The ironic thing about this mega marketing failure is the fact that if the company had stuck to the original plans that made the store great back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s they would not be in a pickle today.
Penney’s back then was noted for its dress code and strict substance abuse policy. They also translated the Christian lifestyle of the founder, James Cash Penney into real customer service, fair deals and customer satisfaction.
I had dealings with them representing a supplier to Penney’s back in the late 70s and even then they still had a definable corporate culture on a par with IBM. (No surprise there as Penney and Watson were close friends.)
Another corporate victim of the seduction into cultural rot.
Funny thing about the Christian heritage about the Penneys... I was doing genealogy last night and learned my great x 4 grandfather and wife were married in 1811 by the Reverend John Penney, great-grandfather of JC Penney.