What did Kohl's do right that JCPenney did wrong?

[Soccernerd]

First of all, I’m not so sure that Kohl's is doing that well. I suppose they are compared to JCP, however. I think it’s two things:

1) Kohl's have mostly standalone stores. Most of JCP's stores are located in malls. That may have been fine in the past when going to malls was an all day thing. Now people just want convenience, and regional malls usually aren’t close to people. Kohl's uses the big-box model and builds them away from malls where people actually are.
2) Kohl’s Cash. Both stores run almost weekly ads and are reasonably-priced regardless. Kohl's has a slight edge here; Kohl's Cash brings people in and keeps them coming.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by GoCUBS1

Comparing the stores in my area, Kohls is always very, very busy and JCP is empty when I go in there.

This seems to vary a lot by location or region. In my area, it's the opposite, though I wouldn't say JCP is "very very busy" during workhours on weekdays, but on weekends and after work they are, and especially for their sales, of course.

[GoCUBS1]

Looks like the Kohl’s Amazon partnerships are only in Chicago, LA, and now Milwaukee? Hopefully, they quickly roll this out to the rest of the nation. As I said, smart move Kohl’s...

https://www.chainstoreage.com/techno...e-performance/

“Q1 2018, revenue growth at Kohl’s stores in Chicago topped 10%, compared to 5% revenue growth at the rest of the retailer’s U.S. stores.

Earnest data shows that sales, transactions, and customer growth at Kohl’s stores in Chicago during 2018 all outpace the same metrics at Kohl’s stores nationwide in the same time period. Full-year revenue growth in Chicago stores equaled 8%, compared to 2% across the U.S.

Furthermore, transactions at Kohl’s Chicago stores grew 6% and customers increased 4% in 2018. Across the U.S., Kohl’s saw negative growth in these brick-and-mortar metrics: -2% for transactions and -1% for new customers.

Perhaps most notable is the fact that Kohl’s percentage of new customers — defined as customers that did not shop at Kohl’s in the prior calendar year — is up 9% in 2018, versus 1% for the rest of the U.S., indicating that the Amazon initiative has driven new customers to store locations, accomplishing the partnership’s goal.”