pandering to the filthy 1% is NOT good for the bottom line...
Posted on 12/26/2012 3:28:17 PM PST by Morgana
Former retail titan JCPenney (JCP) is in trouble. The 1,100 store mall staple is in the middle of a radical redesign under CEO Ron Johnson, who led the roll-out of Apple's wildly successful retail locations prior to coming to JCP. In an investor presentation at the beginning of 2012, Johnson promised to do nothing short of re-invent the department store concept. But it hasn't worked out that way.
JCP stock is down more than 40% in 2012, sales are collapsing, and employee enthusiasm has deteriorated to the point that the company was forced to announce in an SEC filing that morale was an actual threat to operations. It doesn't have to end this way, however. JCP can save itself, but only if it acts fast and with a decisiveness that has so far eluded the chain during its revamp.
In the attached clip, OptionMonster.com co-founder Jon Najarian and I discuss the future of JCP and whether or not Ron Johnson is the right man to lead a rebirth of the venerable chain. Here's a three step process that gives JCP its last, best chance to save itself:
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Most of the time, any business that needs a “survival plan” is already a walking corpse. Short of an influx of obama-stash cash it is over (and for JCP that would only delay the inevitable).
Ironically the author ends the piece with JCPs epitaph:
“Flawed or not, JCP and Johnson have laid out a plan. The pity is the company on its current path will run out of money and customers before anyone knows if the new model can work.”
“I quit shopping JC Penny;s when they quit carrying my American made clothing”
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So where on earth do you shop now? Even my pricey catalogue and internet companies have only imported clothing.
.
It appears there is a big difference between retailing Apple electronics (incessantly pimped by Rush Limbaugh) and commodity clothing and household items (incessantly pimped by Ellen).
But not to worry, I’m sure Ron Johnson will walk away with a huge payoff.
I agree with both you and Sir Napsalot. Sad fact is, JCP’s business model is becoming increasingly obsolete. Like you said, they’re “Grandma’s department store”, and at this point, I doubt anything could really turn it around.
I also think maybe this coming year (2013) Sears/KMart is likely to go under as well. Sears has been in trouble for a long time, and that KMart deal bought them a few years, but that’s coming to an end. I wouldn’t be surprised if by next fall, both JCP and Sears are history.
JCP is looked upon as your grandmother’s dept store. They’re going the same way as Mercury, Oldsmobile, and Plymouth.
I rarely shopped at JCP and Sears and stopped many years ago (early 80’s). Why? Their prices were too high, they had a poor selection, advertised sales items were often out of stock (Sears being especially notorious for that), the woman’s fashions, even in the “juniors” department looked like the clothes were hand selected by my 80 year old grandmother and most of all, lousy customer service. In fact when I was a teenager in the 70’s, if you wanted to insult a girl you didn’t like, you’d tell them “you look like your mother bought your clothes at J.C. Penny (or Sears)”. JCP could hire Sarah Palin and Chuck Norris as their spokes persons but absent any real change in their stores, selection, prices and having a better on-line presence, that wouldn’t be enough to get me to start shopping there again.
I thought the comments were interesting.
For a company whose guidelines to fashion buyers are:
1) Do not offer any item for sale which is attractive to a 50+ year old.
2) Do offer items for sale that are attractive to homosexual transgender adolescent punks.
I think a fashion line named “FAIL” would be quite appropriate.
The merchandise has become shoddy, although that seems to be true everywhere. I used to buy my home goods there (bedding, towels, etc.(. Last few items I bought at Penneys fell apart in a few months. I'm on a fixed income bow. Can't afford to throw money away on junk.
It’s a stop idea. Shopping is largely a shared experience between fire ds, family and even the clerk.
Unless one is like me and knows what size they are in different manifacturers you generally need to try on a pair of shoes, that shirt or suit for fit.
I don’t bother because I stick to a few manufacurers for clothes and they always fit.
As a result I can walk into the store and grab Brooks Bros. Right off the rack or even Allen Edmundsen shoes with confidence.
I order that stuff online anymore and when go to the mall I rarely buy.
Maybe you’re right, but everyone I know who has stopped shopping at JCP has done so ONLY because of Ellen and in-your-face gay ads/pandering. I’ve never heard the word “coupon” mentioned.
The 800 lb elephant in the room goes unmentioned.
Most retailers, if not all, aren’t getting the kind of sales they used to before the economy took a tumble.
People are holding on to what they have a little bit longer, and will only make the necessary purchases. That goes for computers and appliances and clothing and shoes and all household goods.
Only Apple and a few other gadgets seem to be immune to the realities of the market, but, even there, Apple stock has taken a big hit of more than $200 recently, which is probably an indication that investors expect Apple to go the way of the rest of the retail markets. Windows-based PCs haven’t been selling as well as they used to, but no doubt, it’s more about the decisions that people are making to keep their still perfectly good older computers a bit longer.
In a better economy, there is no doubt that Sears and Penny would be doing better, but might still be in trouble for mistakes in management.
Maybe it’s because.......
they stopped their weekly advertising with coupons
...and not because they used Ellen in their ads, folks.
&&&
I shopped JCP for years. I was happy with their merchandise and their prices but dropped them like a hot potato when they came out with their homosexual propaganda catalogue.
I stopped shopping Target when they started carrying sodomite greeting cards.
Miss the goods and services from both stores, but I choose not to support them.
Well, that's sure changed (see my comment #27). Actually, that's precisely what my family is looking for -- modest, traditional designs.
absent any real change in their stores, selection, prices and having a better on-line presence
I think it's safe to say all those things have changed at both Sears and JCP since the 70s and 80s.
Step 1; Collect underpants
Step 2:
Step 3: Profit!
STOP THE GAY MADNESS!!!! What IDIOTS!!!
Ron Johnson is a kook. He plans to transform “JCP” into mini-malls. Asinine.
Penney's sells the uniform elements my grandkids wear to Parochial School (and is the only place in driving range which does) but I can't handle the cognitive disconnect necessary to buy Catholic School uniforms for the kids from a place with 'two mommy' and 'two daddy' ads.
We order online, if it doesn't fit, we donate those to the school (not all the students families are well off) and try again.
We don't shop at Penney's any more.
pandering to the filthy 1% is NOT good for the bottom line...
It's not just Ellen in their ads, it is the Father's Day circular sent to my home featuring gay guys with kids; and gay women with kids on Mothers day. They may not have realized it (although I can't believe they didn't); but, this told me that I was no longer the customer base they were interested in.
Personally, I don't go in there as often as I used to because the lack of product in the store has made me wonder if they are really in financial dire straits. I used to walk thru the local Penny's and if I wandered off the main aisles, I would be brushing against clothing and turning sideways to get between circular racks. Now, the amount of merchandise is really down. Not much selection.
And they threw the Salvation Army off their doorsteps 10+ years ago; whereupon their sales figures dropped for at least the first year. I've never been back.
A pox on both their houses -- Target and JCP.
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