Since the Switch: jcp has lost $4.2 Billion in sales & stock is down 55%
Let’s say current trends in beer drinking continue for X amount of years, and consumption of the big, heritage American brews plummets even further. Let’s also say, hypothetically, Miller sees the writing on the wall and decides to not go down without a major fight. So they blow up their business. Instead of gimmicky bottles and cans, they decide to undertake a huge makeover with the beer itself.
They hire a couple of master brewers who’ve already made their name in the micro or craft brewing industry. They are then tasked with making a pale ale, a porter, an IPA, and a stout. They might even have plans for seasonals down the line. They tell the public this. They thank their current customer base, and promise that these changes will improve their products. They invite those who have not tried them in years to give them another chance. The beers are in fact hugely improved. The costs are kept low. They’re widely accessible and found all over the country. And these newly hired directors have created a product that is less of an afterthought and more of something that deserves to be purposely sought out.
Their previous customer base leaves in droves. Muttering: “The f*ck is this frilly sh*t?!” on the way out the door. Suddenly alienated by the declaration that what they were consuming before the switch apparently wasn’t “good” enough (even though they bought it), they stomp their feet and take their (dwindling) business elsewhere.
Meanwhile, there’s a slight uptick in new customers giving the reworked line of beers a try… but it’s scattered support. Most of these potential customers already have allegiances to other breweries. Breweries that are smaller, with a larger variety and selection, and a feeling of exclusivity. Sure this new version of Miller might make an incredible, basic Pale Ale at a crazy reasonable price… but c’mon man, have you not tried that Rye IPA that XYZ Micro Brewery just pushed out in limited release???
That’s all hypothetical. This isn’t. JC Penney’s numbers since their reboot are not good. Sales were down near 30% in store compared to last year at the same time. Online sales are down even more. Their stock price lost almost 25% over this past week.
2013 has to be critical for the newly branded jcp.
They gonna make it?
“Waitaminute… this is not light American lager…”
I wonder the same thing. Hopefully somehow they can pull it together. As of late, they have definitely had better products, which has made me start shopping there again, for the first time in 10-15 years, (since the grade school years when I was more or less forced to).
It’s really a shame too. There products are so much better now than they were in the past. I can understand their online sales being down because their site leaves a lot to be desired, but in-store sales being down that much is just crazy. I don’t mind walking into JCP now.
Yeah, I forgot to mention, last week I went in store and picked up that charcoal chalk stripe Stafford? suit that was mentioned on here before for $52. I would have gotten the vest if they had it in my size. Also got the blue windowpane suit. They both fit great. Actually 2 of the better fitting off the rack suits that I own.
Wow. This is pretty much a perfect analogy for what they’re experiencing right now. I ‘like’ them on facebook and it’s shocking, still, to see the angry comments from customers who want the old JCP back. To further the analogy, I’d say what JCP is trying to do is make Sam Adams as opposed to Bud Light Platinum. I certainly hope they succeed, but I think you’re right that this year is going to go a long way in making or breaking them.
The world is changing. The internet has made better products more accessible. The ability to read reviews has changed sales from “whatever high markup item they push most to uneducated consumers” to “informed consumers demand and seek out quality”. I don’t know if the large department store “high mark up” business plan is still viable.
Brilliant business analogy, Joe.
I’ve really been meaning to get by jcp since the ‘reboot’ but just haven’t got around to it. I hate that this is happening because it tells the industry that there isn’t a place for cheap, slim, smart-casual clothes. Which seems crazy.
I think for them to succeed, they need to focus on what makes JCP different from everything else. They are not handling their rebranding very well and that is confusing the consumer.
Speaking about making things different, in the NYC midtown store, I noticed that the JCP, Stafford Prep, and IZOD brands pretty much look the same. Light colors, OCBD’s, some blazers, pants. Honestly, I could take an IZOD shirt, put it in the JCP section and then take a Stafford Prep shirt and move it to IZOD and nothing would look out of place.
If you can’t even differentiate the experience within the store, then how are you going to differentiate the entire JCP image outside of that controlled environment?
I think that Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, even GAP already have that image. Hence JCP is stuck fighting both department stores and these fast-fashion stores.
Maybe a victim of too much, too fast? Killing coupons in favor of the bi-weekly sales, “Stores within stores”, revamping nearly all product lines, etc. all within essentially a year. I wonder what they would look like if some of these things were spread out a bit more.
It’s upsetting, because I have been hugely impressed with JCP’s change and am finding it hard to justify shopping at its competition instead of there.
I freakin’ love the new JCPenny.
As do I. But I just don’t know if there’s enough of us who feel the same.
It is a good analogy and I think the reset maybe a case of too much too fast without a huge rollout to accompany the change. Seems like a lot of things changed without a lot of hype although i vaguley remember something about a fair and square pricing scheme with some celebreties. But I really think thier advertising company (wheither it’s inhouse or a firm) should be immediatley fired because it would seem they screwed the informatoin thing up for JCP. Plus, the martketing divsion seems to be lacking as well, do they know who thier base customers are and who are they try to sell thier products to? I think we would all be surprised to learn (we never will really know) that maybe they are reaching thier intended market with the nex campaing , but if thier market is the younger 18-35 crowd (thier fashion direction would seem to suggest that) than it’s not a big surprise sales are down. Largely due to the fact that that crowd doesn’t have the disposable income that the 40 something crowd does. Sears went through this a few years ago and seems to have bouyed the storm but they incorporated a lot of aspects of boutique shops into their mix. I don’t shop there for anything other than hand tools but maybe I should. I’ve been (unfairly) a bit of a snob about their softlines. I assume the JCP bean-counters looked at the concepts of smaller fashion stores or stores within stores and determined it must not have been cost effective. It would seem they have the 40/50 something crowd running thier social media and web campaigns because those are indeed pitiful. It seems as though they have no new ideas on how to leverage those mediums to generate interest that equate into sales. Sadly, they had one opportunity and they blew it with their price strategy to re-define fashion retail sales by not using a full press in the social media world.
I don’t know if I agree with you on the rebranding (I think they’re doing a solid job), but I’m completely on board with multiple in-house lines looking the same. Stafford, Stafford Prep, and JCP have all released similar washed cotton chino blazers (even though I can’t find the jcp one for the life of me). Sizing is different though, but a lot of the products look awfully the same. With you on that for sure.
Sam Adams. YES. Totally agree. It has been done in beer. I don’t know if it’s been done in middle America mass market retail yet.
JCP is markedly improved from horrible state that that store was in before they changed their strategy. I think it was always going to be a BIG gamble to go in the current direction. First, I wonder if JCP had just solidified a certain customer base and alienated everyone else for too long? I used to shop there when I was in middle school (now 26) to get my back to school threads. Since that time I feel like it’s even lost that demographic. So, while the change works for me it might just be too much for everyone else.
I will say that the store provided me with the most positive shopping experience I have ever had. I went there last week and bought the Stafford Captoe boot on clearance (25$), 2 of oxfords that were from right when the reboot started (12$ each), a gingham poplin (12$), and a sweater that was the perfect thickness for spring (20$). I went home and compared the clothes quality against similar items from JCrew Factory, BR Factory and the GAP. In every instance the price was way better and the quality and fit was more on point. I went as far to say that if they kept this up I’d never shop at those other places again unless the item I was after was highly specific.
Now I guess I’ll be back to buy everything I liked in the event that we don’t see the goods anymore.
Making money is not the same as having quality stuff. You have to get it cheap and sell it for a fat markup to make money. It is hard to do the “get it cheap” part and have it be good stuff, too. The constant sales leads to cherry picking and few buy at the high markup rate. Good for us, bad for them.
All it takes is one oversight or mistake and a potential customer is gone, probably for good.
I went on the site yesterday and took a browse in their watch section. My thought was that I would find a bargain similar to their clothing winners. I found a Seiko that looked interesting, marked down from $195 to $145…hmmm..still interested, I took a look on Amazon for a comp…It was $89. That could do it for most. A store cannot afford those moments anymore, the web has just made it too easy to find better.
The thing is, big retail stores (brick and mortar all together) are going the way of the dodo. It’s unfortunate since I really hate buying clothing online unless I know how it fits, looks, etc and enjoy walking through a store to check out what they have (sometimes you find things you would’ve never thought you would buy). Yet, online shopping is catching up with those fears in that they offer free shipping/returns.
Eventually, the low overhead of an online clothier combined with the ease of shopping online in your underwear during the weekends will surpass a brick and mortar store.
Huge losses in sales and enterprise value are exactly what JCP should have expected. Their value was built on a small set of things: store ubiquity, buying/pricing power, and branding. By switching from a low-end reseller model to a house model, they’re losing the branding value entirely. The changes offend their core demographic, but the rebranding isn’t jarring enough to erase the old JC Penny from their new demographic’s collective mindset. I still associate them with camo cargoes and tacky prom ties.
Personally, I’m not sure why they thought they should switch from one oversaturated retailer model to another. But it’s too late to turn back now. They need to go all-in with their new identity and really push the point that it’s changed. Getting people to think “Oh, yeah, I need to check that out when I have time” isn’t good enough.
Overall, I think the changes JCP has made will increase sales and profitability long term. The issue is until the customer base rebuilds, they are in for massive quarterly losses. Losing more than 400 million dollars during peak sale season is shockingly terrible, especially when slightly higher end competitors (Macy’s) are showing 3-5% growth.
It’s obviously impossible to predict whether JCP will weather this storm because even market analysts are still unsure of what the buying price point is on the company currently. I think they have distanced themselves from some of their bread and butter market, the small town USA, I need to clothe my kids cheap population. Instead of catering more to that group, even though sales were beginning to dwindle, they have become more upscale and tried to parlay to a new demographic. I am sure there are plenty of people across the country pissed off that they can no longer get their St.John’s Bay seasonal clothing.
Clothing is an exceedingly difficult market, the return to heritage brands and buying higher quality clothing with lower CPW, won’t help companies like JCP which bank on buying style for cheap.
It would be interesting to get some sort of insight on the JCP corporate theory on the multiple lines that appear to overlap. I wonder if this is a temporary thing and we’ll see a phase out of one or two as they continue the transition. I would be even more curious as to when JCP corporate will consider the transition complete.
That’s the funny thing though. Maybe their brands have changed to in-house brands, but their prices are still cheap. It seems like they should still be able to keep that market to an extent. However, if as-cheap-as-possible is the game for stuff like that, its probably hard to complete with the likes of Wal-Mart. Though, from my own childhood experience, JCP was never the cheapest store to get clothes. It was somewhat more expensive than like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Sears, for example. But you could generally find better clothes there too. And from revisiting the stores these days, it seems like the same is still (or should be) true.
That’s a good point- we are only looking at one department within a huge animal. I wonder which deparment is the leader in sales- I doubt it’s men’s or women’s fashion. I would think it’s somewhere in jewlery or household goods. But since they have to compete against Boscovs, Macy’s, Sears, Yonkers, for some many other catagories as well as the all the fashion stores- it must be hard to position themselves. I doubt the see themselves competing against the big box stores like Target and Kmart.
Me too- I think I’ve spent more at JCP on clothes in the past two months than I have in the past 15 years.
Maybe they should have some celebrity line instead of JCP. For a lot of people brand name matters and saying your wearing JcPenney pants doesn’t have that cache.
I’ve made a new jcp purchase. I’m extremely happy with the style, quality and price of the items I received. I haven’t been back. Why?
If I’m being honest, a major part of it is the lack of a jcp retail location near me. Despite the fact you’ve done a great job writing up and reviewing their various products and sizing, I still prefer to try something on in person. Even if I’m confident of sizing, I like to see how a fabric looks in person; whether the pattern looks like the right scale, if the placards look like they’ll flop all around (personal pet peeve) and occasionally, if it matches the thing I’d likely wear it with most often.
Another consideration is that I think they arrived at a good place too late. Many of us have shifted from not caring to caring about our appearances a long time ago, and quickly discounted jcp when building our own style portfolios. Since they’re mainly starting from the ground up and offering basic building blocks, what they offer now—while being a great value— doesn’t fit a need for those of us who have the basics covered. Surely, if my Oxford suffers some unforeseen damage, I’ll definitely consider replacing it with a jcp version; right now however, I don’t need another.
I’m hoping so. The new JCP line up they have for men is great.
I fully agree on price points, they have managed to keep the clothing very affordable. Where I think they lost the bread and butter market, however, is the styling. I think the clothes are styled too fashion forward for the Unionbay/Wrangler crowd.
It’s sad but I can’t say I’m surprised really. It was always a risky move. Now I can’t say for sure, because I know most retail businesses make most of their money on women’s fashion (because men never shop), and I don’t know what their new women’s line is like. But I can say that it’s easier to keep a current customer than gain a new one. Most of JCP’s customers were middle class moms buying stuff for their husbands and kids – they are not particularly fashionable (even if the moms are, their husbands aren’t) and when they go in JCP to buy baggy jeans and cheap St. Johns Bay sweaters for their husband and see skinny ties, slim pants and all kinds of trendy stuff, they are going to look elsewhere. Meanwhile, the younger, more fashion-conscious customers already associate JCP with “the place mom buys dad all his frumpy clothes” and are unlikely to try it out again, preferring places like J Crew. Maybe I personally will check it out, based on reading positive comments on here and elsewhere about the new store, but most won’t.
As for the sales, well, I guess its shows us why Gap/Banana are always offering 40% off “sales” three times a week. Customers really feel like they are getting a great deal. Flabbergasting.
I think if they are offering the building blocks than there is certainly a market, it’s the new people looking for those blocks. I think you’re right in suggesting that people already established won’t look to JCP as their staple store. This goes along with my thought that people starting out need the basics but they need to know that they need the basics and what they are (They need JOE and his crew working for them) (goes into the information/marketing/advertising campaigns) and they need them good and cheap (leaving out fast). Maybe if JCP started the road of “we have it now, but maybe not later or ever again…”- similiar to a Trader Joe model) That would rid the need of the sales/coupons notion that I see floated out there (the sense of urgency to buy while on sale) and fall in line with the price strategy. They just have to re-assure the consumer that they will get another similiar quality product in eventually…. I should be working for JCP’s campaign!
Snowquester… classic
I’m not sure this is a valid point at all: jcp dropped in-store sales altogether for a while, and that’s when they lost most of their business. They’ve been struggling ever since. Meanwhile, Kohl’s, known far and wide for “sales” which are really just the normal prices — much like, I should note, JC Penney used to be! — is doing just fine. So is Macy’s. jcp is basically the only major department store struggling on such a profound level, and it’s precisely *because* they moved away from their existing business model: Like Joe’s hypothetical suggested, they’ve alienated their existing customer base by moving away from their constant sales, but they haven’t attracted nearly enough new clientele to make up for it.
I’ve wanted to support them with my money ever since the whole stand off with One Million Moms, but they don’t have any stores in downtown Portland, where I live. All their locations are in the far flung suburbs, which I do my best to avoid. And this is their problem: they’ve lost the suburban crowd.
Important distinction: Sam Adams started small and built a customer base around their product — then started making a lot more of it. No one was alienated except the people who stopped buying Green Day records when they got too popular.
This kills me because I love JC Penneys (love it!) and it’s dying. I love the prices, love the no sales thing and I love the clothing (particularly the JCP line and the revitalized Stafford stuff) That said, it’s not working. Slate just had an article slamming the new Penneys and the comments were universally negative (most slamming it as a Target wannabe) I actually saw the lone positive comment get attacked as corporate spam (nobody could believe that somebody would love JCP!)
That said, the customer experience (the focus of the Slate article) is terrible. The stores that I go to are woefully understaffed. Nobody will help you on the floor, the cashiers usually have lines and I have waited 10-20 minutes before I could get somebody in the shoe department to get the size that I need. Each store has different stock so if you go to the store looking for something specific, you might just be SOL (has anybody else seen those Made in the USA Stafford ties that Joe was raving about? I haven’t found them in 3 different stores!) Heck, the JCP store is mostly just stuffed with tons and tons of clearance from last year’s line. I’m glad those items are still available at amazing prices (I bought two of all my favorite shirts for $6-$10) but there is no room for new stuff. Even the website doesn’t have everything it should and often has links to items no longer in existence.
I agree that they rushed the no-coupon, no-sales thing. They started out with that before they even had quality goods in their stores. Heck, it didn’t even make sense to me until the JCP line and then I got it. “Hey, at most stores like LEC, Gap or J. Crew, if I want a really good OCBD for $25, I usually have to wait for both a markdown in price AND a sale or I can just get this right here”
Great idea if you have a great product at a great price. Damn shame that so few people agree.
Hey Joe, thanks for the write-up on this. It’s something that I’ve been thinking a lot about as I walk past TVs in financial district windows touting the death of JCP. I think JCP made two big missteps, one which is fixable and one which is not:
– The fixable misstep: have you tried to buy online at JCP? It’s an absolute mess. There is no indication of actual measurements for specific products, so it’s always a crapshoot. This basically forces you to go into brick and mortar stores, but the demographic they want doesn’t want to go to a brick and mortar store. God help you if you are a weird size like me. The size filtering options are a disaster, and half the time the product that I think I might want to order winds up being out of stock. It’s like the online version of digging through a bargain bin. Ain’t nobody got time for that. That said, this can still be fixed. A huge revamp to their website should have preceded any brick and mortar update.
– The non-fixable misstep: why would JCP change the brick and mortar stores? My grandmother goes shopping in brick and mortar stores. I don’t. JCP’s B&M stores could have been left as some sort of temple to a prior generation, and then the changes could have been slowly rolled out. The old-time shoppers would be like the boiling frog, not realizing the changes because they are so gradual. Meanwhile, JCP could have done a huge online only push with exclusive Wooster (and other similar) products — the old-time customers wouldn’t notice anyway. Hell, you could even take 15 stores around the country in the most hipster of hipster neighborhoods and run them as a test-pilot program to see how people react.
Last thought, while I think that the beer analogy is a good one, I think it’s a little wrong. The analogy is not to Miller revamping their whole line; it’s to Coors (back when Miller and Coors were separate companies) introducing Blue Moon. Is Blue Moon amazing? No — but it’s a solid offering for what it is, and it attracts a good-size following of people who are “craft beer lite” (i.e. they don’t care about Rye IPAs, but just want something slightly more interesting than the Silver Bullet). It’s even won a smattering of awards, and has its own spin-off line of limited release beers. Coors didn’t alienate any of their core drinkers with the product, but they won a lot of new ones probably. In 2011, Blue Moon actually beat Coors Original in sales (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/03/top-selling-domestic-beers_n_1846582.html#slide=1456385). If you want to go after a new demographic, why wouldn’t you do it that way?
/soapbox
Back to the JCP.com bargain bin from whence I came…
The “no sales” thing to me was the killer for middle America, though no doubt jcp would be struggling either way. I love their new stuff, but would never have been exposed to it were it not for this site.
My mom basically shops this way and I think she’s very indicative of most department store shoppers. To her, a $500 item marked down to $100 will always be her first pick over an item that’s $100 and never marked down because she feels she’s getting a deal even if that $500 item would never be worth $500 in anyone’s wildest imagination. People love getting a deal. Kinda like that Seinfeld episode about Jerry’s dad always being excited about items that were great deals or even possibly stolen.
Very good point on the Coors anaolgy- I’m a huge craft Beer drinker or German beer – Domestic large scale suck- only drinking it if it’s free. But, Blue Moon is one (Anheiser has it’s versions of “micro” but not nearly as popular as Blue Moon) modle that seems to really work. And yet again I discovered something that I didn’t already know… I had no idea frogs didn’t know they were being boiled.
Yuengling used the similiar model- and people from PA tend to wear that as a badge of honor- that thier beer has caught on.
I love the analogy, and I would agree with most of the points made in the comments. I would only add that while there has been a shift to men
paying more attention to what they wear, I still think the market they
are shifting towards is still relatively small. In my experience, while
younger and more urban men are paying more attention to how they dress,
many (most?) men in the U.S. haven’t changed. I think part of the genius
with LEC is that it presented a new line for the style-conscious crowd
while not alienating the established base. J. Crew or Banana Republic, I
think, had a better opportunity for the ‘drastic overhaul’ JCP is
attempting, especially since they did not have the other departments and
were not departments stores.
Same. I’ve gone in twice in the last month and I just placed an order online. I’ve spent more money at JCPenney in the last 30 days than I have in the last five years.
Ultimately I think Ron Johnson had the right idea for long term brand positioning. Establish a solid brand of “value basics” (ala Target and Uniqlo), get rid of gimmicky pricing to appeal to a younger, internet-savvy audience (who had largely been avoiding malls), and then up sell them through premium brands and micro-stores (Levi’s, Dockers, Izod, etc) within each JCPenney. If they pulled it off, they would have changed their core demographic and established themselves as a national and slightly up-market alternative to Target with much more local presence than Uniqlo, Levi, Dockers, etc.
But Joe was right in that they’ve run off their old customers before they were able to tempt new ones back into stores. Or at least in enough volume to make up the difference for the customers they lost.
Overall the changes have been bad for business. And the company was already on the rocks. The CEO may run out of rope before things turn around.
The problem for those of us living in the middle of nowhere is that many of the brands you mention are completely unavailable. Where I live among your list of four only Gap is “nearby,” though even the closest Gap is an hour drive away. JCP, however, is all over the place geographically.
Nope. They won’t make it on the path they’re on today. They might be able to keep some of their nicer new product lines, but they won’t be able to sustain much else of the new image. What Ron Johnson did when he came in was to try to turn JCP into the companies he used to work for, Apple and Target. In doing so, he alienated the lion’s share of JCP’s loyal customers. Instead of growing their consumer base, they threw it away and tried to take Target’s. Even though Target has been muddling through life for the last year or two, their customers aren’t going to ditch everything they know for JCP.
It’s actually a myth. The original experiment involved frogs with their brains removed and it eventually became accepted by the general populace that frogs, in general, can’t tell they are boiling if you raise the temperature slow enough. Just so you know, they will.
I see your point Chris, which puts JCP in a weird place: For the men that would shop at a JCP in the middle of nowhere, how many want a fashionable cut of clothing? Unfortunately, sales are saying not that many.
I only found out about JCP due to this blog. I think a lot of stylish or wannabee stylish dudes just don’t know about JCP and even if they do they still look down on the store. In my area the JCP stores are stuck in undesirable malls that no one ever goes to as well. Finally, shopping in the new JCP stores can be maddening. The way they have each different brand in its little area and then cubby holes inside those areas. It’s like going on a scavenger hunt to find something. It has taken me 3 trips at 2 hours each time to finally figure the place out.
Just read this http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/03/jcpenney_ron_johnson_came_from_apple_to_reinvent_j_c_penney_and_ended_up.html and thought I’d pop over to Dappered. I think Slate’s suspicions are shared.
As a former JC Penney employee, I hope that they can turn it around. I still have friends who work at my old store and I want them to succeed. Unfortunately I don’t see it happening. Hours were being slashed when I left, leaving the store with a skeleton crew each day. I love the new products. I assume I am in the demographic that they are going for (24, fashion conscious) but that wasn’t the core customer base before and it is very hard to switch customer bases (especially in an economic recovery). If I hadn’t worked at the store and Joe hadn’t mentioned them on the website, I probably would never have considered shopping there.
Funny, I’m rocking my Stafford boots here in Chicago where we got about 10 inches of snow from the Snowquester. Tell DC to sit back and enjoy the white stuff…
Shocked at those numbers. This is what they needed?
I’ve never been a JCP shopper. Always did the Macy’s Nordstrom thing growing up. Now as an adult with significantly better means than even my parents I would have never shopped at JCP…until I started reading dappered.
Joe’s reviews and info has made it a store that has some purpose. I’ve gotten my crappy weather brown shoes from there. Picked up a couple shirts once. I have been meaning to go back and look at their new stuff ever since they were reviewed here…I guess I better so sooner than later.
Yup. Me too. I think their mistake was so highly publicizing the changes rather than trying to keep their previous customer base and grow it. I really hope they survive. Two years ago, I couldn’t have imagined me saying that. The new JCP brought me back. I really hope they can thrive… but it’s not looking good. Sigh.
I tried on the new Stafford shirts and could not find one that fit me well. Following your advice I went to give JCP a try and liked what I saw, the fit just was not there for me. I had to take my money elsewhere where I know the shirts fit me well. I’ll try JCP again but mainly for ties and bowties, got a sweet deal when I was there last time.
Great analogy Joe, made the issue much clearer for me. Only problem is I’m thirsty now.
I’m also Downtown PDX but I’m a big JCP fan so I’m willing to head to Washington Square, Clackamas or Vancouver Mall if I’m ever in the area. Still, the locations around here are the worst.
I really appreciated the beer analogy. It was spot on. Sadly, perception is reality today. Doom and gloom headlines are more likely to be read than ones with Glowing praise, so with all the negative press, why would a consumer take the time to shop at a business “On the verge of going under”? I’m a believer in JCP’s new selection, but I don’t know if Johnson can corral new consumers soon enough, especially in this crappy economy.
That is probably very true. I actually stopped at JCP over my lunch break today to look at a pair of Stafford shoes, (And do my part to help keep them in business). While walking out the door, I actually overheard a guy asking the woman working at the Levi’s “denim bar” if they still carried Union Bay.
Not sure this is a fair criticism of JCPenney. Department stores (and brick & mortar ADs in general) simply aren’t price-competitive with online, grey market watch sellers like Amazon. This is not unique to JCPenney. Most price-conscious shoppers don’t go to department stores like JCPenney, Kohl’s, or Macy’s to shop for watches in the first place. JCPenney has some great deals, but you’re not going to find them if you don’t get past the jewelry counter.
In any event, I doubt JCPenney’s current financial issues are tied in any significant way to their watch sales.
First time I spent over $100 at JCP ever was just last weekend…picked up three pairs of boots for $88 (less than $30 a pair) and two stafford fitted shirts with the right measurements was just like custom tailored fit
Then they should stay out of the jewelry/watch business.
They can’t have it both ways, telling customers that their prices are great, their selection is great and they want to compete. They want your business.
Is the consumer responsible for cutting them a break that they can’t compete?
The days of the Department Store are over, Jurassic in every way. Specialization is today’s world and JCP should focus on what they do well and what they can stand behind.
This comment baffles me. Why should JCPenney get out of the watch business? There are still plenty of customers who are perfectly happy paying a slightly higher price for something they can see and try on in-person first. Even on watch forums, there is a significant minority of forum-goers who refuse to buy online or from grey market dealers for a whole bevy of reasons. Plus there are all kinds of folks who just prefer not to shop online.
You seem to be assuming that everyone’s consumption habits are, or should be, exactly like yours. Just because you or I have values that would drive us to buy watches from grey market e-tailers rather than department stores doesn’t mean all shoppers share those values, or that JCPenney is doomed because people like us probably won’t buy watches from them.
Slightly higher price? Double.
I’m willing to bet that my consumption habits of not paying double are quite popular among today’s shoppers.
And that’s just the watch department.
A lot of retailers have lost customers this way. Very similar to when big box retailers used to cream customers on prices of cd’s and dvd’s.
All I’m suggesting is that the store should be consistent. You shouldn’t need a ‘buyer beware’ sign when you stroll through one of their departments other than clothing.
I’m not sure what mathematical universe you live in, where 89 x 2 = 145.
You seem determined to be angry at JCPenney for reasons that I cannot understand, so I guess this conversation is finished.
The regular price was $195. Thank god it’s finished. Good luck with your purchases.
Damn shame to hear it. I hadn’t been paying attention to know about the changes, but it’s definitely right up my alley.
Kohl’s may be doing fine according to you, but there is no doubt that department stores are struggling with something called “showrooming” http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/interactive/the-latest-research-on-showrooming-27430/
I know that MY shopping behavior has changed drastically in the last 20 years. I rarely pay full retail in a store anymore. I don’t think that I am the only one. If this trend holds or even accelerates, I don’t know that big box stores are going to sustain previous levels of profitability.
Oh, don’t get me wrong: Department stores are ALL losing business. It’s just that jcp’s change AWAY from the traditional business model is what’s killing them faster.
Who, exactly, were their old customers?
The nice thing about the Wash Sq JCP is that there is NOBODY in the store. Ever. You’ll have it to yourself.
Reminds me of the time I heard a woman asking a clerk in a really charming, old-school tea shop in Victoria, BC “where is the nearest Starbucks?”
I agree with BenR on this point. Simply because you chose to compare prices w/ Amazon and go with Amazon when they are cheaper does not mean that *every* consumer does the same. I would bet that there is still a significant portion of the public that wants to try on the watch, and will pay the price in the store regardless. Is it more? Maybe, yeah. Maybe they’ve got a JCP gift card, maybe they have merch credit, who knows. Stores like JCP need to bring people in the door. Maybe they come in for a watch, but walk out with a watch plus chinos and a tie. There’s still enough people shopping brick and mortar, it would be crazy of them to conclude that simply because Amazon beats them on a Seiko 5 price that they should leave the biz.
Older people who don’t care about “fitted” clothes, and people who want the cheapest “long sleeve blue shirt” they can find, regardless of the finer points of how it fits, fabric, etc. I haven’t seen the numbers, but I would bet their average customer is going to be older than the average customer at Macy’s, and probably in a lower income category as well.
What I find so interesting is that while yes, coupons were done away with, there are still absolutely ludicrous “clearance sales” every. Damn. Day. I snagged three pairs of outrageously well-fitting khakis for $10 each last night. I think the last time I wore anything from a JCP was when I lived at home and my mom was buying my clothes.
The new JCPenny is awesome, I find myself going there just to look around but i always end up buying something.
I have NEVER shipped at a jcpenny. After reading the rave reviews on here for a while I decided to give them a go. I DO NOT REGRET IT. I like looking well dressed but my budget doesn’t allow me to afford higher end stuff. But their latest stuff looks Greta, fits fairly well, and is right along my price line. I hope they don’t go anywhere because they just got themselves a new customer. And I’m recommending them to people too.
Exactly. For every dude on Dappered excited about a well-fitting shirt, there are 10 uncles and aunts who are wondering where the “normal” clothes are being alienated.
Taking a brand a step up in quality naturally appeals to a more narrow and appreciative niche. This will probably reduce their volume sales, not increase them.
Damn shame. The new JCP is the best thing that has happened to small town malls in a long time.
I hope they make it through these tough times cause they have become one of my favorite stores. Stafford brand dress shirts, ties (pictured above), and jcp chinos are all incredible. If they announce they are going out of business I will have to buy up as much of this stiff as I can.
Its sad, before Wooster a came on board I wasn’t checking for jcp but a large of my wardrobe is built on Nick’s merit alone. I hope they can turn it around because the revamp is pretty dope.
I love what JCP is doing and went out of my way to visit the JCP in Brea, CA to check out the store in person. They had a great levi’s denim bar and a few summer suiting pieces that were very nice. I really do hope the new business model works because I believe in what they are doing in providing great style at reasonable prices. With that said, I dont know if it will work, there are so many options now for reasonable priced clothes. I for example was able to buy a great bar iii suit at Macy’s for $160 after all the discounts they offer online. I think if JCP wants to try this business model they should think about moving to smaller store locations, there is no need for the huge overhead they carry in their current locations, and to be honest it is overwelming shopping is a store that size. If you gonna do this business model go all the way!