In the wake of the big store closing announcement by Sears, comes a similar story today about long time rival J.C. Penney. No store closings annocement as of yet, but the comapny's new CEO is apparently planning to eliminate "thousands of jobs," which would seem hard to do without closing at least a few locations. Here is Bloomberg with the details:
J.C. Penney Co., run by Apple Inc.’s former retail chief, will cut thousands of jobs as part of a plan to overhaul the company, the New York Post reported.Like Sears, J.C. Penney is an iconic American retailer that has been around for more than 100 years. Also like Sears, the chain has in recent years lost all of the qualities and connection to local communities that once made it special. No doubt this action is just the first step that will eventually lead to the chain's demise. And you can bet that vultures Ron Johnson, William Ackerman and Steve Roth will extract every dollar of value they can before they bury the corpse.
Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson is eliminating positions that involve re-tagging merchandise and putting up temporary signs and displays, the Post said, citing people it didn’t name. The reductions will affect employees at almost all of J.C Penney’s 1,200 stores in the U.S.
The job cuts are part of a strategy to replace the company’s traditional sales and clearance events to offer everyday low prices, the newspaper said. J.C. Penney is holding an event on Jan. 25 to announce Johnson’s plans.
The Post said Johnson is being encouraged to cut jobs by J.C. Penney’s largest shareholders, William Ackman and Steve Roth.
Every time you post about a retailer closing stores or going out of business all together, it's always a business I haven't bought anything from in decades, if ever.
ReplyDeleteSears, Kmart, Ann Taylor, American Apparel et.al. Hate their merchandise, don't shop in their stores.
Coincidence?
Probably not. Other than a few appliance purchases at Sears in recent years, I haven't shopped at any of those stores in a long time either (if ever).
DeleteYeah, As painful as it is for employees and towns, loser companies get dismantled even in the best of times.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but when you see so many iconic names going down in rapid succession you know there has been a fundamental change.
DeleteI remember when JC Penny moved their headquarters out of highrise NYC to a spreading 'campus' in Plano TX as part of a modern restructuring and updating of the company. That area of Plano was part of my daily UPS route (I was a driver), it also included a massive campus for Countrywide (hehehe) and a bunch of other companies in this massive business park area of corporate suburban sprawl. Blek.
ReplyDeleteJc Penny merchandise began to suck worse than ever after they moved to Plano. I don't think I've bought anything in one of their stores in at least 15 or 20 years.
You've really got to wonder about a retailer which creates what it thinks is an upscale brand of ladies clothing and then labels it "Sag Harbor". Seriously JC Penny, what were you thinking?
gardener1
Hello Bill.
ReplyDeleteI think they are eliminating one of the positions my wife held. Luckily,Penny's is in the past in her case. Not so hot for the unfortunates still working her old job. The thing that is so mind boggling to me is the horrible quality of modern goods. It may be that many younger people have never been exposed to even a modicum of quality. So they don't miss it. But then if you do recall that life and its material details were a whisker better in some ways in the antediluvian past, you are exposed as a fossil, and worse, a fossil ant,to be ignored or smashed by the hip,big corporate foot of the present.
Ken Davis
Good comment, Ken. I'm so old that I can remember when J.C. Penney (and Sears) actually sold quality goods. And I'm not even THAT much of a fossil.
DeleteMaybe 3 years ago I went there and looked at the clothes for young women and was like, Wow, pretty, I'm impressed. And I took a pile of clothes to the fitting room to try them on, and I left the store with nothing. Everything fit poorly or was see-through.
ReplyDeleteJCP sucks now. They've gone downhill for the past couple years. Good job JCP on your hiring of C.E.O.
ReplyDelete