JCPenney shoppers cry as chain to shut four stores - customers stunned by banner (2024)

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JCPenney shoppers cry as chain to shut four stores - customers stunned by banner? ›

'End of an era,' cry JCPenney shoppers after customers left stunned by heartbreaking banner as chain to close 4 stores. JCPenney shoppers are in despair as several stores are set to close in the coming months. Three outlets are set to close by the end of September and another is expected to shutter in 2025.

One particular failure was the move in 2012 to so-called “Fair Square” pricing that eliminated discounts and promotions. After a precipitous sales decline, the company returned to its former pricing model, but only after then-CEO Ron Johnson was replaced by former CEO Myron Ullman.

Recent closures in the Bay Area include the ones in Daly City and Newark, which both closed in 2019, according to Yelp. In 2020, CEO Jill Soltau cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for JCPenney's financial struggles that ultimately led to filing for bankruptcy.

After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2020, Brookfield Asset Management and Simon Property Group agreed to purchase the company for around $800 million in cash and debt in September, 2020. The deal was approved by the U.S. bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Texas two months later.

Holiday and full-year sales fell, and net income plunged. But the CEO of one of the retailer's owners says its ongoing profitability could merit an expansion.

J.C. Penney's sales have stayed relatively steady since 2021, but profits are declining. Net sales, in billions, and net income or loss, in millions, from the first quarter of 2021 to the third quarter of 2022.

Today, we operate more than 650+ locations across the United States and Puerto Rico – and while fashion and shopping patterns have evolved, our focus on putting customers at the heart of what we do remains unchanged.

J.C. Penney unveils fierce comeback plan

Three years later, it revealed an ambitious $1 billion comeback plan, promising store remodels, upgraded technology, and improved operations by 2025. And in April, J.C. Penney shared one such part of the plan, which focuses on the customer-facing portion of the business.

James Cash Penney died in New York City on February 12, 1971, at the age of ninety-five. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

By 2020, it had racked up $5 billion in debt, and it filed for bankruptcy in May. JCPenney was rescued from bankruptcy that same year after Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners acquired the company for $800 million.

Who owns JCPenney and Macy's? ›

Macy's is a publicly traded company, beholden to stakeholders including investors, employees and customers; J.C. Penney has been private since being purchased out of bankruptcy four years ago by Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management; since then, brand management firm Authentic Brands Group has acquired ...

Many of our private brands like Liz Claiborne®, Stafford®, okie dokie™, and Worthington™ are so well known that customers don't realize they are exclusive to JCPenney!

JCPenney has around 670 stores today and has little debt for the first time in years. The company is owned by mall landlords Simon Property Group (SPG) and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM). The two firms rescued JCPenney out of bankruptcy for $1.75 billion in the fall of 2020. It was their interest to do so.

We will continue to operate the majority of our stores and our flagship store, jcp.com, to ensure our valued customers continue to have access to the products and brands they need and want.

But as shoppers have migrated online, retail analyst Patty Edwards says those catalogs are now weighing down the company. M: The cost of sending the catalogs - it just doesn't make sense when you can do it so much more efficiently on the Web.

But the company's mid-market appeal was tested by growing competition during the 1980s and 1990s. Discount stores including Walmart and Target spread, stealing away JCPenney's budget-conscious customers.

In 2012, sales plunged $4.3 billion, a 25% fall from the previous year. With its stock in the dumps and its balance sheet damaged, Penney ousted Johnson in mid-2013, just 17 months after he took over. “A lot of trust between customers and JCPenney was destroyed during the Johnson era,” Saunders said.

So the drop in jcpenney's store traffic and sales volume might not be just an issue of miscommunication. The real reason why consumers “don't get” jcpenney's strategy might be that its pricing is misaligned with the needs and shopping habits of its core customers, who have become accustomed to frequent sales.

JCPenney lost customers because of Johnson's strategy, which involved getting rid of the sales and promotions that long-time customers loved. The company reported that staggering decrease in an earnings release. Once customers are gone, it's difficult to get them back in stores.