Jcpenney's Executive Summary

There are large and small businesses all across the country, with many different public and private accounting firms that handle their accounts. Many of these businesses are raking in millions and millions of dollars a year. Wal-Mart is one of them. We will be exploring Wal-Mart and how it came about as a business, along with examining their balance sheets, income statement, and the cash flow statement. We will also be taking a look at what Wal-Mart’s current revenues are over the annual reporting periods, and who handles their accounting process.

In 2006, J.C. Penney partnered with Sephora, a cosmetic chain and also American Living brand by Ralph Lauren. J.C. Penney continues to receive a significant percentage of its sales through online purchases and also discontinued its catalog sales during this time.

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).

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.

Dollar General currently operates 11,789 discount merchandise retail stores throughout 43 United States. The majority of its merchandise is priced under $10 dollars and its stores are located in low cost real-estate areas. While reviewing the performance of Dollar Generals financial and strategic position my analysis shows your company has a winning strategy due to the improvements of its performance from 2005 to 2015 by, increasing its profit with shareholder investments, decreasing the number of day’s inventory is held, increasing its liquidity, and sustaining its profit margins.

J.C. Penney’s as a corporation has struggled to maintain a consistent brand, identify with their target audience and change to meet consumer needs.

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.

JC Penney had to undergo and withstand several competitive issues to include changing of brand image, selling strategy and marketing strategy. JC Penney also had to account for Environmental Factors to include: a population that continued to age and also unemployment rates. JC Penney tried to influence customers by portraying an everlasting sale. No matter how hard JC Penney tried to market their products, if people didn’t

JC Penney will thrive on marketing to middle income customers. JC Penney operates over 1,000 stores in both mall and off-mall formats. As of 2005, 98 percent of JC Penney stores were in enclosed malls, but more of today’s shoppers prefer stand alone stores. Most new stores being built are not in malls. According to JC Penney, sales per square foot in off-mall stores are about $100 higher than mall based stores.

Despite Abercrombie & Fitch’s efforts to win back loyal consumers with their new rebranding initiative, the company continues to experience a decline in annual revenue and dismal growth coupled with a poor return on investment, making it a risky investment option for potential shareholders. According to the company’s annual report, Abercrombie & Fitch saw a decline in revenue from $4,116.90 billion in February 2014 to $3,744.03 billion in 2015 with fourth-quarter revenues falling nearly 14% to $1.12 billion (Abercrombie & Fitch 41). The company contributed its dismal report to a decrease in the number of operational stores at the end of Q4 fiscal 2014, weak consumer demand for both Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch, slowing growth in

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.