J.C. Penney: Creating America's Favorite Store

In 1998, J.C. Penney launched its first internet retail site and has grown to be one of the largest online retailers today. In 1995 it had $1 billion in annual sales.

In the past, JCP had, on average, one price campaign every day. The stores were full of sale signs and retail rise was getting out of control. JCP partnered with numerous exclusive collaborations which was hoped to bring about an expansion for the firm. However, due to the economic slump, the oversaturation of the market, and an expected lack of quality in the goods from the consumer perspective, JCPenney’s success was degrading in contrast to its competitors. (Sloan, 2010).

J.C. Penney is a retail outlet that operates in many locations globally. It deals with product lines such as clothing, footwear, beauty products, electronics, and jewelry. There are several changes that have taken place in the macro environment that promises to increase the fortunes of the company. The advertisement in technology is one single important factor that has increased the performance of the business (Ali, 2007). The company has an elaborate website through which it uses to tap the online market. In fact, thirty percent of the company’s revenue comes from the website.

HISTORY : In 1902, James Cash Penney, in partnership with two other associates, opened the Golden Rule Store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. At the time it was uncommon to charge the same price to each and every customer; however, Penney preached the slogan "one price charged to all," regardless of customers' social status. After buying out his partners (in 1907), Mr. Penney opened two more stores. At present, J.C. Penney has more then 1400 department stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico, making it one of the largest retailers in the world.

The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic

CEO Johnson’s time with JC Penney’s was short lived and only lasted 17 months. The three core processes of business that he ignored was People, Strategy, and Operations. From the people aspect, he missed several key details. Johnson just assumed that people thought JC Penney’s prices were too high, so he lowered them and quit having sells (Tuttle, 2013). He also drove customers that had been shopping there for years away. With too many changes happening at one time, loyal customers did not agree with the changes and started shopping elsewhere.

In January 2012, newly appointed CEO, Ron Johnson introduced a plan to rebrand the department store chain into a 21st century retail powerhouse. Launching of the new J. C. Penney brand identity was set to occur over four years and would include a new logo, a new in-store experience featuring new and transformed brands, and most importantly, it would change the way that the company priced merchandise. Unfortunately, J. C. Penney suffered a 25% sales decline in the first year and Johnson was fired after only 17 months.

Penney’s around for so long is their willingness to change and try different things. With technology being a huge things in today’s standards they needed to come up with different shopping methods for people who only shop online or may not be abler to get out as often as they once could. So what J.C. Penney’s did was they created an only shopping center, catalogs for people to get sent to their house, they are always doing the next best things to keep in competition.

J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc, also known as JCPenney, is a chain of American department stores specializing in selling affordable clothing, shoes, accessories, and home decor for the entire family. For more than a century, JCPenney has been a regular shopping destination and a dependable retailer for the American family. In 1902, the department store was founded by James Cash Penney and was established on the principle of the Golden Rule. Over the years, the company has developed a strong reputation for putting its customers first and servicing everyday needs. From its incorporation in 1924 until 2010, JCPenney experienced large levels of growth and success. JCPenney’s Corporate address is 6501 Legacy Dr, Plano, TX

In this segment, the retailer J.C. Penney will be analyzed against the department store retail industry, with particular emphasis placed upon their competitors, Macy’s and Kohl’s. The major components to be discussed will include the general external environment (i.e. demographics, economics, politics, legal requirements, technologies and global expansion), the industry environment, the competitive environment, the driving forces and the key factors for success within the industry. In terms of the general external environment, the retail industry is a multi-trillion dollar business in the United States alone and maintains operations primarily due to consumer spending. Such purchases rely upon the disposable income of

As one of the major retailers in the United States, JCPenney has 1,104 department stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico as of February 2, 2013. The key success of its business is tremendously depending on the sales performance. However, the retail business is highly competitive, with low barriers to entry and low profit margin. Due to large sales plunge in 2012, the company is in financial trouble. The thorough analysis of JCPenney’s financial statements is vital to judge the future performance of its business.

At this specific time, the economy was coming out of Great Recession. JC Penney sales continued to decline like melted off ice cream falling off an ice cream cone. JCP’s should have stopped their bad marketing train years ago. Based off of personal experiences their merchandise was cheap, fall apart cheap up until the point where I repeatedly kicked myself for making such horrible purchases. I used to shop at JC Penney a lot, but the t-shirts didn’t survive washings; cheap China stuff people tend to shy away from.

The retail industry is highly competitive, with few barriers to entry. Each Company competes with many other local, regional and national retailers for customers, associates, locations, merchandise, services and other important aspects of the Company’s business. Those competitors include other department stores, discounters, home furnishing stores, specialty retailers, wholesale clubs, direct-to-consumer businesses and other forms of retail commerce. Some competitors are larger than JCPenney, have greater financial resources available to them, and, as a result, may be able to devote greater resources to sourcing, promoting and selling their products.” There are many factors that characterize competition, including advertising, service,

JC Penney Co. Incorporated was founded in 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming by James Cash Penney and William Henry McManus. Today JC Penney offers a range of family apparel, jewelry, shoes, accessories, and home furnishing products through a chain of department stores and their company website. JC Penney, headquartered in Plano, TX, operates in the United States and Puerto Rico, with a total of 1,108 stores. JC Penney also offers its products through a catalog channel. Each channel serves the same type of customers and provides generally the same merchandise mix. JC Penney’s business is conducted through a single segment, but revenues are reported by product category. In addition to their product categories, the

JC Penney is not as large as some of its competitors, many of which have more substantial resources and are constantly attacking their market share. The company also faces threats from economic conditions, such as high unemployment and the recent recession. When consumers are under financial pressures can easily decide to shop elsewhere, such as Kohl’s, Target, and even the dreaded Walmart. Even the perception of better value can drive consumers elsewhere.