Posted on 06/20/2012 7:44:30 AM PDT by scottjewell
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. today ousted its JCPenney brand president, Michael Francis, who oversaw the retailer's merchandising and marketing operations, with a terse statement that "We thank Michael for his hard work at jcpenney and wish him the best in his future endeavors." Francis, who was hired last October "at great expense" (as the New York Times retail reporter tweeted, in light of his whopping $12 million signing bonus) from Target is seen as taking the fall for his boss, company CEO Ron Johnson, the former Apple top retailer who oversaw JCP's new brand strategy in January. Now, of course, the heat is on Johnson to clean up a mess that was arguably of his own making. For an executive whose goal is to "simplify" matters internally and externally, it was Johnson who championed the idea of killing coupons and sales in favor of "fair and square pricing" (a reference to its logo), so-called "monthlong value" and "everyday low" pricing and twice-monthly clearance events on every first and third Friday (aka "payday" in America). The brand recently scrapped that strategy and is re-embracing the dreaded s-word — "sale." The mid-price retailer also angered conservatives by showing real-life gay dads and lesbian moms in its Father's Day and Mother's Day catalogs. Now that Francis is out, his former boss — whose hiring was announced a year ago although he didn't assume the top job (and his multi-million dollar signing bonus) until Nov. 1st — "will assume direct responsibility and oversight of the company's marketing and merchandising functions." More about: JCPenney, Retail, Advertising, Pricing, Discounts, Sales, Strategy, Leadership, Michael Francis, Ron Johnson, Target, Politics, LGBT, JCP
Looking down on traditional Americans - while boosting the 2% gay liberal elites - gays who would NEVER stoop to shop at JC Penney was also - shall we say - interesting...
Penney's 'coupon' policy was also elitist. JC Penney had delusions of being an upscale boutique for liberal elites. Now, few of us - few in the middle class - will shop there. We know when we're not welcome.
Wouldn't shop there if it was the last place on earth.
Good luck Penney - good luck getting gays, liberal elites, members of Occupy ( paid $7 an hour to show up) and inner city blacks living on disability and food stamps to keep your store open. You could have had liberals and conservatives, but you couldn't resist being 'oh so superior' to traditional Americans... Must sucks to be you, JC Penney.
It is retail 101 to not take sides in politics or religion. This is what makes Capitalism so egalitarian. Everybody’s money spends and if you are selling you must try to please as many potential buyers as possible.
“that means the ad agency is targeting the client, not the client’s customers. “
Exactly. I can’t tell how many product launches I have been involved with where the corporate wonks sat around the table watching the presentation of their new ad and said, “Awesome! That’s us! Go for it!”, not realizing what they just said was that the advert was an inside information presentation and in no way represented their clients or the product.
One company had an icon in a video ad that only insiders would understand, but the execs all thought it was awesome because the CEO’s wife made a joke at an awards dinner once and that icon represented her joke. That icon in no way was an icon of the company or products and it was a perverted joke in the first place.
They are not gay. They are homosexual.
One more stumble toward bankruptcy.
We refuse to shop there anymore - the quality is crap and prices far too high. We purchased some kitchen goods at the local JCP and later in the day discovered the exact same item (right down to the part number) for sale in the local Wally World at 1/3 less.
The thing that killed it for the wife was the morass on coupons. Too much hassle, far too many mistakes at the counter when items rang up with bizarre prices or cupons were refused.
JCP will go the way ot K-mart (already gone from here) and Sears - they priced themselves out of the market...and the crappy customer service didn’t help.
Absolutely about the gay agenda.
It is my hope that JC Penney gets made an example of. They made their bed and now they can lie in it, designer sheets and all. When empty buildings with fading letters are everywhere as an example to the world, then the message will be sent, and not a moment before.
If gay people want to be gay, let them keep it in the privacy of their dwelling places, like the rest of the normal people do.
Marriage is an institution established by The Creator to be between one man and one woman. Only The Creator can changed the established meaning of marriage, and that hasn’t happened. Since our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, recognizes The Creator as the author of our inalienable rights, then it seems logical that our nation would stick with that. JC Penney’s did not. They sided with the Marxist against The Creator.
When their bldgs. crumble into dust, the message will be clear. Americans stand on the side of The Creator.
This isn’t a “christian” thing, this is about what is absolutely right and absolutely wrong.
Empty, dusty, faded JC Penney bldgs. standing as monuments across America as a testament to the failed Marxist agenda— now that is hope and change I can believe in!
——Business is down for a number of retailers, but a 55% drop is hard to explain otherwise.-——
Which retailer is going to run homo ads next. No takers yet?
At a certain point in executive management, success or failure of the company no longer matters.
They are SSAD:
Same
Sex
Attraction
Disorder
Congratulations! Your letter to JC Penny, of June 4th, says it as clearly and concisely as I've ever heard it stated.
I applaud your common sense and logic. Too bad the marketing people for Penny's just don't get it.
Sears was targeting the same demographic as JC Penneys and Monkey Ward. That demo seams to have split downwards to Kohls/Target/Walmart/Costco and upwards to Macys/Neiman Marcus/Dillards/Nordstroms.Their demographic seems to be dwindling and they may have been doomed anyway. The homoganza has just accelerated their demise.
K-Mart just got out-K-Marted by Wally World.
bookmark
That’s a great letter.
As an “expert” formerly known as a sales associate at Penneys, I know that most of my colleagues are concerned about the direction the company is going.
What I don’t think a lot of people understand is that this “destruction” of Penneys is totally by design. Ron Johnson has said as much. It is his vision that when everything he wants done is done, the Penneys we have all known will no longer exist.
The intent is to streamline brands and the amount of merchandise and to have within the store a so called “town square” atmosphere.
Rather than one large department store. There will be small “shops” that feature certain labels. They also plan to have “social” areas where one can have a coffee, surf the net on free wi-fi and participate in cooking demos with their new Martha Stewart line.
We are all asked to bear with the changes, be patient and confidently explain to customers that the changes will be great and make “JCP” a shopping experience unlike any other.
It’s all about Ron Johnson.
I have been a loyal Penneys customer for all of my life and was happy when I was hired there after being out of the workforce for over 20 years, but that has all changed. Now, I am just biding my time and don’t know if I will be around to see the changes come to fruition.
It’s hard to see such an integral part of Americana go by the way side.
You mean the strategy of pandering to sodomites has failed? How is that possible?
We are lied to daily that the sodomites and their supporters are the ones with all the money, numbers and power in America these days.
Schadenfreude!
But sorry for the innocent employees who will be swept out by this calculated blunder.
That's the way Saks and Neiman Marcus are set up now - problem is, nobody has demonstrated that setting up a "mall-within-a-mall" will be an effective way to market to JC Penney customers, most of whom are conditioned not to spend unless they see "70% OFF!" signs in big red letters.
I expect Ron Johnson recognizes the American lower middle class is effectively dead, killed off by Obamanomics, and he knows JCP's days of being an effective competitor based on that demographic are over. Most people are moving down to Wal-Mart - and a few up to Nordstrom - leaving few consumers in JC Penney's traditional target market. To address this demographic shift, he wants to turn as much inventory management/warehousing/operations responsibility over to the "stores within a store" as he can, while making the new JCP brand attractive to Macy's level shoppers with more disposable income.
But I don't think he can complete such a huge transformation quickly enough. There is a "stigma" to shopping at JC Penney, and people who think of themselves as high-end consumers just aren't likely to ever go there. People who can no longer afford Macy's are likely to go to Kohl's, Wal-Mart, or Goodwill instead, depending on how far their fortunes have fallen.
Personal wealth is down 40% in the last couple of years.
SO, did JCP and K-mart die from lack in the economy or economic suicide via gay-friendly ads/crummy customer service/high prices/etc/etc?
James Cash Penny is rolling over in his GRAVE, because of what JCP is now, which is none of his VALUES!!
Regaining customer confidence requires a vocal and notable mea culpa by the offending element(s). Heads can roll, but someone has to step up and take the heat and articulate a new course of action.
I don't see this happening. That would be "too discriminatory" in light of the diversity/perversity movement.
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