JC Penney

[EddieJ1984]

The one in franklin mills is set to open in march.
The outside signage is the 2011 logo. You could see inside of it from the mall, and at the register or desk has the newest logo. So it will have a mix.

[shore72]

We've been visiting a lot of JCP stores lately, including this weekend. They've been changing quite a bit. My wife had a hard time finding things since they've moved some departments around. There is no longer, for instance, one big department for woman's clothes, at least not in the one location we visited. It was all divided up by brand. No clearance racks anymore, and some big empty spaces in the store, temporary until they get things sorted out, I guess. The Mrs. isn't impressed by the "everyday low prices".

[retailisking]

This kind of churn is to be expected so soon into any turnaround. An activist JCP investor who spearheaded Ron Johnson's installation as CEO is pleading for investor patience:

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/05/16/ira-sohn-ackman-give-j-c-penneys-new-ceo-a-chance/

[Zayre88]

JC Penney not doing so good!
http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=796dee16-82ac-4f4a-874b-a4fe7fd624f8 :o

I just don't like their new logo.  Many stores are like Sears, very outdated.  You enter a store and it feels like you're in 1995.

[TRU7536]

Sorry... But Jcpennys like Sears are stores of the past. Outdated stores, crappy selections, I haven't shopped in one in over 10 years. These two companies are the past sadly.

[faz152]

I think with time, the change in format, along with new product lines.. they will get it right.. it takes time... I think eventually they will reintroduce coupons and heat up promotions a bit- but not to the obnoxious extent they had.

[ynkeesfn82]

JCP is eliminating cashiers. Will this cause the demise of the chain? People on their Facebook page aren't happy about this move.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/07/19/jcpenneys-to-eliminate-check-out-clerks/

[EddieJ1984]

Here's a pic of the jcpenney in willow grove park mall which opened the other month, it has their current logo (which looks bad imo).
This takes up the bottom 2 floors of what used to be strawbridge & clothier until 2006. It was going to be a boscov's at one point, then never came to be when they filed for bankruptcy in 2008.

[Zayre88]

Sorry... But Jcpennys like Sears are stores of the past. Outdated stores, crappy selections, I haven't shopped in one in over 10 years. These two companies are the past sadly.

JCPenney and Sears are the next Montgomery Ward....

[retailisking]

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse at JCP...
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/penney_pinching_vendors_on_pricing_MXmERuOvPrI4BIJT8SgYrM

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

JC Penney not doing so good!
http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=796dee16-82ac-4f4a-874b-a4fe7fd624f8 :o

I just don't like their new logo.  Many stores are like Sears, very outdated.  You enter a store and it feels like you're in 1995.

To be honest, I like old stores. Whether it's a grocery store, a mall, or just a regular department/discount department store. I like the design of old stores and the way that they look on the inside, especially if they still have their original 1980's/1990's look since I grew up in that timeframe.

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/texas/theyre-back-j-c-penney-adds-sales/nT8XY/

That's really very good. That makes me happy, especially since I have helped contribute towards those sales by shopping there as well as purchasing gift cards there for some of my friends.

[zonemad96]

JCP is eliminating cashiers. Will this cause the demise of the chain? People on their Facebook page aren't happy about this move.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/07/19/jcpenneys-to-eliminate-check-out-clerks/

I think its a good move toward the future. Lets face it cashiers are not needed now sure you still need people available in stores to help customers but you don't need them ringing up their stuff for them. If it wasn't for the annoyingly painful item codes on products this trend would have probably started years ago.

"in 1983, JCPenney began selling online through the Viewtron videotex service."
So in 1983 you could do your online shopping.

[TRU7536]

JCP is eliminating cashiers. Will this cause the demise of the chain? People on their Facebook page aren't happy about this move.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/07/19/jcpenneys-to-eliminate-check-out-clerks/

I think its a good move toward the future. Lets face it cashiers are not needed now sure you still need people available in stores to help customers but you don't need them ringing up their stuff for them. If it wasn't for the annoyingly painful item codes on products this trend would have probably started years ago.

"in 1983, JCPenney began selling online through the Viewtron videotex service."
So in 1983 you could do your online shopping.

its the way of the future, self check out lines. i prefer to go to them, its just Pennys customers tend to be older and dont like these kind of changes.

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

JCP is eliminating cashiers. Will this cause the demise of the chain? People on their Facebook page aren't happy about this move.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/07/19/jcpenneys-to-eliminate-check-out-clerks/

I think its a good move toward the future. Lets face it cashiers are not needed now sure you still need people available in stores to help customers but you don't need them ringing up their stuff for them. If it wasn't for the annoyingly painful item codes on products this trend would have probably started years ago.

"in 1983, JCPenney began selling online through the Viewtron videotex service."
So in 1983 you could do your online shopping.

its the way of the future, self check out lines. i prefer to go to them, its just Pennys customers tend to be older and dont like these kind of changes.

They don't have self check out lanes at my local JCPenney. I am now beginning to wonder when they will move to that phase though.

[ynkeesfn82]

They don't have it at my local JCP either. I don't know why anyone would shop there. The carpeting is old, out-dated, ugly, and stained.

[JimSawhill]

I got to get some pictures of the closed JC Penny store at the University Mall in Tampa. It became a Steve & Barry, now it been vacant since S&B closed. Now, the owner is thinking of tearing down the store and renovating the rest of the mall. The mall is a mixed bag of chain stores, independent stores, a sheriff office, the Tampa Community TV Studios and a day care center.

[dmx10101]

Johnson out as CEO of J.C. Penney; Ullman back
April 8, 2013 | By Marianne Wilson

New York -- Ron Johnson is out as CEO of J.C. Penney. In making the announcement, the company also said that that Myron E. (Mike) Ullman has rejoined Penney as CEO, effective immediately. Ullman, who served as CEO of Penney until late 2011, has also been elected to the board of directors.

Johnson’s departure was not all that unexpected given the chain’s mounting losses and sales declines. But it was still a stunning reversal of fortune for the former golden boy of Apple, who left the tech giant amid great fanfare for the top job at Penney.

Johnson’s brief tenure at the department store chain was marked by what many industry analysts felt were strategic missteps, from his decision to jettison sales and coupons to his pact with Martha Stewart, which embroiled Penney in its ongoing legal mess with Macy’s. But more than anything, it was the chain’s declining fortunes that did him in.

Penney reported a net loss of $985 million for fiscal year 2012 â€" its first full year under Johnson â€" compared to a $152 million loss the year before. Annual revenue dropped 25% to $13 billion. The crucial fourth quarter was a disaster: The company’s net loss widened to $552 million from $87 million a year earlier and revenue fell 28.4% to $3.8 billion. Same-store sales plummeted 31.7% and Internet sales fell 34.4%.

In recent weeks, criticism of Johnson’s performance had reached not only a crescendo, but an apparent tipping point as investors and the Penney board started to lose faith. On Friday, William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management is the chain’s largest investor and the man who personally recruited Johnson to Penney, publicly criticized the chief executive. Speaking at an investor conference in Boston, Ackman said Penney’s has seen “too much change too quickly without adequate testing” and that Johnson’s reinvention of Penney had been “very close to a disaster.”

In early March, Vornado Realty Trust, formerly the retailer’s second-biggest shareholder, sold off nearly half its stake in the company.

When Johnson, the former SVP of retail at Apple, took the reins in November 2011, Penney was struggling with a dowdy, outdated image and declining sales. In January 2012, Johnson unveiled a bold and ambitious strategy to transform Penney from a traditional department store into a huge specialty store made up of some 100 branded shops, with wide aisles and a town square-styled area in the middle of the space.

He also rolled out a new pricing format, replacing the chain’s blizzard of sales and coupons with a three-tiered strategy that promised permanently lowered prices on all items, month-long sales on select goods and periodic clearance events throughout the year. But customers didn’t go for it and the number of customers visiting the stores â€" and sales â€" plunged. Johnson subsequently tweaked the pricing strategy and, most recently, announced the return of regular sales and coupons.

Johnson had been hopeful that sales would improve this year as he rolled out more in-store branded boutiques and the new merchandise hit the shelves. But his efforts were bringing mixed results. Over the past weekend, the chain’s highly touted new home shops were void of shoppers, the Dallas Morning News reported.

[retailisking]

Why dumping Johnson won't magically transform JCP
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-08/firing-ron-johnson-wont-be-a-panacea-for-j-dot-c-dot-penney

[ynkeesfn82]

Wow. The just ripped JC Penney on CNBC. They said the biggest mistake Johnson made was taking the job in the first place and there is no way for them to be successful.

[TRU7536]

Wow. The just ripped JC Penney on CNBC. They said the biggest mistake Johnson made was taking the job in the first place and there is no way for them to be successful.

No offense, but they are collapsing and fast! I see them going before Sears/Kmart!

[ynkeesfn82]

You're probably right.

[JoeC2364]

Odds are against J.C. Penney
Returned CEO will try to restore retailer to profitability, but it may not be possible

By Anne D’Innocenzio
AP Retail Writer


NEW YORK â€" There won’t be an easy fix for J.C. Penney â€" if it can be fixed at all.

As Mike Ullman takes the reins again less than two years after his departure, he faces a Herculean task in undoing the mess left by CEO Ron Johnson, who was ousted Monday. With the department store retailer in the middle of a disastrous overhaul that has driven away shoppers, the 66-year-old Ullman has to quickly figure out what parts of Johnson’s legacy to keep and what to trash.

The overarching question is whether the century-old company can be saved at all. Very few retailers have recovered from a 25 percent sales drop in a single year, like that suffered by Penney under Johnson’s watch. On Tuesday, the retailer’s stock price dropped more than 12 percent to a 12-year-low of $13.93 as investors’ worries escalated about Penney’s future.

“Ullman can’t go back to the old ways, but he can’t do what Ron Johnson did,” said Ron Friedman, head of the retail and consumer products group at Marcum LLP, a national accounting and consulting firm. “I think there will be a combination of the two. But he has to make some quick moves.”

Apparently, the company’s board of directors felt Ullman, who served as Penney’s CEO for seven years and is known for strong relationships with suppliers and calm, steady execution, would be the best choice right now to secure the company’s future. But it could take Ullman 18 months to stabilize the business, says Burt Flickinger III, president of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group. He gives the chain a 50-50 chance to survive.

“The odds are declining every day,” said Flickinger, noting that rivals like Macy’s are taking away market share. “Competitors see blood in the water.”

Johnson, the mastermind behind Apple’s successful retail stores, lasted just 17 months. He faced an ever-growing chorus of critics calling for his resignation as they lost faith in the aggressive overhaul. The rapid-fire changes included getting rid of coupons and most discounts in favor of everyday low prices, bringing in new brands and remaking its outdated stores. Johnson’s goal was to reinvent the stodgy retailer into a mini-mall of hip specialty shops.

Instead, Penney’s loyal shoppers went in search of deals elsewhere, and the chain didn’t attract the younger and more affluent shoppers that Johnson coveted. Now the 1,100-store chain is burning through cash. In the past year, the company lost nearly a billion dollars and saw its revenue tumble by nearly $4.3 billion to $12.98 billion. Customer traffic dropped 13 percent. Steep sales declines have continued, say analysts, even though Johnson added back some sales events and coupons early this year.

Some speculate that Ullman may ditch the everyday price strategy and instead ramp up the return to discounting and coupons to get shoppers back in the stores. But that will still be an expensive move. Michael Binetti, an analyst at UBS Investment Research, and others believe that Ullman also will temporarily suspend the rollout of the mini-shops, which started late last year and feature such brands as Joe Fresh and Levi’s. That means that some suppliers who expected to have mini-shops could be left in the lurch.

Ullman also will have to find ways to boost employee morale amid severe cuts that have slashed the workforce by nearly 30 percent. As of February, Penney employed 116,000 full- and part-time workers, down from 159,000 a year ago.

Whatever Ullman ends up doing, analysts expect him to be thoughtful and deliberate in his moves. That’s a big difference from Johnson, who was criticized for not testing his strategies in a few stores, particularly the pricing plan.

The board “chose stability and experience, in my mind,” said Antony Karabus, president of SD Retail Consulting. “Instead of big, grandiose ideas, what they need now is someone to stabilize and execute effectively. He has a calm way about him. If anyone can do it, he can, because he knows the business. He knows the customers.”

[ynkeesfn82]

Last night WTIC 1080 was running "The Best of Clark Howard" and he was discussing the change in CEO and JC Penney and one idiot caller said that the reason JC Penney is failing is because they support the homosexual lifestyle. She says when they started to support that thousands of people began boycotting the store. - That is one of the most idiotic things I have ever heard.

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

Last night WTIC 1080 was running "The Best of Clark Howard" and he was discussing the change in CEO and JC Penney and one idiot caller said that the reason JC Penney is failing is because they support the homosexual lifestyle. She says when they started to support that thousands of people began boycotting the store. - That is one of the most idiotic things I have ever heard.

She probably just made that up, right? Where is the proof that JCPenney did such a thing? There is none. The proof that their business has gone downhill is due to the mistakes of Johnson which I hope can be revived and fixed by Ullman. As you stated Marc B, what that caller said is pretty idiotic.

[shore72]

Not made up, not at all...there are groups that track these things. Without getting too off track here, some folks very close to me are currently boycotting JCP for this reason. I don't know why JCP would bother going out of their way to upset such a large part of their traditional market but they did (primarily with the use of a photo used in a sales flyer featuring some gay men.) Now, whatever they do to try and get out of it, they upset one group or the other.

I really have a hard time remembering a major retailer which has imploded so quickly. They have pushed customers away in droves.

[JimSawhill]

Last night WTIC 1080 was running "The Best of Clark Howard" and he was discussing the change in CEO and JC Penney and one idiot caller said that the reason JC Penney is failing is because they support the homosexual lifestyle. She says when they started to support that thousands of people began boycotting the store. - That is one of the most idiotic things I have ever heard.

There are some people who called for boycot of JC Penny because of their support of Gay Marriage. My pastor said it in church that don't support the following stores because they support gay marriage and Macy's and JC Penny were named.

[TRU7536]

I was reading a article and they are blaming the downfall on the massive layoffs te company did in the last year.

[Kmart4life]

http://news.yahoo.com/j-c-penney-job-no-191430509.html

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

I will have to admit that I do not like the changes that Johnson did to my local JCPenney Store. I liked it just the way that it was before he was brought in as JCPenney's CEO.