Does anyone else kinda feel bad for JcPenney, or do they deserve the abuse?

[ultimatebob]

It is just me, or is JcPenney having really BAD luck for the past few months?

First they revamp the stores and get rid of their sales and coupons, pissing off a bunch of a bunch their established customers. They "fix" that by raising their new "everyday low" prices, pissing off some customers who liked the new concept. Nice one.

Then they add Joe Fresh to their product lineup, which just happens to be made in that Bangladesh sweatshop factory that collapsed and killed a few hundred workers last week. Nice way to improve your already lousy image, guys. Besides... if I wanted Asian sweatshop clothes, I'd buy them at Target or Walmart.

To make things worse, they create a Twitter account and start asking for customer feedback around the same time. That Twitter account is now being flooded by people calling them murderers for using these Bangladesh sweatshops to create their clothing.

I'm not sure which is worse... JcPenney's luck, or their epicly bad management decisions. What do you guys think?

 

[lxskllr]

I'm not very familiar with Penney. Since there's no attachment, I feel nothing for them.

 

[manimal]

Retail is changing but the retailers are changing in the wrong direction.


Look at target if you want to see how a good retailer is run. Joe fresh smacks of bad marketing and terrible execution. Heads should roll.

 

[Cpus]

i think that was because of some ceo they just fired and now their fixing it

 

[Mixolydian]

JCPenny = trash.

 

[SunnyD]

It is just me, or is JcPenney having really BAD luck for the past few months decade?

ftfy

 

[ultimatebob]

i think that was because of some ceo they just fired and now their fixing it

Yeah.. but their NEW CEO was the one who had the bright idea of bringing in Joe Fresh and creating those new "We're sorry about screwing up, please contact us on how to do better" commercials.

Gee... maybe you can start by inspecting the factories that your new products are made in before making a major investment in them? You would think that would be a given after the Apple/Foxconn PR debacle.

 

[IronWing]

The local Penney seems to have fired or chased off all their experienced employees. The store staff have that indifferent "don't bother me" attitude and the store is a mess and smells like Sears used to. Kohls has stepped up into the retail slot Penneys used to occupy.

 

[shortylickens]

Like many other retailers they failed to keep up with modern times.
Walmart has the prices, Amazon has the selection, both are more convenient, JC penny just isnt special anymore.

 

[lxskllr]

Like many other retailers they failed to keep up with modern times.
Walmart has the prices, Amazon has the selection, both are more convenient, JC penny just isnt special anymore.

Yup, That's been killing old school retailers since the 80s.

 

[ultimatebob]

The local Penney seems to have fired or chased off all their experienced employees. The store staff have that indifferent "don't bother me" attitude and the store is a mess and smells like Sears used to. Kohls has stepped up into the retail slot Penneys used to occupy.

Geez... I almost forgot about the layoffs. It seems that they got rid of all of their good (AKA expensive) workers, and kept the folks making minimum wage. Yeah, that's gonna improve the shopping experience.

 

[Ichinisan]

I bought some things when JCP had low prices and no coupons. Great experience.

Can't stand Kohls because of all the bullshit. If you believe what they're saying, everything is discounted 300%.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

uh theyre getting everything they deserve for removing the "genius bars"

 

[shortylickens]

I bought some things when JCP had low prices and no coupons. Great experience.

Can't stand Kohls because of all the bullshit. If you believe what they're saying, everything is discounted 300%.

Thats why smartphones are so cool. Find out what stuff is ACTUALLY worth then make a decision.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

ive always frequented malls that had jc penneys, i just dont shop there. im more of a mens warehouse guy than a faux polo dude

 

[Ichinisan]

Thats why smartphones are so cool. Find out what stuff is ACTUALLY worth then make a decision.

I'm already doing this constantly and people assume i must be a texting zombie. I appreciate that JCP didn't make me do it.

 

[Farang]

Sort of ambivalent. They are just a warehouse to buy clothes. Usually my go-to since they had a relatively good selection and I could get everything done in one spot (I hate malls that are divided into each individual brand).

I think their business model was the same as Macy's but somehow they managed to be less annoying about it. Not sure if true but seems like they did holiday sales and not so much '3-for-1' shit, so as long as you shopped at the right time you got exactly what you wanted at a good price rather than having to be pressured into buying more.

Bought my first suit there, though: big mistake. Only basic stuff at JC like pants and socks etc

 

[mistercrabby]

Haven't shopped there in years. I love free markets.

 

[alkemyst]

JC Penney's Stafford line of suits used to be very good, their shoes were re-branded Johnson and Murphy as well. Over the years their suits got cheaper (no lining unless special ordered) and I went to Johnson and Murphy for my shoes.

Now they are catering to the young 20 something crowd and hoping to reestablish themselves. I think it's a losing effort.

One of the biggest perks they have is their watch warranty. I think it's three years, but you get either a repaired watch to brand new condition or more often just a full credit back as cash or to put towards another watch. For a little less than $600 total over the last 5 years I have owned about $1000 in watches....the last being my Citizen's Ecodrive Blue Angels watch at $500 or so.

 

[JEDI]

It is just me, or is JcPenney having really BAD luck for the past few months?

First they revamp the stores and get rid of their sales and coupons, pissing off a bunch of a bunch their established customers. They "fix" that by raising their new "everyday low" prices, pissing off some customers who liked the new concept. Nice one.

Then they add Joe Fresh to their product lineup, which just happens to be made in that Bangladesh sweatshop factory that collapsed and killed a few hundred workers last week. Nice way to improve your already lousy image, guys. Besides... if I wanted Asian sweatshop clothes, I'd buy them at Target or Walmart.

To make things worse, they create a Twitter account and start asking for customer feedback around the same time. That Twitter account is now being flooded by people calling them murderers for using these Bangladesh sweatshops to create their clothing.

I'm not sure which is worse... JcPenney's luck, or their epicly bad management decisions. What do you guys think?

wtf was JCPenny thinking in switching to Walmart strategy of no sales?
keep prices low everyday? now you're competing w/Walmart?!

The only reason a majority of people goto your stores is for the sales.
heck, that goes for ALL major dept stores. Else they goto walmart

 

[JEDI]

Thats why smartphones are so cool. Find out what stuff is ACTUALLY worth then make a decision.

esplain

 

[lxskllr]

esplain

Price check. If they don't have an app that scans UPCs, and checks prices online, they should. Even without that convenience, a manual price check isn't difficult.

 

[chowderhead]

wtf was JCPenny thinking in switching to Walmart strategy of no sales?
keep prices low everyday? now you're competing w/Walmart?!

The only reason a majority of people goto your stores is for the sales.
heck, that goes for ALL major dept stores. Else they goto walmart

The CEO they just fired was brought in from Apple whose business model is cache products with no sale prices. Penny couldn't convert over without alienating their core consumers. It's a business decision the board made and they are paying the price for it. I think Pennys goes the way of Wards and Mervyns.

 

[Wyndru]

I bought some things when JCP had low prices and no coupons. Great experience.

Can't stand Kohls because of all the bullshit. If you believe what they're saying, everything is discounted 300%.

This. I don't like Kohls and their little black and white digital displays on everything saying you are saving a ton, then you look at the original price and it's basically double what other stores would sell it for. Apparently they think people are stupid.

I also like Macy's occasionally when they have crazy coupons out. My wife collects those things and then we go buy a shit ton of clothes for 70%+ off.

[EDIT]Oh, I just mentioned this to the boss, and she said the opposite. I guess she believes Kohls is actually cheaper with their coupons. I've never seen it personally, but she would know since she is a bit of a shopaholic when coupons come out. She also said that at Macy's, with coupons you can't buy designer clothing, which explains why I have so many IZOD clothes collecting dust in my closet.

 

[olds]

Just bought four dress shirts online from a Fat Wallet deal. Shirts were 1/2 off and I used a 10% coupon. Free shipping on the order too.