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J.C. Penney said Wednesday it will close 33 underperforming stores and lay off 2,000 employees as the venerable but troubled retailer continues a sweeping turnaround effort.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I'm trying to remember the last time I set foot in a J.C. Penney store, and it may have been to buy diapers when my oldest was a baby over 30 years ago. Unfortunate, though, for those getting laid off.
I just saw an interview with a guy who was going into both Sears and JCPenny's and talking to customers and looking at inventory (or lack of) and actually found Sears to be in much worse shape. He said he's hoping with the store closures that Pennys manages a turnaround, but predicted that Sears will be totally gone by 2017.
Many of these companies haven't changed to meet the needs of consumers.
They tried to change, but it didn't work as they had imagined .
I think the stores are pretty good myself and the prices are good, but the profit margins must be too narrow for the volume they are doing.
The problem isn't necessarily in the stores. It is in the corporate culture. If I were hired to be CEO at Sears, the first thing I'd do is clear out the deadwood at the executive level, bringing in fresh ideas in terms of retail. The current CEO actually tried to do that with an entire rebranding effort, but he failed to implement those brand changes first on an operational level. So people saw the ads, went into the stores, and found the same damned J.C. Penney that they always did.
I used to work at a Sears store from 2003-06 and I can tell you that company is totally mismanaged, from top to bottom. Our store was never profitable. I just saw stupid decisions all around regarding the inventory, to the glut of clearance items, to the absurd amount of shrink. You name it.
I do not believe that Sears will exist in ten years.
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