J.C. Penney to close 33 stores across the U.S.

[thelakelander]

Bad developing news for many malls around the country.....

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. said it will be closing 33 underperforming stores across the country, eliminating 2,000 jobs, as part of its turnaround efforts.

Closing stores are located in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2014/01/15/jc-penney-to-close-33-stores-across.html

[FSBA]

Since the article didn't mention it, none of the Florida closures are in Jacksonville.

[thelakelander]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/15/jc-penney-closing-stores_n_4604436.html

[mbwright]

This should be no surprise.  They hired the guy from Apple, who had know idea of the demographic of the current shoppers.  He tried to make it hip and youthful, (which did not work) and in the process, alienated the existing, now former shoppers.  My wife liked it before, and now won't return. 
I don't see JCP, Sears, or Kmart lasting much longer.

[vicupstate]

This should be no surprise.  They hired the guy from Apple, who had know idea of the demographic of the current shoppers.  He tried to make it hip and youthful, (which did not work) and in the process, alienated the existing, now former shoppers.  My wife liked it before, and now won't return. 
I don't see JCP, Sears, or Kmart lasting much longer.

I've never been a big fan of JCP, but the Ron Johnson (from Apple) CEO hire will go down in history as one of the biggest business blunders of all time.  Maybe one day we will look back on this era of overpaid 'superstar' CEOs with wonder and ask 'what were we thinking'?

[mtraininjax]

I don't see JCP, Sears, or Kmart lasting much longer.

+1

And to top it off, the people like Simon Malls and other mall owners are going to have to get creative to fill the space. Re-use and some innovative ways of using the space. Should keep city planners in the cities gainfully employed for years to come. 

[duvaldude08]

This should be no surprise.  They hired the guy from Apple, who had know idea of the demographic of the current shoppers.  He tried to make it hip and youthful, (which did not work) and in the process, alienated the existing, now former shoppers.  My wife liked it before, and now won't return. 
I don't see JCP, Sears, or Kmart lasting much longer.

I agree. My mom is pissed. She doesnt even go there anymore. And My mom has been shopping at JCPenneys relgiously since I was a child. She said nothing in there appeals to the older crowd, which was there demographic.

[IrvAdams]

Walking through Penney's is like running an obstacle course. The displays and counters are placed in your way to deliberately confuse your sense of direction and make you wander indefinitely through the store until you have to buy something.

[avonjax]

JCP was in trouble before Ron Johnson. The funny thing about JCP is the clothing is about the same. My mother hates the new store but the funny part is she would wade through a department and find a couple things she liked but because there was a million things to sort through and she could use a coupon she was in heaven. Now she finds 2 or 3 things in a much better looking and nicer store and to here  it's horrible. JCP lost me years ago. They ignored the fact that they were the next step up from Walmart. The customer base of JCP are people who hate change and are living in the hope that things will go back to the way they used to be when department stores offered everything.

The Ron Johnson Penny's home department was outstanding. A great modern clean look and really cool merchandise. I loved it. The problem was the merchandise was WAY too sophisticated for the typical Penny's shopper.

I'm not really an expert but I have been in and out of retail for 40 years. I even worked for Penney's in the early 70's, and the problem they have is they haven't really attracted enough of the new generation  customer. Their base was loyal but most  people found more interesting alternatives. They should have started several years ago wooing the crowd that they are trying to attract with this latest move. A younger hipper more fashion savvy (at a good price like H&M) customer base.
They made the change instantly and it FREAKED OUT the older generation.

Every time my mother asks me, when my sister is busy, to go to Penney's with her she talks about how wonderful JCP used to be but complains how awful everything is and the selection of awful is so small. (But she still finds nice stuff to buy by the way.)  It reminds me of a wonderful joke from Annie Hall about two old people at a resort with this exchange  "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions."

What Ron Johnson did should have happened years ago and at a much slower pace.

I do think JCP's days are number and that Johnson probably cropped several years off their life but he is not really to blame.

I, for one, do not look forward to their demise. It will put many people out of work. It will dump a lot of people into the unemployment system. But I foresee the downfall of KMart the most outdated chain on the planet and Sears. Sears can't survive on power tools, appliances or work clothes forever. The sad part is most of JCP, KMart and Sears customers will head to Walmart. It may result in more store openings  for them but I can assure you it won't make for more good jobs. In the existing stores they probably won't hire more people. There was the debacle this year of good ole Walmart cancelling many holiday orders, which of course hurts the vendors, because they didn't have enough people to stock the shelves. (They were too cheap to hire some temp help?) When these stores are gone I don't think there will be anything to replace them. It's a domino effect. More unemployment in the retail sector and more Chinese out of work. It hurts everyone.

[ChriswUfGator]

Kmart only exists at this point to generate a tax loss for a hedge fund, they haven't been interested in actually running the store in years. I too am amazed its still open.