J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote: August 16th, 2019, 9:11 pm
cjd wrote: August 16th, 2019, 8:05 pm Heard a brief bit on the news this morning, that JCPenney is considering selling used clothing in its stores through thredUP, a resale website.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/penney-f ... 09998.html
I wonder if their lease agreements will allow for this. Typically malls do not sell "used" products.
Faced with declining sales and the potential of more vacant multi-story boxes mall management might be more flexible these days.
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by Brian Lutz »

I know that one of the local charities in Bellevue operates a thrift shop in Bellevue Square, and has done so for many years.
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by Bagels »

Super S wrote: August 4th, 2019, 7:44 am
JCPenney was moving in the right direction by building the freestanding locations. But they failed by not bringing some of the same aspects to the mall stores such as centralized checkout. Kohl's has gone in to some malls but brings many aspects of their freestanding stores and has a more consistent experience. JCPenney has probably picked up some customers as the Sears stores in the same malls have closed, but Sears wasn't exactly the go-to place for softlines goods. I think the appliance debacle would have worked out a little better if, in the beginning, JCPenney staffed the departments properly and had better brand coverage. Not to mention better presentation. One location I went to had a very nice display near the escalators in plain view. Another had the department shoved in a corner and didn't even have anything plugged in.

This is an interesting time for mall stores, as even the better-run "grade A" malls are starting to see high profile vacancies.
In hindsight, JCP's biggest mistake was moving away from freestanding locations. In the early 2000s, they were actively building freestanding locations and projected that by 2020, they would comprise of half the chain's locations. But by the mid-2000s, the demise of Mervyn's, the Robinsons-May merger and later Federated-May merger, opened up numerous opportunities in prime malls, and JCP double-downed on a mall strategy (abandoning freestanding stores). Today, according to Business Insider, their freestanding locations are their most prosperous but ten years ago, mall locations were so it was probably the right move.

The other two major mistakes JCP made were (1) forgetting who their core shopper was and (2) pricing their merchandise to high. (1) was especially true under Ron Johnson, but has carried on since. JCP should be the natural successor to Sears, Dress Barn, etc. but 40-something and 50-something are shuttering it, claiming the styles are dated and don't reflect modern women. (2) is also true of Kohl's, Old Navy, etc., but seems to be impacting JCP most. Shoppers are turned off by sticker prices, which are marked up to support perpetual sales of 40% - 60% off. Surveys have shown that many people have turned to Target because of this.
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by rwsandiego »

Bagels wrote: September 26th, 2019, 10:20 am...but 40-something and 50-something are shuttering it, claiming the styles are dated and don't reflect modern women...
Today's 40- and 50-somethings are a decade ago's 30- and 40-somethings. In 2007-2009 they were starting to sell more fashionable merchandise at decent prices. But then they had to cheapen the fabrics, dowdy down the styles, and sell sub-Kohl's merchandise at Macy's-plus prices. At the same time, Nordstrom was appealing to a wider base, Target (and even Walmart) was improving quality. Ten years on, those now 40- and 50-somethings who abandoned them seven years ago are no coming back.
Bagels wrote: September 26th, 2019, 10:20 am...(2) is also true of Kohl's, Old Navy, etc., but seems to be impacting JCP most. Shoppers are turned off by sticker prices, which are marked up to support perpetual sales of 40% - 60% off. Surveys have shown that many people have turned to Target because of this.
At least Kohl's and Old Navy run uncluttered, modern stores. I made the mistake of stopping into JCP when looking for new bath towels, to replace the ones I bought there back in 2014. The place was an overcrowded mess and I got out as fast as I could. It is a free-standing store in an otherwise decent power center in Tempe, AZ (Tempe Marketplace). The store situation is one reason I refuse to buy online. In case something has to be returned, I don't want to deal with their stores.
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by cjd »

rwsandiego wrote: September 26th, 2019, 8:45 pm
Bagels wrote: September 26th, 2019, 10:20 am...but 40-something and 50-something are shuttering it, claiming the styles are dated and don't reflect modern women...
Today's 40- and 50-somethings are a decade ago's 30- and 40-somethings. In 2007-2009 they were starting to sell more fashionable merchandise at decent prices. But then they had to cheapen the fabrics, dowdy down the styles, and sell sub-Kohl's merchandise at Macy's-plus prices. At the same time, Nordstrom was appealing to a wider base, Target (and even Walmart) was improving quality. Ten years on, those now 40- and 50-somethings who abandoned them seven years ago are no coming back.
Bagels wrote: September 26th, 2019, 10:20 am...(2) is also true of Kohl's, Old Navy, etc., but seems to be impacting JCP most. Shoppers are turned off by sticker prices, which are marked up to support perpetual sales of 40% - 60% off. Surveys have shown that many people have turned to Target because of this.
At least Kohl's and Old Navy run uncluttered, modern stores. I made the mistake of stopping into JCP when looking for new bath towels, to replace the ones I bought there back in 2014. The place was an overcrowded mess and I got out as fast as I could. It is a free-standing store in an otherwise decent power center in Tempe, AZ (Tempe Marketplace). The store situation is one reason I refuse to buy online. In case something has to be returned, I don't want to deal with their stores.
True, and even Walmart is offering better quality and more fashionable clothing from what I've seen these days, while stuff at JCPenney, especially in young men's looks thin and cheap.

JCPenney has cut back on a lot of merchandise and brands. There are always those sales you mention that to me looks tacky and gives the place the feel that it's liquidating (similar to Sears!). Typically you see the same clothes often that don't seem to sell constantly at 50%, etc.

They have tried to fit too much in the store, like Disney merchandise and toys while slimming down on things like shoes. Small appliances are spread out to take up a whole corner of the sales floor, yet it's all their own Cooks brand, where's the KitchenAid, etc that they advertise?
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by Bagels »

rwsandiego wrote: September 26th, 2019, 8:45 pm
Bagels wrote: September 26th, 2019, 10:20 am...but 40-something and 50-something are shuttering it, claiming the styles are dated and don't reflect modern women...
Today's 40- and 50-somethings are a decade ago's 30- and 40-somethings. In 2007-2009 they were starting to sell more fashionable merchandise at decent prices. But then they had to cheapen the fabrics, dowdy down the styles, and sell sub-Kohl's merchandise at Macy's-plus prices. At the same time, Nordstrom was appealing to a wider base, Target (and even Walmart) was improving quality. Ten years on, those now 40- and 50-somethings who abandoned them seven years ago are no coming back.
Bagels wrote: September 26th, 2019, 10:20 am...(2) is also true of Kohl's, Old Navy, etc., but seems to be impacting JCP most. Shoppers are turned off by sticker prices, which are marked up to support perpetual sales of 40% - 60% off. Surveys have shown that many people have turned to Target because of this.
At least Kohl's and Old Navy run uncluttered, modern stores. I made the mistake of stopping into JCP when looking for new bath towels, to replace the ones I bought there back in 2014. The place was an overcrowded mess and I got out as fast as I could. It is a free-standing store in an otherwise decent power center in Tempe, AZ (Tempe Marketplace). The store situation is one reason I refuse to buy online. In case something has to be returned, I don't want to deal with their stores.
IMO, JCP's biggest problem is its customer service. For example, the chain retains the lenient return policy copied off of Kohl's during the RJ years. JCP uses a very aggressive third party to monitor returns -- if you're returning too much, too often, or otherwise engage in behavior the system deems suspicious (e.g. regularly returning formal wear, giving the impression you're "renting" it), it'll block you from making a return. Yet every single supervisor/manager thinks it's their job to create a return policy -- it's 60 days, we don't accept worn merchandise, we don't accept clearance merchandise, etc. It's ridiculous.

My last trip to JCP, I stopped by - shortly before closing - for a pair of dress shoes and picked out a store brand advertised at 1/2 off on the shelf tag (a regular sale price). The shoes rang up at a higher price & the manager informed me his staff had placed the signs up early and if I wanted the sale price, I could come back the following morning. Forget about the fact that this is against CA law... it's ridiculous. I didn't argue, and ended up grabbing a pair in the morning -- but not JCP. I haven't been back since.
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by Bagels »

J.C. Penney is appearing to have a miserable holiday season. On Saturday, during the second day of the Black Friday sale, they sent e-mail subscribers a 20% to 30% off coupon that could be stacked with BF pricing. This wasn't planned. Sale prices during Cyber Monday were significantly less than what was published in their sales flyer. This includes many of the BF doorbusters (for example, a three-piece stock pot set being sold for $2.50 after rebate [AR] that was $7.99 AR on BF and listed at $9.99 in the sales flyer, and a knife block being sold for $7.99 AR that was $29.99 AR on BF and listed at $34.99 in the sales flyer). Many of the small appliances listed at $14.99 AR in the current catalog are being sold for much less at local stores, depending on inventory -- a local store had tons of roasting pans for $1.99 AR, a toaster for $3.99 AR, an electric skillet for $5.99 AR, etc. Similar finds have been reported elsewhere.

Most telling.... on Saturday, at 6PM, there were only a few shoppers in the store. I killed some time browsing the men's clearance racks. Before BF, the area was a mess, with so much stuff that various random items were piled on the floors. You'd think that this stuff -- which includes a good selection of Nike, Izod, US Polo Assn, etc. at 85% off -- would've moved over the busiest shopping days of the year. Nope. The items I previously tried on and decided not to purchase back in September were still where I discarded them on the shelf! And so much more has been added, the random piles have grown 6' tall, and it's virtually impossible to navigate the area. It's an embarrassment, and there's no reason the stuff hasn't been cleaned up and organized -- due to the low traffic volume, there's multiple employees standing around with nothing to do.

Meanwhile, Macy's and Target - the other anchors in the mall - were booming! The contrast was unbelievable, especially in this sold middle class area. I'll bet JCP follows Sears into retail history by the middle of the decade...
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by storewanderer »

Both JCP and Macy's appear to be having a pretty miserable holiday season here in Nevada. I think in general the retailers are not doing well this year. The Wal Mart near me, the Christmas seasonal set looks about like it did a month ago... I cannot believe how much they have... as in, not much stuff is moving and I will look forward to the 75% off and 90% off sales in a few weeks.

Macy's looks pretty good, it is well stocked and has a lot of appealing promotions on clothing. The store seems more orderly and organized than it has the past couple of years (maybe because business is down so much). Traffic in men's clothing seems very low, but in women's it seems higher traffic, but there is a noticeable concentration of customers in the cosmetics and shoes areas and the clothing areas are not very busy. Staffing seems very low (like, they didn't even add any extra staff for the holidays, or maybe could not recruit due to the labor shortage). Conversely, the Macy's home department looks like it has sort of given up, from a traffic perspective and staffing perspective. They have cut out a lot of merchandise and what they do have is on lower shelves/racks and just does not come off as anything above the quality of Wal Mart or Target, but at much higher prices. Their bedding category has what is obviously above average product, but again, nobody seems to be buying. There is like one employee on the entire floor every time I have been there this past 3 weeks, and hardly any customers. I don't know what happened as home used to be a strong category for Macy's in this particular location.

But Macy's has a good online presence and strong buy online pick up in store offering with the RFID tracking used on many items so the store can pick these orders very efficiently. So even if Macy's physical stores are not doing well, they have a lot of online options.

The JCP Store on the other hand is a joke. The racks are a mess. About 25% of the sales floor space in women's is clearance and product is not moving and overflowing off the shelves. The men's area (which is larger than the women's area) has a lot of clearance also, but it does not dominate the department in the same way. That area also seems much more orderly and more attractively merchandised (maybe since the manager's office is up next to it). They have marked prices up so high on everything they sell, 70% off is still too high of a price. What was also funny the one night I was there, in the second floor they had 3 employees and only a couple customers up there. But then down on the first floor which is women's/kid's/jewelry/Sephora/shoes at the register near the mall entrance they had one clerk and 5 people waiting in line and that line moved so slow that when I walked out of the store 15-20 minutes later, 2 of the people who were waiting when I walked in, were still there. I haven't bought anything from JCP in years so I don't know what their process is but their point of sale must be painfully slow.

JCP's online presence is particularly poor and a few items I looked up online were priced higher online than in the store (already too high in the store).

Not sure what will come of JCP. The local Sears converted into a noisy/musty/stinky arcade/bowling alley with absolutely awful video game pricing. I think I miss Sears, compared to what replaced it.

Most people I talk to are doing their shopping online, some who say they have never done "all of it" online before like they are this year. I am hearing some negative comments about shipping speed, but in general people seem to not mind waiting a while for shipping, if they don't have to go to the physical store.

I haven't been to Dillard's yet but it doesn't matter much what is going on over at Dillard's; they make their money on January 1 with their well published extra percent off all clearance items sale.

I think these malls and physical stores are, in a word, screwed.
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: December 18th, 2019, 10:10 pm Both JCP and Macy's appear to be having a pretty miserable holiday season here in Nevada. I think in general the retailers are not doing well this year. The Wal Mart near me, the Christmas seasonal set looks about like it did a month ago... I cannot believe how much they have... as in, not much stuff is moving and I will look forward to the 75% off and 90% off sales in a few weeks.

Macy's looks pretty good, it is well stocked and has a lot of appealing promotions on clothing. The store seems more orderly and organized than it has the past couple of years (maybe because business is down so much). Traffic in men's clothing seems very low, but in women's it seems higher traffic, but there is a noticeable concentration of customers in the cosmetics and shoes areas and the clothing areas are not very busy. Staffing seems very low (like, they didn't even add any extra staff for the holidays, or maybe could not recruit due to the labor shortage). Conversely, the Macy's home department looks like it has sort of given up, from a traffic perspective and staffing perspective. They have cut out a lot of merchandise and what they do have is on lower shelves/racks and just does not come off as anything above the quality of Wal Mart or Target, but at much higher prices. Their bedding category has what is obviously above average product, but again, nobody seems to be buying. There is like one employee on the entire floor every time I have been there this past 3 weeks, and hardly any customers. I don't know what happened as home used to be a strong category for Macy's in this particular location.

But Macy's has a good online presence and strong buy online pick up in store offering with the RFID tracking used on many items so the store can pick these orders very efficiently. So even if Macy's physical stores are not doing well, they have a lot of online options.

The JCP Store on the other hand is a joke. The racks are a mess. About 25% of the sales floor space in women's is clearance and product is not moving and overflowing off the shelves. The men's area (which is larger than the women's area) has a lot of clearance also, but it does not dominate the department in the same way. That area also seems much more orderly and more attractively merchandised (maybe since the manager's office is up next to it). They have marked prices up so high on everything they sell, 70% off is still too high of a price. What was also funny the one night I was there, in the second floor they had 3 employees and only a couple customers up there. But then down on the first floor which is women's/kid's/jewelry/Sephora/shoes at the register near the mall entrance they had one clerk and 5 people waiting in line and that line moved so slow that when I walked out of the store 15-20 minutes later, 2 of the people who were waiting when I walked in, were still there. I haven't bought anything from JCP in years so I don't know what their process is but their point of sale must be painfully slow.

JCP's online presence is particularly poor and a few items I looked up online were priced higher online than in the store (already too high in the store).

Not sure what will come of JCP. The local Sears converted into a noisy/musty/stinky arcade/bowling alley with absolutely awful video game pricing. I think I miss Sears, compared to what replaced it.

Most people I talk to are doing their shopping online, some who say they have never done "all of it" online before like they are this year. I am hearing some negative comments about shipping speed, but in general people seem to not mind waiting a while for shipping, if they don't have to go to the physical store.

I haven't been to Dillard's yet but it doesn't matter much what is going on over at Dillard's; they make their money on January 1 with their well published extra percent off all clearance items sale.

I think these malls and physical stores are, in a word, screwed.
JCPenney has had issues with stocking all sizes. My employer requires black khaki style pants, and JCPenney occasionally has a decent sale, but I never can find my size and/or color. I have shifted to buying these online as the local JCPenney has a mens department that is downright pathetic, and the larger stores never seem to be stocked properly. I have found that other sites and/or retailers have better pricing anyway.

As for the long lines in JCPenney...I have said this before and I will say it again. They need a dedicated returns desk. Every time I have encountered lines it was due to somebody making a large number of returns and only a single person at the registers. On a couple occasions, I encountered this in two different areas of the store and put my items down and left. And this was not even during a Christmas sale when the store was busy. JCPenney is even worse than a poorly staffed Walmart when it comes to checkout speed. Doing everything at one counter makes sense in a older small store like the many that have been closed in Astoria, The Dalles, etc. but not in a store in the 100K-200K square foot range.
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Re: J.C. Penney hires former Shopko executive to aid turnaround

Post by arizonaguy »

storewanderer wrote: December 18th, 2019, 10:10 pm Both JCP and Macy's appear to be having a pretty miserable holiday season here in Nevada. I think in general the retailers are not doing well this year. The Wal Mart near me, the Christmas seasonal set looks about like it did a month ago... I cannot believe how much they have... as in, not much stuff is moving and I will look forward to the 75% off and 90% off sales in a few weeks.

Macy's looks pretty good, it is well stocked and has a lot of appealing promotions on clothing. The store seems more orderly and organized than it has the past couple of years (maybe because business is down so much). Traffic in men's clothing seems very low, but in women's it seems higher traffic, but there is a noticeable concentration of customers in the cosmetics and shoes areas and the clothing areas are not very busy. Staffing seems very low (like, they didn't even add any extra staff for the holidays, or maybe could not recruit due to the labor shortage). Conversely, the Macy's home department looks like it has sort of given up, from a traffic perspective and staffing perspective. They have cut out a lot of merchandise and what they do have is on lower shelves/racks and just does not come off as anything above the quality of Wal Mart or Target, but at much higher prices. Their bedding category has what is obviously above average product, but again, nobody seems to be buying. There is like one employee on the entire floor every time I have been there this past 3 weeks, and hardly any customers. I don't know what happened as home used to be a strong category for Macy's in this particular location.

But Macy's has a good online presence and strong buy online pick up in store offering with the RFID tracking used on many items so the store can pick these orders very efficiently. So even if Macy's physical stores are not doing well, they have a lot of online options.

The JCP Store on the other hand is a joke. The racks are a mess. About 25% of the sales floor space in women's is clearance and product is not moving and overflowing off the shelves. The men's area (which is larger than the women's area) has a lot of clearance also, but it does not dominate the department in the same way. That area also seems much more orderly and more attractively merchandised (maybe since the manager's office is up next to it). They have marked prices up so high on everything they sell, 70% off is still too high of a price. What was also funny the one night I was there, in the second floor they had 3 employees and only a couple customers up there. But then down on the first floor which is women's/kid's/jewelry/Sephora/shoes at the register near the mall entrance they had one clerk and 5 people waiting in line and that line moved so slow that when I walked out of the store 15-20 minutes later, 2 of the people who were waiting when I walked in, were still there. I haven't bought anything from JCP in years so I don't know what their process is but their point of sale must be painfully slow.

JCP's online presence is particularly poor and a few items I looked up online were priced higher online than in the store (already too high in the store).

Not sure what will come of JCP. The local Sears converted into a noisy/musty/stinky arcade/bowling alley with absolutely awful video game pricing. I think I miss Sears, compared to what replaced it.

Most people I talk to are doing their shopping online, some who say they have never done "all of it" online before like they are this year. I am hearing some negative comments about shipping speed, but in general people seem to not mind waiting a while for shipping, if they don't have to go to the physical store.

I haven't been to Dillard's yet but it doesn't matter much what is going on over at Dillard's; they make their money on January 1 with their well published extra percent off all clearance items sale.

I think these malls and physical stores are, in a word, screwed.
Part of the issue with physical stores this year is that there were virtually no incentives to actually go to the physical store. Most retailers had their doorbusters available online. I bought an iPad from Target that way (the best deal was online without having to go to the store at all).

As far as JCPenney and Macy's are concerned, I don't find either of them to be a relevant retailer. I still find Kohl's to have the styles I want at decent quality levels and decent pricing. JCPenney has mostly overpriced junk. Macy's has decent items but it's simply not as convenient for me as elsewhere.
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