Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was wondering, but it seems like on many fashion forums JCPenney tends to have a negative reputation. This is what is hurting them with sales. It seems that many people actually prefer to buy their clothes at Target over JCPenney, even though JCPenney is more upscale than Target (about on the same level as Kohl's and slightly above Sears).
So, why does JCPenney tend to have a negative reputation among fashion forums?
I don't know. Personally, I like JC Penney a lot, and their store here is a very nice one. I don't like Target at all. The only thing I buy there is bras.
Target has cultivated an image that they have fashion, with the limited collections that have been designed by major fashion brands, even if the brands have had second thoughts afterward, such as Missoni. JC Penney, on the other hand, is a clothes retailer, and does not have the image that the company produces or carries fashion, just stodgy generously sized mid-stream brands, some of which are their exclusive domain, such as Liz Claiborne. However, Liz Claiborne is not the same as when its eponymous founder was alive, since her niche came to be a definitive brand within upscale sportswear.
JC Penney and Sears are the old model, stodgy, middle America retailers, not relevant in the fashion capitals of the world. In fact, save for Lands End, Sears has had disasters in clothing ventures, including the Kardashian collaboration. Kohl's used to be the same, with a decidedly middle-of-the-road focus, but shifted with collaborations with designers Vera Wang and Dana Buchman. Ms. Buchman started in womens sportswear and then worked for Liz Claiborne, who helped establish her upscale bridge collections that were featured at Bloomingdale's and other similar retailers. With the changes at Liz Claiborne, the brand was spun off and became a Kohl's asset. Kohl's also has Chaps, which does benefit from being part of the RL Corporation, even if the styles filter from the runway over a couple of seasons. JC Penney focused too much on its own house brands that had no cachet with consumers, whereas the acquisition of Liz Claiborne was a movement in a new direction, but seems not to have continued in the vein of the original label.
JC Penney has tried with collaborations with Project Runway capsule collections lately, but the execution of the garments has been poor. While the original design may have been fashion, by the time it's produced for the JCP palette, it tends to be less true to the original design roots. One of my nieces was obsessed with Kentaro Kameyama on Project Runway, so I bought her several of the pieces produced for the stores, after I found a JC Penney that actually had stock in them. She's a young teen, but true to our side of the family is tall and can wear small women's sizes, and the dresses were cute, but produced for a price. The shirt dress that was made earlier in that season seemed to be a disaster from the reviews, and from the one I saw in store that had loose threads and just wasn't produced well. If JC Penney were bold, they could collaborate with the designer and bring about a capsule collection and move into a more fashionable crowd, but they have to leave the price alone, since the coupons and such makes the MSRP irrelevant as it's really a $29 dress, not $129 marked down. They have tried with the collection available online and in some stores from PR, but then the rest of the store fails to live up to expectations. There's no reason why they could not expand into past PR winners, runners up, etc., in terms of fulfilling the expectation of someone who enjoys the more playful, whimsical, and stylish new fashion produced from the show, such that they could retain that consumer and not lose them because in the next rack one finds the same dusky rose chenille sweater that has been on offer since the dawn of time. At least with a store like Forever 21, the fashion is inexpensive, and known to be fast fashion, which is what draws in customers, even if it's not best for the environment and for wardrobe staple pieces. JC Penney is just boring and doesn't excel in quality or value, and has had limited success in shedding the stodgy image, undermined by the propensity to cost cut the clothing, so the fashion ends up being cheaply executed.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
I shopped at JCP online for years because it is one of the few places that sells tall women's clothing, and the only one I know of that sells them at reasonable prices. There are no brick-and-mortar stores for tall women with the occasional exception that sometimes you can find jeans or pants in longer lengths. Once upon a time, a couple of decades ago, there was such a store in New York City, but it closed.
I had a business job that required appropriate attire; i.e., suits, or pants or skirts with a business jacket. I ordered them through JCP online to get things that fit my arms, legs, and body. There are one or two other online sources, but they are much more expensive.
Now that I retired from my career and only need business attire for when I work part-part-time, I've kept a few basics, and they will probably be sufficient for any remaining work I may do, so if JCP goes out of business, I'll be OK, but lord help any younger tall women trying to move up in the business world.
Many years ago Penny’s had a brand of first rate men’s work clothes called Big Mac—dungarees, bibs, shirts, chore jackets; even hot mill gloves, the best gloves for boilermakers and ironworkers and hard to find. Then they stopped selling the stuff and I haven’t been in a Penny’s store since.
I switched to Oshkosh, which was excellent. Then they decided to just make clothes for kids and I went to Carhartt, which expanded its line from the old school brown duck to a wider line including denim clothes, shirts and the duck material in colors (!?!). Then I retired.
Penney's had to overcome their history of the place for cheap polyester clothing back when manmade fabrics weren't preferred and weren't as ubiquitous as they are now.
After Target and WalMart dominated the discount shopping segment, Penney's forgot their loyal demographic and tried rebranding once in the early 2000s to attract more upscale shoppers. It backfired, and they haven't been the same since.
Target has cultivated an image that they have fashion, with the limited collections that have been designed by major fashion brands, even if the brands have had second thoughts afterward, such as Missoni. JC Penney, on the other hand, is a clothes retailer, and does not have the image that the company produces or carries fashion, just stodgy generously sized mid-stream brands, some of which are their exclusive domain, such as Liz Claiborne. However, Liz Claiborne is not the same as when its eponymous founder was alive, since her niche came to be a definitive brand within upscale sportswear.
JC Penney and Sears are the old model, stodgy, middle America retailers, not relevant in the fashion capitals of the world. In fact, save for Lands End, Sears has had disasters in clothing ventures, including the Kardashian collaboration. Kohl's used to be the same, with a decidedly middle-of-the-road focus, but shifted with collaborations with designers Vera Wang and Dana Buchman. Ms. Buchman started in womens sportswear and then worked for Liz Claiborne, who helped establish her upscale bridge collections that were featured at Bloomingdale's and other similar retailers. With the changes at Liz Claiborne, the brand was spun off and became a Kohl's asset. Kohl's also has Chaps, which does benefit from being part of the RL Corporation, even if the styles filter from the runway over a couple of seasons. JC Penney focused too much on its own house brands that had no cachet with consumers, whereas the acquisition of Liz Claiborne was a movement in a new direction, but seems not to have continued in the vein of the original label.
JC Penney has tried with collaborations with Project Runway capsule collections lately, but the execution of the garments has been poor. While the original design may have been fashion, by the time it's produced for the JCP palette, it tends to be less true to the original design roots. One of my nieces was obsessed with Kentaro Kameyama on Project Runway, so I bought her several of the pieces produced for the stores, after I found a JC Penney that actually had stock in them. She's a young teen, but true to our side of the family is tall and can wear small women's sizes, and the dresses were cute, but produced for a price. The shirt dress that was made earlier in that season seemed to be a disaster from the reviews, and from the one I saw in store that had loose threads and just wasn't produced well. If JC Penney were bold, they could collaborate with the designer and bring about a capsule collection and move into a more fashionable crowd, but they have to leave the price alone, since the coupons and such makes the MSRP irrelevant as it's really a $29 dress, not $129 marked down. They have tried with the collection available online and in some stores from PR, but then the rest of the store fails to live up to expectations. There's no reason why they could not expand into past PR winners, runners up, etc., in terms of fulfilling the expectation of someone who enjoys the more playful, whimsical, and stylish new fashion produced from the show, such that they could retain that consumer and not lose them because in the next rack one finds the same dusky rose chenille sweater that has been on offer since the dawn of time. At least with a store like Forever 21, the fashion is inexpensive, and known to be fast fashion, which is what draws in customers, even if it's not best for the environment and for wardrobe staple pieces. JC Penney is just boring and doesn't excel in quality or value, and has had limited success in shedding the stodgy image, undermined by the propensity to cost cut the clothing, so the fashion ends up being cheaply executed.
And what makes Chaps better than IZOD which both stores carry? Both brands compete in the same price range. And RL used to offer the similar American Living line for JCPenney, however, it just couldn't drive the sales that Chaps and IZOD pull.
I shopped at JCP online for years because it is one of the few places that sells tall women's clothing, and the only one I know of that sells them at reasonable prices. There are no brick-and-mortar stores for tall women with the occasional exception that sometimes you can find jeans or pants in longer lengths. Once upon a time, a couple of decades ago, there was such a store in New York City, but it closed.
I had a business job that required appropriate attire; i.e., suits, or pants or skirts with a business jacket. I ordered them through JCP online to get things that fit my arms, legs, and body. There are one or two other online sources, but they are much more expensive.
Now that I retired from my career and only need business attire for when I work part-part-time, I've kept a few basics, and they will probably be sufficient for any remaining work I may do, so if JCP goes out of business, I'll be OK, but lord help any younger tall women trying to move up in the business world.
I knew an accountant, who bought Pendleton tall women's suiting online. I haven't been able to find that source, myself, but she was pretty much all-Pendleton, all the time. They have good-looking stuff, and it goes on sale, so you don't have to pay full retail for it.
Back to topic, I prefer Penny's for a low-priced retailer. I tried Kohl's in my town after someone recommended it, and was shocked. Too crowded, poor-quality merch, cheap fabrics (synthetics, mostly, while Penny's focuses on natural, breathable fabrics), over-crowded, too cheap-trendy looking. I heard they carried a certain designer, but couldn't find anything by her. Penny's has better customer service, too, meaning--more staff.
Penny's actually had plans to expand, and to buy up other retail locations, when Mervyn's and another chain closed, but after that, the market changed so much, with brick-and-mortar losing favor, that they scrapped the project. IDK, probably the 2008 loan crisis and subsequent Great Recession took the wind out of their sails.
I never really go to JCP because I never really go to a mall. The mall's around here are dead.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
