Besides the miserably failed attempt to attract higher end sales, the Penny’s shopper, of which my mom was one, gave value to people who work for a living.
There are what, 100,000,000 people NOT counted on the unemployment roles because they have “stopped looking” i.e., government euphanism for ~can’t find a job because there aren’t any~.
Until these people go back to work and companies are able to hire because the failed policies of the Obama admin are trashed, retail will continue to fail. Especially middle roaders like Penny’s and Sears.
It's more than that. These stores are failing because it's a failing business model. I don't know that there's much they can do to change it. I liked the idea of haircuts during back to school sales.
Over the years, when our kids were growing up, we tended to yard sale/thrift shop. However, when we needed new stuff that meant Sears or Penney's. Now that our kids are grown we rarely hit thrift shops so most of our clothes, household goods, and tools - whether they're for us or gifts for our adult children - are purchased new.
But as our grocery habits changed from grocery stores to warehouse clubs like BJ's and Costco, and discount stores like Target and Walmart, we just have no reason to go to Sears or Penneys. Everything is available at those stores at decent enough prices to make an extra trip to a mall seem unnecessary.
We can buy pretty much whatever we need while we're picking up the eggs and milk.
And then there's Kohls, who's kicking Sears and Penneys' behnds. Kohls has an advantage here because (at least by us) they're in strip malls and one floor and have those central registers right at the front. When my daughter needed a suit for her 8 year old son, she was in and out of Kohls with the suit in under five minutes. You could spend that long looking for an open register at Sears or Penneys.