STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES
In January 2012, newly appointed CEO, Ron Johnson introduced a plan to rebrand the department store chain into a 21st century retail powerhouse. Launching of the new J. C. Penney brand identity was set to occur over four years and would include a new logo, a new in-store experience featuring new and transformed brands, and most importantly, it would change the way that the company priced merchandise. Unfortunately, J. C. Penney suffered a 25% sales decline in the first year and Johnson was fired after only 17 months.
Historically, J. C. Penney’s strength had been communicating the relationship between quality and value, in a way that the customer could understand. J. C. Penney lost this connection when we
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This would mean repositioning a low-end bargain department store as a high-end, high-style store.
3. Revamping an old brand. Reconnect with the customer using the price and value perception that was lost during the rebranding initiative by reintroducing an updated version of the old pricing strategy.
BACKGROUND AND STATE OF INDUSTRY
Historically, the department store affected every facet of social and economic life in America. The rise of the department store from the mid-1850s to the end of the 19th century was a major revolution for business and society. It revolutionized the shopping experience and created an entirely new view of ordinary retail stores. Endless categories of items from jewelry and accessories to home goods and furniture were available to all customers under one roof. Department stores found success in the early years, because they were selling more than just “products.” They were selling an entire experience to the American consumer. Known for their low prices, convenience, experience, and variety, department stores emerged as the iconic establishments of their time. These stores became mainstream institutions in downtown areas. Some department stores, such as Filene’s, even had restaurants and tearooms located inside the building. They had services like photo studios and special events like fashion shows and parades. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is still a widely popular event today, originating in
JC Penney States its mission is “to help customers find what they love for less money, time and effort from a leading portfolio of private, exclusive and national brands.”
J.C. Penney’s catered to everyone’s needs during all times, having higher class things for cheap prices so people can afford their merchandise. Reaching from kids clothing to formal clothing but being a leader in price. They knew that things had to be done about price gouging in the economy people were finding it hard to keep jobs and people were in and out of jobs quite often knowing that they needed to help everyone their prices remained lower than the competitions.
JCPenny was founded in April 1902 by James Cash Penny. The objective of JC Pennys is simple, to provide products to meet each and everyone’s’ needs. The stores have switch to promoting their house brands more than promoting brands that a shopper can get elsewhere. By promoting their house brands, JCPennys feels like they can increase sales because a shopper would have to go to Pennys to get those brands. The company is endorsing what they refer to as the omnichannel. This is the cohesiveness between stores and online to increase the ease of shopping for the consumer. Now the financial objectives are as follows,” the company provided financial performance estimates for the 2017-2019 period, as follows: Compounded annual comparable sales growth anticipated to be 3.0 %; Gross margin is expected to improve 75-100 basis points; Additional SG&A expense leverage of 215-240 basis points; Net income is expected to be between $450-500M by 2019; Earnings per share of $1.40-1.55 by 2019.” (JCPenny, 2016) I know that the company has tried many times to create a new image because they are struggling to meet the demand of the modern shopper. These latest objectives I
In 2013, this department store has been celebrating being in business for 110 years. It also once lured its customers in with its famous discount pricing strategy and coupons. The retailer is J.C. Penney, a fixture at shopping malls across the country. In 2012, J.C. Penney rebranded itself by making the announcement that it wanted to become America 's favorite store by creating a specialty department store experience (JCP, 2013). Founder James Cash Penney began the company with a Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated Fair and Square (JCP, n.d.).
J.C. Penney’s has the desire to become America’s favorite retail destination for apparel, accessories and home fashion. With approximately 1,108 operating stores throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, they serve half of America’s families every year. They employ nearly 156,000 associates and strive to be number one in customer service. Despite the recent economic downturn, JCP maintained a steady cash flow and has been able to keep their company running strong.
The intensity of rivalry and the threat of substitutes are strong components for J.C. Penney to consider as they continue to strive for increased revenue and market share. Their two primary competitors are Macy’s and Kohl’s, both of whom have fiercely competitive strategies to be strong retail operations. For instance, while Macy’s offers a multitude of promotional deals and is working hard to choose products based upon demographics and geographic segmentation, Kohl’s is attempting to reduce their inventory levels and improve their marketing strategies in order to become a stronger competitor in the department store segment of the retail industry. In order to compete with their competitors, J.C. Penney aims to focus on their previously successful promotions and home department segmentations by bringing in new reputable designers in order to attract a larger customer base. Due to the fact that the intensity of rivalry and threat of substitutes are both moderately strong in the retail department store industry, J.C. Penney ought to be diligent in their implementation of strategies in order to achieve success in the retail business.
Macy's was founded by Rowland Hussey Macy in 1858 in New York City. They change the way retailers market their product. They were the first to use the one-price system where all items were sold for one price. In November 1902, they became the "World Largest Store." As they continue to grow within the years many of Macy's immigrant workers, organize the Christmas Parade in 1924. They currently have the world's largest retail store with over 1.1 million square feet of land. Macy’s department store is rank #105 in the Forbes Fourtune 500 List.
J.C. Penney has its fair share of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. J.C. Penney has been struggling these past few years in order to sustain their business. As a result, they hired Ron Johnson as their CEO in 2012 in hopes of turning their business around. However, he caused more damage than good so J.C. Penney has been struggling to recover ever since. In order to fix Ron Johnson’s mistakes, they hired Mike Ullman to improve all aspects of their business through e-commerce and brick-and-mortar. J.C. Penney has a lot of obstacles to endure regarding their weaknesses and threats. However, their strengths and opportunities could possibly turn their business around and could land them success in the future.
J.C. Penny Company, which is one of the largest retail stores and catalog merchant in the United States. It became to rise because it offered all types of goods at “one fair price” and it brought fashionable goods to small faraway towns. This Company started back in 1902, in Hammerer ,Wyoming, simply as a one door room, by a man with the name of James Cash Penney. But back then the stores' name was Golden Rule Mercantile Company, and was owned by Callahan and Jonson. He then became partner with his employers (Callahan and Johnson) and opened a store in Kemmerer town. He opened a store that was cash only, which was really risky back then, since there were stores prior to that that had failed before. He took his chances by doing so and
As one of the major retailers in the United States, JCPenney has 1,104 department stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico as of February 2, 2013. The key success of its business is tremendously depending on the sales performance. However, the retail business is highly competitive, with low barriers to entry and low profit margin. Due to large sales plunge in 2012, the company is in financial trouble. The thorough analysis of JCPenney’s financial statements is vital to judge the future performance of its business.
In 1858 in New York City on the cross streets of 14th and 6th avenues begin the legendary retail chain known as Macy’s. This is a company that is ever ingrained in the American consciousness. During Thanksgiving every year we all wake up and before our day of gluttony and football watching we all turn the television channel to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Where millions of people gather while a parade of balloons, artists, musicians, and companies wind their way to 34th street in anticipation of the Christmas season. At the time every child waits for Santa Claus to cap off the parade in a grand fashion.
JC Penney is not as large as some of its competitors, many of which have more substantial resources and are constantly attacking their market share. The company also faces threats from economic conditions, such as high unemployment and the recent recession. When consumers are under financial pressures can easily decide to shop elsewhere, such as Kohl’s, Target, and even the dreaded Walmart. Even the perception of better value can drive consumers elsewhere.
In my opinion, as the retail industry continues to undergo changes so should JCP, after all change is the vehicle that have the capability to brings about improvements. In 2012, Johnson begin to reinvent the JCP department store by turning from the being a promotional department store into a specialty department store in the hope of setting themselves apart from their competitors. The results of these changes posted on the annual report indicates a vast decline within the net sales at JCP to include its profits, operating income, as well as employee turnover. JCP executive management believed these changes would provide greater opportunities for its consumers through cosmetic, electronics
The mains issue facing J.C. Penny was the implementation of the new business model was not welcomed by its customers, thus resulting in poor company’s performance. The reason to do a radical repositioning came as a respond to several years of store closing, declining market share, slumping earning, and weak stock market performance. The company was running out of steam, the competition were getting more intense, and the economic recession of 2008 effected the company a lot
Penney Corporation (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018). From 1913 to 1924 the store was entitled the J.C. Penney Stores Company, until the corporation embraced its new name in 1968. In the early 2000’s the company managed approximately 1,000 stores within the U.S. and Puerto Rico, with its headquarters located in Plano, Texas. The company has been publicly traded on the New Stock Exchange since 1927. Similar to its competitors such as: Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, and Target, this department store chain is fundamentally focused on the retailing of family clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, and cookware. Conversely, in 2006 J.C. Penney revealed its new partnership with the cosmetic chain Sephora. “In 2008 it launched the American Living brand, a line of clothing, accessories, and home decor developed by the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.).” Now that we have learned a little bit about the background of J.C. Penney. Let us further broaden this report by becoming acquainted with one of this corporation’s former CEO’s and recount his pricing