A Truly Depressing Visit to JCPenney

Slate ^ | 3-1-2013 | Matthew Yglesias

[Sir Napsalot]

(more excerpt) "At best you could say that Johnson, who used to work for Target, has succeeded in making the stores a bit more like Target. He’s brought in Target-style special collections like the Cosabella Amore line of lingerie (oddly placed on the floor with children’s clothes rather than near apparel for grown women) and launched advertisements that seem geared to a cooler, younger, more urban audience than JCPenney’s traditional client base of somewhat square, lower-middle-class moms.

But to what end? There’s already a Target and an H&M in the same mall for those seeking a slightly hipper experience. ...."

This is not to BASH JCPenny, maybe it is the norm nowadays for retail in general. Even Barnes and Noble is in trouble, they can't compete with Amazon. But I think there should be a lesson somewhere in there, regarding JC Penny.

[riri]

I can count the number of things I have ever bought at JCP on both hands and have some fingers left over.

[Perdogg]

Retailers I feel that are trouble:

1. Best Buy
2. JC Penny
3. Lord and Taylor
4. Sears
5. B&N

[dforest]

The best way to sell clothing is the Kohls model. Those sales and perks draw the customers in.

[concerned about politics]

This is not to BASH JCPenny, maybe it is the norm nowadays for retail in general.

JC Penny used to be a family oriented store. Parents would go there to buy their children school clothes, and the home department was great. But JC Penny decided to join the homosexual activists and started a pro-homosexual ad campaign. Parents were disgusted, and stopped doing business with the chain.
Since then, JC Penny hasn't been able to repair the damage. They've become, if you will, an abomination in the eyes of American families.

No one shops at Pennys anymore. I wouldn't shop there.

[tenger]

I read an autobography once where the man learned from John Cash Penney himself how to save money even in the way they tied packages up (in the day when they did that sort of thing). Valuable lessons.

The autobiography was that of Sam Walton.

[concerned about politics]

5. B&N

When it comes to B&N, they do so much on line business, people aren't showing up in the stores as much, so they're cutting back on the stores. On line business is doing well as far as I've heard.
We have a B&N around here. My kids and I go there all the time. To them, it's more like a toy store (they like to collect the series books). To me, it's a source for useful, permanent information (I keep a lot of reference books. If the electric were to ever go out, I'd have all my information on paper).

[OpusatFR]

Penny’s violated the first principle in business:

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS

[woofie]

I quit shopping anywhere when I ran out of money

[Steely Tom]

Earlier. 80+ comments.

[conservative cat]

I love going to B&N. Love bookstores. My kids do, too. My problem is their prices are significantly higher than Amazon and their own on-line store. I understand they have costs the others do not, but they could try staying in the same ballpark.

[erod]

Exactally, they forgot who their target market was. Homosexuals can’t have kids and they have very unstable domestic relationships. Because of this they’re not going to be shopping at a store like JCP which is geared more towards families. As for clothes I highly doubt gays are shopping at Penny’s, with more disposable income they’re probably going to the newer and hipper clothing stores. I purposelessly avoid Penny’s because of their pro-gay stancenot a penny from me.

[oh8eleven]

I can count the number of things I have ever bought at JCP on both hands and have some fingers left over.
Well, isn't that special. WTF are you, a trust fund baby?
Since (at least) the 50s, JCP has been a good-to-great place to shop, especially for families. Decent clothes, decent prices, decent stores, decent employees.
But ever since the American middle class starting losing jobs wholesale (thank you NAFTA), they've been treading water like 75% of all retailers.
There was nothing wrong with everyday pricing ... it's the "super sale weekends" that really sucked for any number of reasons.
The American consumer has just been brainwashed and too lazy to think for themselves. JCP's big mistake was getting into bed with queers.

[ctdonath2]

“JCPenney made a big splash in the retail world by hiring Ron Johnson, mastermind of Apple’s retail operations, as CEO.”

He was pushed out of Apple for a reason.

Yes, pushed. Hard & abrupt.

[Joe 6-pack]

"...and imported Apple concepts, most notably a “no discounting” policy geared around convincing customers that the everyday price is a great price."

That model may work well for Apple who has a cult following, and whose devotees are willing to stand in line for days before a new product release, and would happily pay well in excess of the "everyday price," to have the latest.

For a clothing retailer, not so much.

[Joe 6-pack]

"...and imported Apple concepts, most notably a “no discounting” policy geared around convincing customers that the everyday price is a great price."

That model may work well for Apple who has a cult following, and whose devotees are willing to stand in line for days before a new product release, and would happily pay well in excess of the "everyday price," to have the latest.

For a clothing retailer, not so much.

[riri]

WTF are you, a trust fund baby?

Really?

[Perdogg]

The problem I have with B&N is the same had with Borders. I love books and going in bookstores but their selection is geared toward women and more popular releases. I go in sometime just to “people watch”. Their vintage collection is almost non-existence.

[God luvs America]

yep- maybe the gays should go support JCPenny’s......

[riri]

The best way to sell clothing is the Kohls model. Those sales and perks draw the customers in.

Absolutely, I was going to say this but was too lazy to type it all.

Kohl's utilizes newer technologies (and older) very well. Every week, I get one or two texts (Kohl's alerts) and they are typically 15-20% off any purchase.

Now when one of my kids needs sneakers or I need new dishcloths--instantly I think to check Kohl's and use my text.

Then more often than not, I get "Kohls cash" back. Sometimes as much as $20 for $50 spent.

So, the next week when we need something, where am I going? Kohl's to use the $20 in Kohl's cash I have with the text percentage off.