JC Penney Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

[storewanderer]

JCP CEO will be replaced by 1/1/21, the interim replacement is the Chief Investment Officer from Simon.

This chain has been mismanaged and is so deeply tainted throughout its operation, for so long, one person cannot save it. Almost like you need to just demolish the thing and start from scratch.

New ownership is reportedly looking for a CEO "focused on modern retail, the consumer experience, and the goal of creating a sustainable and enduring JCPenney."

Modern retail? You will need to demolish the stores to do that.

The consumer experience? You are going to have to replace a lot more than just the CEO, to get people in there who are focused on that. These stores have terrible customer service and an awful employee attitude. The stores are a mess even with employees standing around. This chain is so broken. Store management is either not around or in the office all day, clearly haven't walked their stores in months, and that attitude shows in the appearance and cleanliness of the stores and attitude of the few employees on duty.

As far as the last part goes I won't even comment.

[babs]

JCP CEO will be replaced by 1/1/21, the interim replacement is the Chief Investment Officer from Simon.

This chain has been mismanaged and is so deeply tainted throughout its operation, for so long, one person cannot save it. Almost like you need to just demolish the thing and start from scratch.

New ownership is reportedly looking for a CEO "focused on modern retail, the consumer experience, and the goal of creating a sustainable and enduring JCPenney."

Modern retail? You will need to demolish the stores to do that.

The consumer experience? You are going to have to replace a lot more than just the CEO, to get people in there who are focused on that. These stores have terrible customer service and an awful employee attitude. The stores are a mess even with employees standing around. This chain is so broken. Store management is either not around or in the office all day, clearly haven't walked their stores in months, and that attitude shows in the appearance and cleanliness of the stores and attitude of the few employees on duty.

As far as the last part goes I won't even comment.

I actually liked her as CEO. She was making many of the right moves but BK was always on the horizon no matter what she did. The new prototype store in Texas was nice. But the issue is that all the stores need a significant remodel and the company doesn't have the capital to make it happen.

Even with a new CEO, there is no obvious path to a turnaround. They are squeezed from the bottom by Target, and Walmart. Squeezed from the side by Kohl's and Macy's. They have no space to go upscale. Specialty retail have their niche. They don't do e-commerce well and can't take on Amazon. Big brands like Nike are showing they can go direct and have little use for retail.

So who wants this job?

[storewanderer]

I actually liked her as CEO. She was making many of the right moves but BK was always on the horizon no matter what she did. The new prototype store in Texas was nice. But the issue is that all the stores need a significant remodel and the company doesn't have the capital to make it happen.

Even with a new CEO, there is no obvious path to a turnaround. They are squeezed from the bottom by Target, and Walmart. Squeezed from the side by Kohl's and Macy's. They have no space to go upscale. Specialty retail have their niche. They don't do e-commerce well and can't take on Amazon. Big brands like Nike are showing they can go direct and have little use for retail.

So who wants this job?

The merchandise under this last JCP CEO was terrible. It was also terrible under the guy who added appliances. It seemed like this last JCP CEO had some idea what the problems were, but didn't or was unable to fix the problems in a timely manner.

Doing a single prototype store with different logo #4 in the past few years, was not the answer, when the company did not have the resources to convert even 10% of its store base to that new prototype in a timely manner. Given their limited resources, they needed to focus on things they could actually afford to roll out on some sort of a wide scale. Best to work on projects that could actually have been rolled out to say the best 25% of the stores over a 3 month period, and get some real momentum going.

I get that during 2019 she was basically having to run with the previous buying, etc. and that stuff being lousy was out of her control. But she had the control over buying in 2020. So, 2020 hit and then COVID hit and closed the stores. But if you look at the merchandise sitting in the JCP Stores in 2020 (which was bought under her watch), in the clothing area, their stuff is not great. More of the same, it basically looks like 2019 over again.

"Who wants this job?" Crickets. And that is the problem. Most qualified folks are retired.

I think the chain would have ended up in bankruptcy during 2020 even without COVID happening.

[pseudo3d]

I know this is probably a weird take, but I think with the weakening of Sears and their own poor quality of soft goods, they should have gone all in on hard goods instead of a half-hearted attempt at some refrigerators and other heavy appliances tucked in a back corner. And they also should have kept their classic '71 logo, not changed again to what looks like a bootleg version of their own logo with poor kerning.

[Super S]

I know this is probably a weird take, but I think with the weakening of Sears and their own poor quality of soft goods, they should have gone all in on hard goods instead of a half-hearted attempt at some refrigerators and other heavy appliances tucked in a back corner. And they also should have kept their classic '71 logo, not changed again to what looks like a bootleg version of their own logo with poor kerning.

I think Appliances could have worked if they gave it a little more time, and added in Whirlpool products.

[Bagels]

JCP could’ve kept itself relevant if, 15 years ago, it continued to move out of malls + integrated its catalog business into e-commerce. But it didn’t, and the way we shop continues to evolve.

I was in the Santa Ana (CA) location shortly after Black Friday, when I overheard two employees talking. One of them mentioned that the only reason he applied for and accepted the job offer was because it was one of the few places willing to hire 15-year-olds. He mentioned that, prior to starting with JCP, he had never even heard of the chain.

Ouch.

[storewanderer]

JCP could’ve kept itself relevant if, 15 years ago, it continued to move out of malls + integrated its catalog business into e-commerce. But it didn’t, and the way we shop continues to evolve.

I was in the Santa Ana (CA) location shortly after Black Friday, when I overheard two employees talking. One of them mentioned that the only reason he applied for and accepted the job offer was because it was one of the few places willing to hire 15-year-olds. He mentioned that, prior to starting with JCP, he had never even heard of the chain.

Ouch.

I find it humorous that a 15-year old had never heard of JCP before. Had they never been to the mall? Or just never ventured down that dark hallway in the mall lined with vacant tenant spaces that led to JCP? I guess the chain hasn't done much marketing in the past 5 years or so.

[babs]

I know this is probably a weird take, but I think with the weakening of Sears and their own poor quality of soft goods, they should have gone all in on hard goods instead of a half-hearted attempt at some refrigerators and other heavy appliances tucked in a back corner. And they also should have kept their classic '71 logo, not changed again to what looks like a bootleg version of their own logo with poor kerning.

I think Appliances could have worked if they gave it a little more time, and added in Whirlpool products.

Home Depot, Lowe's, and Best Buy have taken over the appliance business. Why would anyone go to JCPenney for appliances unless the prices were amazing or they had unique models? The appliance business isn't returning to the mall.

First step is cleaning up the stores and getting some new lighting so the yellow hue of their old lights are gone. The most rundown bathroom in the mall is at Penny's. Fix the basics first!

[Super S]

Home Depot, Lowe's, and Best Buy have taken over the appliance business. Why would anyone go to JCPenney for appliances unless the prices were amazing or they had unique models? The appliance business isn't returning to the mall.

First step is cleaning up the stores and getting some new lighting so the yellow hue of their old lights are gone. The most rundown bathroom in the mall is at Penny's. Fix the basics first!

One of the problems with JCPenney returning to appliance sales was the lack of Whirlpool products, including brands they own such as KitchenAid, Amana, Maytag, and others. These are better known brands that nearly every other appliance retailer carries at least one of, and if doing a national appliance rollout you have to have brands people will actually buy. Enough volume would have brought a lower price point, but you don't get volume unless you have well-known brands. Kinda like if one car dealership sells Toyotas and another sells Mitsubishis. And the display was inconsistent...some had them in highly visible spaces with some plugged in, where others had them shoved into a dark corner with nothing operational.

As for the lighting, I have no complaints locally. Most in my area have actually updated lighting to LED, from what I can tell more of a "cool white", and the yellow hues are not present, the spotlights used in the stores have updated to LED as well. I do remember though some of the late 70s-early 80s build stores having recessed mercury vapor 2' X 2' fixtures which sometimes varied greatly in color as they aged, in some cases with greenish hues. I think most if not all of those fixtures were replaced years ago, at least in my area.

[storewanderer]

As for the lighting, I have no complaints locally. Most in my area have actually updated lighting to LED, from what I can tell more of a "cool white", and the yellow hues are not present, the spotlights used in the stores have updated to LED as well. I do remember though some of the late 70s-early 80s build stores having recessed mercury vapor 2' X 2' fixtures which sometimes varied greatly in color as they aged, in some cases with greenish hues. I think most if not all of those fixtures were replaced years ago, at least in my area.

Part of the Ron Johnston "shop" program involved redoing the lighting (and flooring/fixtures) in certain areas of the store into those brand-specific "shops." Some stores got those upgrades while others did not. Some stores (like the one in Reno) got lots of shops throughout the store, others did not. Also the Reno Store since then tore out most of its "shops" with the layout changes that took place under the appliance CEO, and the only shops left are mostly in men's clothing.