Posted on 03/02/2013 7:34:55 AM PST by Sir Napsalot
.... Fourth-quarter earnings results came out on Wednesday and they were terrible. The bad news starts with a quarterly loss of $427 million, but it doesn’t end there. Comparable store sales—meaning stores that were open this past quarter and also open in the same quarter of the previous year—fell by a mind-boggling 32 percent. Henry Blodget says it may have been the worst quarter posted by any retailer ever.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. JCPenney made a big splash in the retail world by hiring Ron Johnson, mastermind of Apple’s retail operations, as CEO. He immediately set about to reorganize the stores, and imported Apple concepts, most notably a “no discounting” policy geared around convincing customers that the everyday price is a great price. The results seemed to speak for themselves, but I was curious. After all, I’ve never given the “new” JCPenney a try. Perhaps Johnson is a visionary genius who’s reinvented the department store, and the world just isn’t ready for him. Perhaps he’s the victim of bad luck. Perhaps shareholders just need to hold on and have faith.
So I took the Metro to the Maryland suburbs for a visit to the JCPenney in the Wheaton Plaza Mall to see if Johnson really is reviving the legendary chain. .... Nobody was ever driven into bankruptcy by unreliable Wi-Fi, but that’s the Ron Johnson Era in a nutshell. Instead of building on what the people who like JCPenney liked about JCPenney, he undertook a series of essentially arbitrary changes that alienated some without drawing anyone new in.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
Ever since Penneys hired Ellen Degenerate and decided they cared more about catering to the homosexuals and their " lobby" instead of heterosexual FAMILIES who have been their financial staple of financial support since the FOUNDING of their company, our entire extended family has boycotted them. We have not set foot in any if their stores since, neither will we in the future.
Penneys made a conscious effort to tailor the marketing of their store to perverts who make up 3 to 5% of the population that are totally incapable of producing FUTURE customers by biologically reproducing themselves. Now Penneys is reaping what they, THEMSELVES have sown!
Maybe Penneys can stay afloat by selling S & M merchandise and homosexual oddities and sex toys? Oh I forgot, silly me, homosexuals already have plenty of places they can get this stuff ONLINE, so what do they need Penneys for.
Sucks to be them.
One more thing, all of the above also goes double for Disney. We haven't spent a thin dime in any of their parks or venues since they also went the way of Penneys regarding their support for homosexuals over the traditional family.
For sure. The kids do fine, but a lot of times I'll call and order what I want, and then pick it up at the store when it comes in.
MOST of what I buy has to be ordered. I thought maybe I was just weird, because they never have the book I want in stock. I mean seriously - how could any book store survive without a book like "How to Brain Tan Pelts?" (People really should learn how to survive without......well.....everything. If they don't need what they've learned, their kids will have the info if they ever need it.)
Some of Kohls clothes are one step above Walmarts. The balance is equal to Walmarts.
Didn’t Matthew Yglesias trash Bob Woodward? Why would anyone read his drivel?
Some of Kohls clothes are one step above Walmarts. The balance is equal to Walmarts.
People may call me a snob, but I love the clothes at Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack. I got a new midnight navy blue all season birdseye Peter Millar suit (free alterations with the Nordstrom Rack Debt card) for $350 that was originally $800.
I used to enjoy getting those $10 coupons from JCP. I would use them to buy a pair of pjs for a buck or so, something like that.
Recently I walked through Penneys for the first time in a long time. There was little inventory, not much selection, and few customers. Plus, for some strange reason, parts of the sales floor previously reserved for merchandise had been changed into bright white “salon” areas, with all-white tables and modern swivel chairs that reminded me of the furniture I used to have in my childhood Barbie house. LOL, really, JCP?
I loved Kohl's at one point. I could always find things there which were different, and stylish. But the quality has dropped, IMO. Now when I go in, the place is a wreck. Clothing is lying all over the floor in the womens' areas, and the racks are a mess. The shelves which hold folded items are full of balled-up, tangled garments....it's a mess. It turns me off completely.
Online sales are killing other retailers too. We have a Macys that once occupied 12 floors. Now it's down to 7. Departments were eliminated and the ones which remain are lumped together. Kmart looks more upscale.
I myself don't do much shopping in a brick and mortar store. I buy a lot online. Some of the reason is that I can't get around like I used to. And I guess I miss the customer service. At one time, every department had friendly, knowledgeable and helpful sales staff with cashiers to ring up the sales. Now with most retailers, you have to hunt all over the store for assistance. Good luck finding it. If I have to do it all myself, I'd rather save the trip and get on the computer. So many online retailers offer free shipping, it's cheaper to shop online than to spend the money on gas, bus fare and sometimes parking to go to an actual store.
Sounds fabulouuuuus. That's one thing the homosexuals are good for - redecorating.
OK...but not a word from you about how China is taking over our markets. Your (very common) mentality is exactly what is driving their success.
LOL, true!
Just think...all that effort to attract the homos, and probably not a single one ever walks through the doors.
My bad, sorry it was John Browett who was shoved out of running Apple retail.
Except that unlike Penney's, Disney is doing quite well financially.
There's a large mall about two miles away that houses a J.C. Penny store but I haven't been there in years. There's no need to......
IMHO you've correctly summarized why JC Penney is going down the tubes. Other stores are on our list as well as products / food items made by companies that have gone out of their way to support liberal agenda hot button issues. Let their fellow liberals keep their businesses alive or on life-support.
I’m old enough to remember the days of shopping in Penney’s for school clothes with my mother and sisters. Our purchases were carefully wrapped in crisp paper and tied with string. I can still see that clerk whipping the string around that bundle, pulling it tight, and tying an incredibly fast and secure knot. The paper and string were saved and recycled, of course. Nobody threw anything out in those days. Everything was reusable.
I'd love to carry only Made in the USA items in our stores. But we would be out of business in three months.
No individual consumer ever believes it is his or her personal responsibility to "Buy American". They approve of the concept in general, but when it is their dollars being spent, all of a sudden they want items priced at a level no American manufacturer can meet.
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