JCPenney ad apologizes for changes made by former CEO Ron Johnson

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Comments

  • Reply 61 of 91
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by malta View Post


     


     


    Completely different.


     


    Neimann Marcus is a specialty store with significantly fewer locations. They only have 42 locations nationwide. They are also a private company.


     


    Not even in the same league or market. They are selling specialty luxury brands not Levi, Dockers, IZOD, etc.


     


    So what you are saying is that JCP needed to close 96% of their 1,100 stores. Then convince their board that they are going from $17 billion in revenue to $4 billion in revenue?


     


    Also they would need to get rid of their entire inventory so they can sell things like a $600 Stefano Ricci dress shirt to the suburban Middle America crowd. I really see that working well.



     


    Nope, you said: "The Apple premium model will never work in a department store."


     


    Both Neimann Marcus and Nordstrom are premium department stores.  They both work.


     


    And yes, if he could convince his board that he could make $401M with $8.57B revenue (Nordstrom's numbers) vs losing $152M with $17.2B revenue they'd be happy even if it meant dumping all but a hundred or so stores. 


     


    And you can buy Levi's and Dockers at Nordstrom.  Izod no but Polo yes which is another upper mid-grade brand you can also find at Macy's.


     


    I like shopping at Nordstrom.  I just don't shop that often.


  • Reply 62 of 91
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    mytdave wrote: »
    4. Promotion of the homosexual agenda.

    You've confused hiring a spokesperson that's gay with promotion of a homosexual agenda. It's not such a fine distinction, and you should know better than parrot the talking point agenda of Thirty Thousand Moms group.
  • Reply 63 of 91
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    mytdave wrote: »
    Stay out of politics.  The advertising and promotion of homosexuality in the catalogs under Ron was the last straw for us.

    People still use catalogs?

    We cut you off completely at that point.  If you are or want to be gay, fine I don't care, but leave that crap out of the public view.  Be in the business of being in business.  I expect a company to be attentive to quality, reasonable pricing, and customer service.  Keep your politics to yourself.

    "If you want to be straight, you keep that crap out of the public view." "It's OK to be black, but I don't want those people in the catalog." "They should stay on the sidelines, I don't want them pushing the black agenda."

    See how that works?
  • Reply 64 of 91
    I always liked JCP, but lately the quality of the clothes has come down. Also, as a petite women I find that the department is much smaller, not much of a selection anymore. Too many people walking around with scanners asking if they can help you, I like to look around on my own. I recently went to look for pj's all I found were three different short sleeve pj's displayed. What's up with that?
  • Reply 65 of 91
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by latviagirl View Post

    I recently went to look for pj's all I found were three different short sleeve pj's displayed. What's up with that?


     


    Short sleeve PJs? May as well a t-shirt… Or nothin' at all. What's up with that, indeed.

  • Reply 66 of 91
    I think you Apple fanboys have bigger things to worry about. Ron Johnson wasn't able to save a declining JCP. Who's going to save the declining Apple. Apple stocks have dropped from $700 to $400 in 6 months!
  • Reply 67 of 91
    tjduffytjduffy Posts: 28member
    What this shows, these people who get lucky once will not be lucky twice.
  • Reply 68 of 91
    c kennedyc kennedy Posts: 1member
    My husband was very disapointed that you no longer carry the Stafford brand men's pocket tee shirts. They were very comfortable and fit very well at a resonable price. He is not satisfied with the St. John's Bay tee. It seems to run small and the sleeves seem to be too short. He is in the process of trying to find another pocket tee shirt that is comparable to the Stafford in fit and quality, but is not having much luck. Please bring them back!
  • Reply 69 of 91
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by C KENNEDY View Post



    My husband was very disapointed that you no longer carry the Stafford brand men's pocket tee shirts. They were very comfortable and fit very well at a resonable price. He is not satisfied with the St. John's Bay tee. It seems to run small and the sleeves seem to be too short. He is in the process of trying to find another pocket tee shirt that is comparable to the Stafford in fit and quality, but is not having much luck. Please bring them back!


     


    We will get right on that.  Thank you for your input.

  • Reply 70 of 91
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    c kennedy wrote: »
    My husband was very disapointed that you no longer carry the Stafford brand men's pocket tee shirts. They were very comfortable and fit very well at a resonable price. He is not satisfied with the St. John's Bay tee. It seems to run small and the sleeves seem to be too short. He is in the process of trying to find another pocket tee shirt that is comparable to the Stafford in fit and quality, but is not having much luck. Please bring them back!

    It's my understanding that this should be addressed in the next update.
  • Reply 71 of 91
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member



    LOL!

    What's so sad is that JCP couldn't find anyone more qualified to take the job than their last, failing CEO. I guess when you are the Titanic, not many people want to work there.
    At that level, they don't hire from the primary workforce. They, stupidly, only hire their own kind: wealthy older white males that were already at executive levels elsewhere. It's a small collection of people and it's stagnant.
  • Reply 72 of 91
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by C KENNEDY View Post

    My husband was very disapointed that you no longer carry the Stafford brand men's pocket tee shirts. They were very comfortable and fit very well at a resonable price. He is not satisfied with the St. John's Bay tee. It seems to run small and the sleeves seem to be too short. He is in the process of trying to find another pocket tee shirt that is comparable to the Stafford in fit and quality, but is not having much luck. Please bring them back!


     


    No.




    Sent from my Black Mock Turtleneck.

  • Reply 73 of 91
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    winter wrote: »
    Maybe this is just me though if JC Penney wants to drum up new business, start selling USA made clothes. They will not do this though it would be a nice change of pace for a department store.
    Sadly, there would have to first BE USA made clothes to sell. There's not a lot out there, thanks to capitalist greed shipping most manufacturing overseas and lack of government regulation to stop it from being shipped overseas (because the market is supposed to regulate itself, hah hah).
  • Reply 74 of 91
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    malax wrote: »
    No.  People who stop shopping at a store because they start selling $30 items for $30 instead of $50 with a 40% off! coupon are dumb and stupid.

    Agreed. The social engineering has been done. You can't undo it in only one place.
    Frankly, I'd say that JCP screwed up this "transition back" with this ad.  Just start mailing people their beloved coupons again.  There is no need to apologize for not having had them for a year or so.  This just makes them look weak and desperate.
    From reading the wording printed in the article, they DIDN'T actually apologize. Corporations in the USA rarely do. Apple has, interestingly, but I'm unaware of others.
  • Reply 75 of 91
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dysamoria View Post





    Sadly, there would have to first BE USA made clothes to sell. There's not a lot out there, thanks to capitalist greed shipping most manufacturing overseas and lack of government regulation to stop it from being shipped overseas (because the market is supposed to regulate itself, hah hah).


    I think North Korea has the type of protectionist government regulation that you're referring to. 


     


    I don't think anyone would argue that the "the market regulates itself" is intended to convey a belief that the market will allow high-cost providers to thrive.

  • Reply 76 of 91
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by C KENNEDY View Post



    My husband was very disapointed that you no longer carry the Stafford brand men's pocket tee shirts. They were very comfortable and fit very well at a resonable price. He is not satisfied with the St. John's Bay tee. It seems to run small and the sleeves seem to be too short. He is in the process of trying to find another pocket tee shirt that is comparable to the Stafford in fit and quality, but is not having much luck. Please bring them back!







     


     


    Honestly not sure if this is a joke post or not, if it is is, it's brilliant, and the email at the end (aol, to boot) is what seals the brilliance. 


    If it wasn't a joke post, I...have no words. 

  • Reply 77 of 91
    tubbyteetubbytee Posts: 68member
    JCPenney was an oversized Woolworth before Johnson's arrival. Then it couldn't make up its mind trying to be a cross between Target and Macy's. it will be interesting to see what it becomes now.
  • Reply 78 of 91
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    c kennedy wrote: »
    My husband was very disapointed that you no longer carry the Stafford brand men's pocket tee shirts. They were very comfortable and fit very well at a resonable price. He is not satisfied with the St. John's Bay tee. It seems to run small and the sleeves seem to be too short. He is in the process of trying to find another pocket tee shirt that is comparable to the Stafford in fit and quality, but is not having much luck. Please bring them back!

    (redacted email address)

    It's a bad idea to post email addresses publicly. Please avoid doing that wherever you might post.
  • Reply 79 of 91
    scott rscott r Posts: 38member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dysamoria View Post





    Sadly, there would have to first BE USA made clothes to sell. There's not a lot out there, thanks to capitalist greed shipping most manufacturing overseas and lack of government regulation to stop it from being shipped overseas (because the market is supposed to regulate itself, hah hah).


    Yes, please bring back American-made products priced at twice the price.  Let those gooks in the other countries who are happy to work at much lower wages to make lower cost items stay jobless and die hungry at an early age.  USA!  USA!  USA!  Derp.

  • Reply 80 of 91
    scott rscott r Posts: 38member


    I honestly haven't followed Ron Johnson's experience at JCP very closely, so I'll refrain from making confident proclamations as to why this didn't work out.  There have been a lot of intelligent theories posited in this thread (e.g., he should have waited to get rid of the coupons till *after* the remodel was done, JCP customers are idiots, JCP employees are lazy, etc.).  I personally haven't stepped foot in a JCP in what seems like forever.  And it's not because I've gone out of my way to  avoid doing so, there simply isn't one near me and I wasn't aware of anything special that they offered that would make me drive out of my way to shop there.


     


    That hints at one possible reason for their failure: Once a company starts to do poorly and shuts down stores (or simply ceases to expand), and doesn't do a lot of advertising, the average person starts to think of them as being "dead."


     


    I was originally thinking of posting another theory, which had to do with the fact that the economy sucks, the government is making things worse, and now might not be the best time to try to turn a coupon (budget-conscious consumer) focused store into a "premium" store.  The economy we have will favor stores like Walmart and Target, and stores like Best Buy are likely to go out of business.  People are looking to save money, so as to stretch their paycheck.  More and more will simply buy online, but for those that shop locally and brick-and-mortar stores, budget stores will survive.


     


    *BUT* there are name-brand, high-priced, stores that seem to still be doing OK.  My daughter likes American Eagle, and they seem grossly overpriced to me.  But, here's the thing: teens/early-twenties care about brand-names, will pressure their parents to overspend on what they want, and/or will charge up and go into debt themselves for fashion.  But JCPenney wasn't "cool", and JCP (under Ron Johnson) still wasn't "cool".  Maybe it would have become "cool" if Ron had more time, maybe not.


     


    In thinking about all of that, I guess if I was running things at JCPenney I might have had Ron's bold ideas implemented by way of opening new stores (or taking certain existing JCPenney stores and completely overhauling them) and have them serve as pilot cases.  They would completely rename them (not simply tweak the JCPenney name as JCP), completely redesign them, hire all-new people (younger/hipper people), etc.  Eventually, if it was successful, more and more stores would be "converted" until the old JCPenney was no more and the new company went by the new name/brand.

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