Retail Watchers

https://nypost.com/2022/04/25/jcpenney- ... -for-8-6b/

This almost sounds like another Sears-Kmart partnership in the making.

Everyone points to the Sears/Kmart merger as not working, but maybe it could've worked if the CEO wasn't corrupt and bled the chain dry.

The problem I see with a rescue buyout is that Kohl's doesn't anchor many enclosed malls like JCPenney does, and kind of seems like a bid to eliminate one of the brands since they are too similar to each other....the other big retail merger, Albertsons/Safeway, kind of worked since most of the divisions were in different parts of the country...but JCPenney and Kohl's operate nationally in the same markets.

Super S wrote: ↑April 25th, 2022, 2:03 pm https://nypost.com/2022/04/25/jcpenney- ... -for-8-6b/

This almost sounds like another Sears-Kmart partnership in the making.

Not really. It’s probable Eddie Lampert acquired Kmart & Sears with intentions of selling off their assets. Meanwhile, JCP’ owners have a vested interest in keeping the physical stores open.

They can merge marketing slogans:

The more you know, the more you JCP.
JCP: Expect Great Things.
JCP: That's More Like It!

Kohl's: Doin' it right.
Do you like it? I love it! I got it at Kohl's! (oh wait...)

JCP could also bring back (keep) Sephora. Oh, the possibilities...

They announced already if this deal goes through the Sephora program at Kohls is cancelled. That looks to be a smart "out" for Sephora and they will likely push for this deal.

This will not be successful. Both of these chains are very broken. Both chains have lost relevance to the customer. Imagine seeing these two chains trying to market themselves together. I'd probably take all of Kohl's platforms and run them at JCP and hope for the best in this case. Sort of like picking from a cold half raw burger with beef that is known to be tainted with e-Coli, or a cold taco with sour cream not kept at temperature and mold on the tortilla; both are terrible choices and the end result will not be good any route you take.

Bagels wrote: ↑April 25th, 2022, 5:16 pm

Super S wrote: ↑April 25th, 2022, 2:03 pm https://nypost.com/2022/04/25/jcpenney- ... -for-8-6b/

This almost sounds like another Sears-Kmart partnership in the making.

Not really. It’s probable Eddie Lampert acquired Kmart & Sears with intentions of selling off their assets. Meanwhile, JCP’ owners have a vested interest in keeping the physical stores open.

I won't argue that JCPenney and even Kohl's at least give the impression that they intend to stay open.

However, the similarity I am talking about is that JCPenney was recently in bankruptcy, and is now making an offer to buy a competitor who has been struggling.

At least they aren't talking about magically dividing department stores into fitness centers or grocery stores. I am 100% sure that was all conjecture to appease the (truly ignorant) Wall Street pundits.

Despite what I've said in the past if this deal actually goes through I think they should scrap JC Penney and its brand, systems, marketing, store operations, everything- and just use Kohls platform across their entire operation.

Some analysts say Authentic Brands wants more outlets to place its brands in for a potential bang up IPO in a couple years.

I guess we will see what is at play here.

Penney is a century old merchant. Kohl’s is just a spin-off of a long defunct grocery chain.

So just to pour more cold water on the Sephora at Kohl's arrangement - apparently it is not a true store within a store format - it is entirely staffed by Kohl's employees. That is a disaster - I can't even believe that Sephora signed up for it.

If you have ever shopped at Sephora - they have extremely highly trained, highly skilled employees who work on commission. Some are even licensed estheticians who work there part time nights and weekends for extra income. I was blown away by the knowledge and experience of their sales associates at a location that doesn't even fit the mold of their model - Downtown Disney. Every staff member was an expert who could easily get you to spend hundreds of dollars, if not thousands, in one trip. They could practically examine your skin and diagnose your problem accurately as long as the area could be seen. And they guarantee all their products unconditionally meaning that if a poorly trained employee sold something that didn't work or caused problems then it is going to come back and probably be written off as a loss since used products can't be returned to the manufacturer - hitting the store twice and losing the sales associate their commission.

Sephora inside Kohl's is entirely underpaid, under trained, unqualified minimum wage workers who will likely give Walmart level service by suggesting that the customer reads the label or does a Google search for their answers, and then they get paged to back up on checkstand 5. I would imagine that women who are spending sometimes between $50 and $100 or more just for one tube of a skin care product are not going to make their decision to buy based on a Google search. They sure aren't going to make a thousand dollar plus sale like the regular Sephora store associates make several times each day.

No wonder they are already announcing that they're pulling out as soon as the merger goes through.