billion.

At the time, the company brought back former CEO Myron “Please Call Me Mike” Ullman, in what was supposed to be a temporary capacity. But JCP has yet to find anyone willing to take control of a sinking company. It doesn’t help that the retailer’s stock price has continued to slip since Ullman’s return.

The Wall Street Journal says that talks between JCP and Grossman, who was an executive at Nike before joining HSN in 2006, got to the advanced stage before ultimately breaking down for undisclosed reasons.

Under Grossman’s direction, HSN has managed to change its image and help the company compete against online retailers. Presumably, JCP was hoping she could bring some of that magic to the beleaguered retailer.

We can’t imagine anyone looking at the following graph and deciding to jump ship from the blue line to the red one. That would be as crazy as leaving the Miami Heat for the Cleveland Cavaliers…

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