JC Penney

[mixedday]

I was rooting for JCPenney to survive and improve, and thought some reduced department store competition with loss of Sears would help. But, it seems like it has no clue what it's doing. It really thinks not putting out a press release will help?

Add appliances, remove them. It can't figure if it wants to be more full service like Sears, appeal to discount shoppers (like Burlington), or maybe attempt to mirror Kohl's success. It's not going to be competitive over Kohl's and Burlington, closing out of those same markets. It closed out of King of Prussia distancing itself from higher tier and destination stores, then closes out of Hamilton Mall in Atlantic County (where it could relocate to the better Sears former site). Leaves not wanting to compete against mid-range competitors.

[retailisking]

The latest news from JCPenney is dire. Can they survive?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/j-c-penney-it-s-all-over-but-the-shouting/ar-AABK9St?fbclid=IwAR1hv-hEg0MXykjWgPmzNtYWQ0R9kkP56ALBpE1K-Q-SkPpbr_1vmh5qh2c
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jc-penneys-dreadful-earnings-reaffirm-that-it-probably-has-one-foot-in-the-grave-150913600.html

[shore72]

A recent comparison with Kohls, which I'd say is the closest thing to what JCPenney was/should be:

My wife decided she wanted a Fit Bit for her birthday; she received a flyer from JCP showing them on sale, plus she had a small gift card balance and some coupons. (Yes, I'm sure we could have found them cheaper elsewhere, but ignore that fact...I did check Wal*Mart and the local one was remodeling and had none on the floor at all.)

The young clerk at Penney's struggled to answer our questions. We eventually figured out that the sale & coupons didn't apply to the watch, plus (the deal breaker) if you take it out of the box, it's yours forever. JCP won't take it back. After walking away from the Jewelry counter where they had them displayed, my wife went looking to find something to buy with her gift card. She found some things but when she spotted the line at the only open checkout counter she put everything back and we left.

A few weeks later we hit a Kohl's. There prices on the watch were lower, no restrictions on return, plus generous Kohl's cash. A very helpful associate (I'd call them by the old-fashioned name of "floor walker") spotted us looking and walked us through the purchase, directing us to the next available checkout (there were plenty). As it happens, my wife didn't like the watch. The return process was as easy as could be. While she lost the earned Kohl's Cash (naturally) it was all no-hassle.

10, maybe 15 years ago, we had 3 JCPenney's within 50 minutes & no Koh'ls. Now we have 1 JCP and 3 Kohl's.

[retailisking]

https://www.retaildive.com/news/reuters-jc-penney-tackles-debt-restructuring/559134

[retailisking]

Another indicator of JCP's debt woes
https://www.retaildive.com/news/jc-penney-added-to-fitchs-loans-of-concern-list/559620/

[TheFugitive]

This morning I drove past the Century III Mall location of JC Penney (the last surviving store in the mall).
They had covered the mall's pylon sign, populated with stores long gone, with a big red
banner saying "J.C. Penney is OPEN! Come in and see us!"

Not unlike the big red signs on the side of the Giant Eagle store in the remaining
bit of Parkway Center which read "Yes, we ARE OPEN!"

Life imitates the movie Clerks.  Big banners which read "I assure you, we ARE OPEN!"

[deerwrecker2017]

This morning I drove past the Century III Mall location of JC Penney (the last surviving store in the mall).
They had covered the mall's pylon sign, populated with stores long gone, with a big red
banner saying "J.C. Penney is OPEN! Come in and see us!"

Not unlike the big red signs on the side of the Giant Eagle store in the remaining
bit of Parkway Center which read "Yes, we ARE OPEN!"

Life imitates the movie Clerks.  Big banners which read "I assure you, we ARE OPEN!"

Life does imitate the movie Clerks like you said but without the use of Shoe Polish (For creating the banner seen in the film) for creating the banners.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

JCPenney's new look:
https://www.jcpnewsroom.com/news-releases/2019/1101_Penneys_Brand_Defining_Store.html

[Brammy]

I went to Penney's when I went to the Brass Mill Mall this morning. It's easy to see why the company is circling the drain. Lots and lots of Clearance and lots of empty space in the store as well. I'll predict the company as a whole will be gone before the year 2030.

[Crazybangles]

If they don't step up and try to fix things now, they will not survive

[retailisking]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jc-penney-bankruptcy-exclusive/exclusive-j-c-penney-to-file-for-bankruptcy-as-soon-as-next-week-sources-say-idUSKBN22K20F

[TRU7536]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jc-penney-bankruptcy-exclusive/exclusive-j-c-penney-to-file-for-bankruptcy-as-soon-as-next-week-sources-say-idUSKBN22K20F

Lol you beat me to this, was about to post this. "JCPenney is in the midst of a turnaround plan", they have been a turnaround plan for years and nothing is working for them. They're nearly $4 billion in debt, honestly no coming back from that, it will just keep getting worse for them.

I give it 3 years max and they will be gone.

[danfifepsu]

Ok, As JC PEnny is closing some stores it seems, I guessed it would fall between 100 and 200 stores, yet most chains close 1/4 of their store base in bankruptcy proceedings. JC Penny has got 850 stores. Which ones do you think are at Risk of closing? For me in NH: Concord (as that mall has 10 stores left), Rochester (it's in a dead MINI indoor mall where all the shopping moved near the Spaulding Turnpike), Keene & Lebanon (as the later  have a Kohl's near it)

[Retail_247]

I was on Google Maps / Street View looking at former JCPenney locations that closed in 2017 when I came across this weirdly unusual one

It's a really tiny store in the middle of a plaza

Kind of gives off an old RadioShack vibe

This former store was in Winfield, KS

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[TheFugitive]

They had some small locations that were for the most part receiving points for items ordered from the catalogue.  There was one not far from where I used to live.

[Retail_247]

They had some small locations that were for the most part receiving points for items ordered from the catalogue.  There was one not far from where I used to live.

Ah, makes since this store looks like it's been here for a while

JCPenney discontinued their catalog in 2009, while this store lasted in 2017

So maybe it was a catalog store / catalog pickup store that was converted into a regular location?

[BillyGr]

They had some small locations that were for the most part receiving points for items ordered from the catalogue.  There was one not far from where I used to live.

Ah, makes since this store looks like it's been here for a while

JCPenney discontinued their catalog in 2009, while this store lasted in 2017

So maybe it was a catalog store / catalog pickup store that was converted into a regular location?

It could have been a regular store - they had one in Bennington (VT) like this in a regular plaza - it was still probably a bit larger than this.

Main reason for it there was that there has never been anything like a mall in that area - the nearest one would have been in Rutland to the north or Lanesboro (MA) to the south.  Thus, if they wanted a store in the area, it had to be in a plaza like this.

[Retail_247]

They had some small locations that were for the most part receiving points for items ordered from the catalogue.  There was one not far from where I used to live.

Ah, makes since this store looks like it's been here for a while

JCPenney discontinued their catalog in 2009, while this store lasted in 2017

So maybe it was a catalog store / catalog pickup store that was converted into a regular location?

It could have been a regular store - they had one in Bennington (VT) like this in a regular plaza - it was still probably a bit larger than this.

Main reason for it there was that there has never been anything like a mall in that area - the nearest one would have been in Rutland to the north or Lanesboro (MA) to the south.  Thus, if they wanted a store in the area, it had to be in a plaza like this.

Makes sense. I always thought that JCPenney stores in plazas were rare, but apparently not, there pretty common. especially in their later years (specifically the early 2000's)

Every time I see a JCPenney store that isn't in a mall, it just looks weird and out of place to me lol

[TheFugitive]

JCP had a very large warehouse on the east side of Columbus, Ohio.  Attached to it they had an outlet store that sold overstocks, seconds, stuff returned by catalog customers, etc.  My mom used to make special weekend trips out there to scoop-up on bargains.

[Retail_247]

JCPenney kept a lot of their downtown locations open for years, most of them around 70-90 years. The original JCPenney "Mother Store" is still open too

https://retail247.blogspot.com/2022/11/looking-at-jcpenney.html

A lot of the older downtown stores have since closed (most of them in 2017 for some reason) but there's still a few sticking around