I have been with JCP for 3 years now, though not sure how much longer I will be there before they let me go too.
I was a specialty sales associate in suits and made commission as well as an hourly wage. That position was eliminated and I was moved to the cash wrap in the men’s department permanently. When I was removed from commission, they offered me an increased hourly wage commiserate with my pay/commissions, so I stayed with them. I believe I will be gone soon though because I make nearly $4 an hour more than the average cashier.
The vision is to have boutiques within the store so that it is an amalgam of boutiques rather than a large store with different departments.
Not sure how they hope to get a lot of the work done without the middle managers who do the bulk of merchandise placement etc....but will be viewing a video before my shift this morning that supposedly will explain some of it.
I just have to say that I was shocked at the callous way these people were let go. Years and years of loyalty to the company and they were called in and told their position has been eliminated, effective immediately and given a severance check.
Some were eligible for retirement, but all of them were women in their forties and fifties. I also noticed that they were the ones without a college degree.
I was a Penneys shopper all my life, was happy to get the job there when I did since I had been a stay at home mom for over 20 years and not too many places would hire me.
Now, who knows? I feel NO loyalty to them, couldn’t care less what happens. Like a lot of people, I am biding my time, waiting and not at all happy with what has occurred over the last few months.
Ah well, I am grateful for the job and will remain until they let me go.
Some families are changed forever by something like this
people like axelrod and obama and pelosi could care less what it means to a 50 yr old JC Penny middle manager in a small town to be let go with no notice
Time to move on to greener pastures, if you can fine any in this economy.
My wife used to shop at JCP as well as numerous other stores. She liked the coupons. Now, no more coupons, no more sales, plus the most obnoxious TV ads. The result is she no longer shops at JCP. I wonder how many other women are doing the same.
This new CEO has no retail experience. My prediction is that he will drive JCP even farther into the ground. It may continue to exist for a number of years but it will become a zombie store just like Sears. We went into a Sears in San Diego a couple of months ago on a weekday night in a large shopping center with lots of folks walking about. First time in several years. It was a total ghost town. Looking around, there might have been 4 other shoppers on the main floor. It was kind of scary.