JCPenney to resume appliance sales

[Super S]

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consume ... us-n499511

This is an interesting move. JCPenney is at least trying new things. I wonder if they are "testing the waters" for a potential return to other hardlines departments. The way Sears is continuing to be mismanaged with no regard to customers could create additional opportunity for JCPenney. It could also provide a boost to malls with declining foot traffic. Time will tell.

[wnetmacman]

I would say it's definitely that. At one time, JCP had as good or better hardlines than Sears. They just decided to let Sears have full reign of them. Now that Sears is slowly fading from the picture, someone needs to pick it up. My only fear is that Lowe's, Home Depot and Best Buy have already grabbed a large part of that lost business. JCP is going to have to price aggressively and staff well.

[storewanderer]

JCP has to do something to get its top and bottom lines up quick and appliances are a logical high ticket item to potentially accomplish that. It seems like a last ditch effort to me. I see little future for that chain, despite their recent positive sales results.

[architect]

JCP has to do something to get its top and bottom lines up quick and appliances are a logical high ticket item to potentially accomplish that. It seems like a last ditch effort to me. I see little future for that chain, despite their recent positive sales results.

Actually, several recent reports have shown JCP to be growing as one of the most popular retailers among millennial shoppers. I agree that they still have work to go (they still have quite a few low-hanging stores to trim), but I feel like they at least have a good chance of surviving now. Now Sears/Kmart on the other hand...

[storewanderer]

I'm a millenial and I don't know any who shop at JCP and when I go into the local JCP while it does have a good amount of foot traffic, there are virtually no millenials shopping there. The store downsized its children's department recently and in general is really poorly assorted. It is also messy and has outrageous prices. Kohl's is the one that I find most popular with millenials as far as department stores go.

JCP has such bad numbers they are going against, that is the only reason they are showing good results at present.

JCP also has terrible customer service at the store level and I made a service complaint to them and their customer service ignored my e-mail. I tried to push my complaint up the chain to some of their executives and I got a call saying they "received my complaint and would get back to me" and nobody ever did; this was over a month ago now. This chain is broken from the top down. Really broken.

We will see how they are doing in a year or two.

[veteran+]

I'm a millenial and I don't know any who shop at JCP and when I go into the local JCP while it does have a good amount of foot traffic, there are virtually no millenials shopping there. The store downsized its children's department recently and in general is really poorly assorted. It is also messy and has outrageous prices. Kohl's is the one that I find most popular with millenials as far as department stores go.

JCP has such bad numbers they are going against, that is the only reason they are showing good results at present.

JCP also has terrible customer service at the store level and I made a service complaint to them and their customer service ignored my e-mail. I tried to push my complaint up the chain to some of their executives and I got a call saying they "received my complaint and would get back to me" and nobody ever did; this was over a month ago now. This chain is broken from the top down. Really broken.

We will see how they are doing in a year or two.

Still, you have to agree, Sears and Kmart is worse..........way worse!

[storewanderer]

You have a point, I wouldn't even bother to make a complaint to Sears or Kmart because what is the point? But I've spent more money at Sears/Kmart in the past year than JCP... I had to buy some things for a work clothing drive for kids and the JCP Kids Clothing area was a total joke; a simple request for toddler boy's boots was met with indifference and no product after an indifferent employee couldn't even be bothered to leave from behind the register and walk 15 footsteps to their pathetic kid's shoe area to look for me, and then said employee did not know the difference between girl's and boy's boots. I observed the employee help a customer at the cash register and the treatment was deplorable to that customer as well.

Also JCP has significantly downgraded the quality of its private label products. This was done under the prior management and has remained under the current management. A Stafford button down Dress Shirt today is not the same quality as one purchased 7 years ago (I have some of the old ones). Arizona Jeans today also feel lighter and flimsier and are clearly a lower quality. Yet the retail on the items is sky high, similar to a Levi's Jean or a branded dress shirt.

Kmart is just sad and depressing. It needs to be put out of its misery, but it really has some pretty good home (kitchen, bed, bath) and seasonal Christmas items but pricing is "off."

[architect]

I'm a millenial and I don't know any who shop at JCP and when I go into the local JCP while it does have a good amount of foot traffic, there are virtually no millenials shopping there. The store downsized its children's department recently and in general is really poorly assorted. It is also messy and has outrageous prices. Kohl's is the one that I find most popular with millenials as far as department stores go.

JCP has such bad numbers they are going against, that is the only reason they are showing good results at present.

JCP also has terrible customer service at the store level and I made a service complaint to them and their customer service ignored my e-mail. I tried to push my complaint up the chain to some of their executives and I got a call saying they "received my complaint and would get back to me" and nobody ever did; this was over a month ago now. This chain is broken from the top down. Really broken.

We will see how they are doing in a year or two.

I have definitely noticed what you are talking about at certain locations; JCP really seems to be a mixed bag. I have quite a few friends who shop there on occasion, but they tend to frequent the newer, nicer locations. Also, I live in the DFW area (JCP's headquarters is in Plano), so many people in the region shop there simply out of a sense of local loyalty, therefore my experiences are somewhat biased. JCP really needs to take a hard look at their real estate, and consider extensively remodeling or rebuilding some of their oldest locations which are profitable while closing other old stores which tarnish their brand image. Compared to JCP, Kohl's usually has consistently well-maintained and well-located stores which encourage frequent traffic. On the other hand, shoppers really never know what to expect with JCP.

I wonder how JCP's in-line stores are doing compared to their mall-based locations?

[arizonaguy]

I'm a millennial and department stores as a whole don't appeal to millennials. Millennials like specialty stores like Express, Eddie Bauer, Banana Republic, or Victoria's Secret. They also tend to like discount stores like Ross, TJMaxx, Marshall's, DSW Shoes, and Nordstrom Rack. Target is also a popular millennial shopping destination (especially for millennials with kids). This is the reason that Macy's is doing so poorly. There is almost NO appeal to Macy's for any millennials. Same can be said for Dillard's, Belk, and any other mid-line department store chain. JCPenney and Kohl's are at least on the discount side of things which millennials are more comfortable with but are still not the preferred stores for millennials to shop at.

As far as JCPenney. I bought a number of their private label clothes about 4-5 years ago that are still of good quality. They're the St. John's Bay brand. However my parents have bought a number of appliances at Lowe's recently (I rent so I haven't purchased appliances yet) and seem very happy with Lowe's. They had some awful experiences with Sears.

JCPenney may survive for a while. They don't appear to be a dying chain. They need to work on some of their older stores (and close some marginal properties) but their stores still give the appearance of life. Sears and Kmart have received $0 capital investments since Eddie Lampert took over and really are well past the point of no return. I don't expect there to be many, if any, of their stores around 5 years from now.

[marshd1000]

I was hoping that when Sears rolled out Sears Grand, that maybe they could make a go of it. Sears has good quality but execution is poor. To me, stores like Fred Meyer and the various Kroger Marketplaces, Target and Walmart and eating Sears and Kmart's lunch. Maybe Sears Holding should sell the remains to Kroger, like the intellectual right and brands. Maybe some buildings could be converted to Marketplace stores. But even if that does not happen, Sears is no longer relevant and should probably go away. I think it is a damaged brand like A&P and Haggen.