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JC Penney has been irrelevant for a long time. JCP's problem stems from not reinventing itself. It failed to reinvent itself after the rise of internet retail giants. (ie; Amazon + Zappos). It failed to reinvent itself when brick & mortar giants decided to upgrade its store design, branding, line of clothes, etc. (ie:Target, Macys, Belk, Dillards, etc) It failed to reinvent itself when new competition where founded or established in the USA. (H&M, American Apparel, Urban outfitters, GAP, etc). It failed to reinvent itself when new strategies where being applied in the market. (ie; shops in shop, exclusive designer collections, etc) It failed to reinvent itself when new technology emerged in the market. (ie: smartphones, tablets, etc) I know retail stores where sales associate walk around with Ipads and process your items on the spot.
Ron had a good idea and strategy but he chose the wrong company to apply it to. IMO, you have to attract a young audience since these youngster will become oldsters. If those youngsters are accustomed to shopping at your stores then they will probably continue to shop there as an adult and even introduce their kids to the store.
JC Penney has been irrelevant for a long time. JCP's problem stems from not reinventing itself. It failed to reinvent itself after the rise of internet retail giants. (ie; Amazon + Zappos). It failed to reinvent itself when brick & mortar giants decided to upgrade its store design, branding, line of clothes, etc. (ie:Target, Macys, Belk, Dillards, etc) It failed to reinvent itself when new competition where founded or established in the USA. (H&M, American Apparel, Urban outfitters, GAP, etc). It failed to reinvent itself when new strategies where being applied in the market. (ie; shops in shop, exclusive designer collections, etc) It failed to reinvent itself when new technology emerged in the market. (ie: smartphones, tablets, etc) I know retail stores where sales associate walk around with Ipads and process your items on the spot.
Ron had a good idea and strategy but he chose the wrong company to apply it to. IMO, you have to attract a young audience since these youngster will become oldsters. If those youngsters are accustomed to shopping at your stores then they will probably continue to shop there as an adult and even introduce their kids to the store.
I think Ron got a good idea. But like everybody said, he did it way too fast. And in the process, he alienated the old clients (the oldster).
As a 20 something guy, living in urban cities all of my life, I never set my eyes on JCp. Only lately when changes are made, I started going there. (Where else can you get Jonathan Adler and Conron furniture in the fraction of the prices?). In fact the reason why I started shopping there because my friend (also in her 20s) told me that JCP finally got cute stuff from the lower line of MANGO. I went there to accompany her and BOOM! I was sold.
So yes def. the new model works, but again Ron did a hasty job doing it, which technically alienate their previous clients.
I'm 38, single and I consider myself rather cosmopolitan. My Dad took me to JcPenny for years growing up....I will never step foot in that store. It stands for elastic middle age mommy clothes.
The clothes aren't classic, they are just boring, shapeless drek. (And I am by no means a small woman)
I'm 38, single and I consider myself rather cosmopolitan. My Dad took me to JcPenny for years growing up....I will never step foot in that store. It stands for elastic middle age mommy clothes.
The clothes aren't classic, they are just boring, shapeless drek. (And I am by no means a small woman)
For those that buy into all the fashionista crap Penneys will never be their store because fashionistas have no sense of value for the dollar spent.
LL Bean, Lands End, j.Crew, Barbour, etc are all classic brands, classic style (except JCrew which trends a bit on the trendy side).
99% of Jcp is just fluff clothing with no shape, no style for very ordinary people. No one ever looks "smart" wearing a JcP outfit. Its not about the name either, its about the clothes, the fabric, the shape, the stitching...its all garbage.
For those that buy into all the fashionista crap Penneys will never be their store because fashionistas have no sense of value for the dollar spent.
They are basically shallow people.
I think you are confusing a few different types of people:
Here are some basic buckets of clothing shoppers
1. Trendy people: basically these people are completely on top of the latest trend. If the color of the season is highlighter yellow, they will get a purse, shoes, a top, pants, etc in whatever the color or shape is of the season. They don't want to be stuck in last seasons color or pants style.
2. Label focused people: these people are very brand conscious. They only get brand XX and want everyone to know what brand it is. And possibly how much they paid for it.
3. Style conscious: I'll call this person who has determined their look or style, and only acquires pieces that match it exactly.
4. Quality conscious: they only buy something if it will last for 20 years, and be a family heirloom
5. Price conscious: it doesn't matter what it looks like, as long as it is cheap
6. Image conscious: this person has a particular image they are trying to protray, and will only buy things that match the image. If that image is a "lady who lunhes" then they've got the lady like knit skirt suit, the structured handbag and the single strand pearl necklace. The image can be anything from preppy to punk. Stores will fall into the category of meeting the image or not.
Most people are a combo of all one or many of these broad categories.
A store like JCP will not generally appeal to trendy or label focused people since the labels are not "designer" and JCP, like most mainstream department stores, are generally a few months behind the trends [stores like Zara, Mango, Topshop, ASOS, H&M and Forever 21 are more bleeding edge, at a lower price point]
One of Ron Johnson's goals was to appeal 1, 2, and 3 more by creating the brands/store with in a store that were more trendy and had the buzz those shoppers are looking for.
JCP typically appealed to groups 4, 5. Although, like most mainstream stuff, quality has decreased significantly over the years. Longtime customers remember and appreciate when JCP was will known for well priced quality merchandise, that JCP was able to cash in on that, even as quality suffered.
For shoppers that did not "grow up with" JCP, they haven't experienced a time where JCP was high quality or fashion forward, which leaves the brand in limbo land with the younger [under 35-40 or so] shoppers. The reputation is that things are both ugly/dowdy/low quality. Basically a death sentence.
JCP needs to pick an identity, and make sure the merchandise matches that identity. They also need to tread carefully to not lose the longtime "sustainers" of the stores. Ron Johnson aimed for the younger demographic, and simultaneously didn't try to retain the sustainers, and the stockholders didn't want to wait it out [which arguably is a longterm strategy.]
He's an idiot for thinking the young age groups WANT to wear JCPenney, with all the other high end brands out there worn by celebrities, there was no chance in hell that they would have abandoned the brands Drake wears for JCPenney
I'm 38, single and I consider myself rather cosmopolitan. My Dad took me to JcPenny for years growing up....I will never step foot in that store. It stands for elastic middle age mommy clothes.
The clothes aren't classic, they are just boring, shapeless drek. (And I am by no means a small woman)
So when/if you are ever an "elastic middle aged mommy" you will wear....
Look. We all get the "it's not FASHIONABLE and HIP" crap, but that was never Penneys target. It was good for kids (which is why your dad took you there...you were dressed in JCPenney clothing whether you like it or not) and non-trendy traditionalists. There were name brands (Lee, Worthington, etc) that fit the bill, for daily work wear (not fashion show work wear) there were other brands that fit the folks who weren't 5'6 size 6's...the Big and Tall men, the Tall and Ultra Tall women, the Petites gals, large women, you know.....real people who need to dress neat and clean but have few options. Don't really care about someones perception, my hip and fashionable daughter has worn several pieces from Penneys, to places trendier than most people will ever go, and fit in fine. Hell, she once turned an emergency trip to Target getting flip flops and yoga pants plus accessories into an evening outfit for at a 5 star restaurant in SF several years ago and looked better and more fashion forward than most. It's how YOU pull things off, the clothes themselves won't change who you are or what folks think of you. Plus you just don't know what you are talking about. What you describe was NEVER all Penney's had, it's just what you convinced yourself for whatever reason.
Poor store may not bounce back from this, such a shame they didn't just adjust their business instead of blowing themselves up.
Ron Johnson aimed for the younger demographic, and simultaneously didn't try to retain the sustainers, and the stockholders didn't want to wait it out [which arguably is a longterm strategy.]
He also alienated the mature customer base that kept the store in business for so many years. Pennys never catered to fly by night fashionistas, vain and shallow people that they are, that would never be part of the base group.
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