The don't keep their store clean and organized. It's a pig sty. When I enter a store like that, I think "bad management", "they don't care" and they have no respect for their customer. The last two times I went to JCP it was on a Sunday morning at store opening. Both times, the clothes were scattered and unorganized, like they had been hit hard by a sale. There was dirt and scraps of paper on the floor. It was disgusting. So, I brought this to their attention and gave them the benefit of the doubt that they might take it to heart and clean it up. Nope. Next time (and my last time), it was the exact same. They aren't bothering to clean up on Saturday before they go home. I'm sorry, but I refuse to shop somewhere like that.
Maybe this dude can turn it around. But, he's going to have to stop overlooking the obvious and he's going to have to do it without me 'cause I'm not going back.
The Apple Store succeeded for pretty much every reason that JCPenny will fail under this new guidance.
The success of the Apple Store came from these reasons:
1) It showcased ONLY products made by/for Apple products. Many products can only be found in an Apple store or online.
2) Apple stores are small, intimate and minimalist by design. Almost boutique in feel.
3) Consumers were able to directly consult Apple employees before, during and after an Apple purchase for help, guidance and tech support.
4) Apple stores are chic, urban, hip and located in the most prominent urban areas. Its cool to shop at an Apple store.
5) Apple stores specialize in high end luxury consumer electronics & computers.
JCP shows products made by a variety of other manufacters that can be found in a variety of competitor's stores. Most of the competitors are located next door.
JCP stores are huge areas, located mainly in even larger shopping malls. They are so overwhelming in size, that it takes few minutes (or a store directory) for you locate the department that you'd even like to shop in. When you finally make it to the department you are looking for.. good luck sorting thru the huge mess of items to find your size, colour or version.
Consumers rarely need any consultation from JCP employee, except for someone to bring them these shoes in a size 9 or to ring them up. If JCP put all of their items out on the shelves and put in self-checkout lanes, there would be no need for JCP salespeople.
JCP is a department store. Theres nothing cool, hip or urban about a department store. If anything a dept store is something you find in suburbia and its filled with soccer moms.. who have their wild 7 year olds running crazy around the store.
JCP specializes low priced clothing, home goods & furnishings. Theres simply nothing upscale about the store itself or items they sale. If you are looking for luxury clothing & furnishings.. JCP is probably the 2nd to last dept store on your list. Only Walmart would be lower.
This partnership will never work. Johnson should have headed to Best Buy, instead of JCP. His experience and special talents would have been much more useful there.. and they could damn sure use him as their ship is quickly sinking.
It will get worse before it gets better. Pretty common thing, but for these zombie stock holders it's not good enough. M-U-S-T M-A-K-E M-O-N-E-Y N-O-W!!!
Are you saying that Apple products are cheap, low-end hardware wrapped in fancy marketing? Just asking.
I spent the last two days fixing a computer for my employer that has crapped out for the countless time because she doesn't understanding that buying cheap results in cheap. And she bought the cheapest ink cartridges and then failed to install one of them properly. It leaked and ruined the printer. *shakes his head*
Moral of the story - don't buy cheap if you want reliability. Now, back to the JCP story where "every day is cheap".
Well there are two types of cheap. There's Walmart cheap, and then there's Costco cheap. Walmart sells a lot of products that are cheap because they use low quality materials. People for the most part know it will be a piece of crap when they buy it, but it's so damn inexpensive it doesn't matter. They buy it anyway. Costco on the other hand offers mid-tier to premium goods (normally, but not always, in bulk) at far cheaper prices than you can find anywhere else. I've gone in Costco and have seen pants that cost $100. And I'm like damn thats a lot, but because it's Costco I know those pants are cheap. If I went anywhere else to buy them, I'd probably have to spend at least $50 more. I'm guessing that Penny's cheap is closer to the Costco type of cheap than the Walmart type of cheap.
The Mythbusters did in fact polish shit to a fairly high gloss. Myth/saying busted.
But we know what you really meant.
They polish a turd not by taking a fresh turd and attempting to polish it but condensing it and working over with pressure to a point that with water it can slowly become polished. That's a typical Myth buster crapola.
If there were one thing I find fault with, it's the reliance upon quarterly reports by most businesses. It makes long term change hard to bring about. Everything is too focused on the short term and an important balance is lost... Strategic planning often takes a year or more to begin to show it's impact..
You plan a course for several years, but you need a way to measure the progress. Internally, a company watches things on a weekly, daily, or even hourly or real-time basis to watch key metrics. Those are not appropriate for investors to see, but the data is still there, and there is internal accountability.
For our business line of credit, we needed to give our bank monthly reports initially. Any investor deserves to know the direction of your company so their money isn't held hostage.
They polish a turd not by taking a fresh turd and attempting to polish it but condensing it and working over with pressure to a point that with water it can slowly become polished. That's a typical Myth buster crapola.
Well, the old saying never specified the age and handling of the turd
The Apple Store succeeded for pretty much every reason that JCPenny will fail under this new guidance.
Well reasoned points, but do remember had a major role in converting Target Into what it is today. I think the identity of JCP is still a bit vague, and their problems aren't just marketing and merchandising. In fact, the one time I have been in a JCP in the past year, I made a mental note of just how much work there was to do. Expenses need to rise to improve the quality and image of the stores, while ensuring that customers aren't alienated leading to a short-term drop in revenue. This is exactly the model that worked for Apple, even if the birch tables are out.
In a broader sense though, I am not sure how a department store stays relevant today. Too many brand stores, too many discounters, and if someone wants to do one-stop shopping they go online.
I guess something to take away from this is that some of us shouldn't be losing it when Apple hires someone from Dixon's or Currys by saying they are the worst stores ever.
Ron, who made the Apple Stores is having problems outside of Apple, so maybe the guys who couldn't do much outside of Apple will shine in Apple. Here's hoping...
Ok mr. Ron Johnson are u listening??? I am one of those customers who will ONLY ENTER JCP with a coupon in hand or coupon discounted sales - since the last time I entered your JCP store at 34th st NYC and was told they dont accept coupons ANYMORE I never returned but instead walked up a 2 blocks to MACY'S where there was a plethora of sales with coupon discounts- so unless you return to this model JCP will continue to report losses... Oh well ...
Why do you need a coupon in order to purchase something? I'd rather have a price tag that says $15 vs. one that says $30, and another one that says 50% off. All JCP is trying to do is get rid of the markup to markdown phenomenon. But I guess for many people if they don't see a 30, 40 or 50% off sign they don't think they're getting a deal, even if in the end they're paying the same price.
Well reasoned points, but do remember had a major role in converting Target Into what it is today. I think the identity of JCP is still a bit vague, and their problems aren't just marketing and merchandising. In fact, the one time I have been in a JCP in the past year, I made a mental note of just how much work there was to do. Expenses need to rise to improve the quality and image of the stores, while ensuring that customers aren't alienated leading to a short-term drop in revenue. This is exactly the model that worked for Apple, even if the birch tables are out.
In a broader sense though, I am not sure how a department store stays relevant today. Too many brand stores, too many discounters, and if someone wants to do one-stop shopping they go online.
I'm sure they're having a hard time competing with Kohls, and nearly everything at Kohls is on sale all the time. It's very hard to break people of the discount/sale mentality, People expect to see sale signs and markdowns and if they don't see them they don't think they're getting a deal. And people not hooked on coupons were probably never shopping at JCP anyway. So the ony way you pull in fresh blood is via good quality product, which sadly in many cases JCP doesn't have.
Step one would be getting rid of those god awful new commercials, like that one with the dog jumping through the hoop over and over again. Yeah, I get what they are trying to say, but it's far too abstract and flat out annoying.
I have been meaning to point out the Ron Johnston seems to believe as James Cash Penney did. Back in the day the stores were not allowed to have sales. They constantly and effectively advertised and sold the best price merchandise. Once he passed the bean counters decided to do it the modern way and have sales. It has been down hill for the merchants of main street ever since.
Everyday low prices are good but you don't get rid of sales entirely because you take away the urgency to buy and then customers end up buying somewhere else that gives them that urgency.
IIRC from articles about his plan when it was first getting put in place, they do still have sales, but they are set to specific weekends each month, something like "Every 2nd weekend of a month". So you have consistently lower prices, the same you would have been paying w/those coupons, and can still get coupon deals at specific times. The problem is they're advertising it as "Do the math", when a lot of people really suck at math. It's a multi-year plan and 6 months isn't enough time to turn it around. The question will be if the investors will give him the time he needs or not.
The feeling people get from buying something... is an adrenaline rush. Euphoria. Almost like a mild drug.
Taking the time to track down a sale, or clip a coupon... just the foreplay feeling of "Oh we have to get to JCPenny this weekend, there is a big sale"... well all that heightens that feeling of euphoria.
Even people who HATE shopping feel better when buying at a sale, or with a coupon, cause they feel they've beaten the system "Yeah I have to shop... but you're not getting me with out a fight! Take this coupon!!"
So getting rid of the sales, and the coupons... people will chase that fix elsewhere.
I've said it before...Americans equate "good value" with "cheap!" as in cheap s**t. Apple is the exception to the rule. Except for Apple, American retail is dominated by Walmart and maybe Amazon. Cheap Chinese crap (Walmart), cheap crappy cars, (GM), cheap crappy software, (MS), cheap crappy drinks, (Cocoa Cola) cheap crappy food, (MacDonalds) cheap crappy PC's (HP & Dell), cheap crappy phones, (Moto, Nokia, etc.) cheap crappy beer, (Budwieser/inBev), cheap crappy Congress, (Congress).
P.S. Is it just me or is AI just about unusable on the iPhone? Helloooooooooooooo come on Ai get an iPhone App already. If there is one already, "My bad!
MS software is "crapy" but it is certainly not "cheap". MS makes some of the most absurdly overpriced software out there. Look how much Windows costs. And then look at how much Office costs. they just reskin, fix some bugs and release a new version every year while charging insane prices. And people are so stupid they buy it. which is the real problem. The vast majority of Americans are so stupid they need to be told what to do.
I noticed the attractive new ads on television in recent months which are comparable to those from Target. They have reminded me there is such a store as JC Penny which is good but I am not a bargain or price conscious shopper so I was not taking away that message away from the ads just admired the art direction. The ads may be too sophisticated for the intended audience, maybe flash some $ signs and just say "low low prices" every 3 seconds to get people back in the stores.
Comments
Here's what's wrong with JCP....
The don't keep their store clean and organized. It's a pig sty. When I enter a store like that, I think "bad management", "they don't care" and they have no respect for their customer. The last two times I went to JCP it was on a Sunday morning at store opening. Both times, the clothes were scattered and unorganized, like they had been hit hard by a sale. There was dirt and scraps of paper on the floor. It was disgusting. So, I brought this to their attention and gave them the benefit of the doubt that they might take it to heart and clean it up. Nope. Next time (and my last time), it was the exact same. They aren't bothering to clean up on Saturday before they go home. I'm sorry, but I refuse to shop somewhere like that.
Maybe this dude can turn it around. But, he's going to have to stop overlooking the obvious and he's going to have to do it without me 'cause I'm not going back.
The Apple Store succeeded for pretty much every reason that JCPenny will fail under this new guidance.
The success of the Apple Store came from these reasons:
1) It showcased ONLY products made by/for Apple products. Many products can only be found in an Apple store or online.
2) Apple stores are small, intimate and minimalist by design. Almost boutique in feel.
3) Consumers were able to directly consult Apple employees before, during and after an Apple purchase for help, guidance and tech support.
4) Apple stores are chic, urban, hip and located in the most prominent urban areas. Its cool to shop at an Apple store.
5) Apple stores specialize in high end luxury consumer electronics & computers.
JCP shows products made by a variety of other manufacters that can be found in a variety of competitor's stores. Most of the competitors are located next door.
JCP stores are huge areas, located mainly in even larger shopping malls. They are so overwhelming in size, that it takes few minutes (or a store directory) for you locate the department that you'd even like to shop in. When you finally make it to the department you are looking for.. good luck sorting thru the huge mess of items to find your size, colour or version.
Consumers rarely need any consultation from JCP employee, except for someone to bring them these shoes in a size 9 or to ring them up. If JCP put all of their items out on the shelves and put in self-checkout lanes, there would be no need for JCP salespeople.
JCP is a department store. Theres nothing cool, hip or urban about a department store. If anything a dept store is something you find in suburbia and its filled with soccer moms.. who have their wild 7 year olds running crazy around the store.
JCP specializes low priced clothing, home goods & furnishings. Theres simply nothing upscale about the store itself or items they sale. If you are looking for luxury clothing & furnishings.. JCP is probably the 2nd to last dept store on your list. Only Walmart would be lower.
This partnership will never work. Johnson should have headed to Best Buy, instead of JCP. His experience and special talents would have been much more useful there.. and they could damn sure use him as their ship is quickly sinking.
It will get worse before it gets better. Pretty common thing, but for these zombie stock holders it's not good enough. M-U-S-T M-A-K-E M-O-N-E-Y N-O-W!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by coolfactor
Are you saying that Apple products are cheap, low-end hardware wrapped in fancy marketing? Just asking.
I spent the last two days fixing a computer for my employer that has crapped out for the countless time because she doesn't understanding that buying cheap results in cheap. And she bought the cheapest ink cartridges and then failed to install one of them properly. It leaked and ruined the printer. *shakes his head*
Moral of the story - don't buy cheap if you want reliability. Now, back to the JCP story where "every day is cheap".
Well there are two types of cheap. There's Walmart cheap, and then there's Costco cheap. Walmart sells a lot of products that are cheap because they use low quality materials. People for the most part know it will be a piece of crap when they buy it, but it's so damn inexpensive it doesn't matter. They buy it anyway. Costco on the other hand offers mid-tier to premium goods (normally, but not always, in bulk) at far cheaper prices than you can find anywhere else. I've gone in Costco and have seen pants that cost $100. And I'm like damn thats a lot, but because it's Costco I know those pants are cheap. If I went anywhere else to buy them, I'd probably have to spend at least $50 more. I'm guessing that Penny's cheap is closer to the Costco type of cheap than the Walmart type of cheap.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hiro
The Mythbusters did in fact polish shit to a fairly high gloss. Myth/saying busted.
But we know what you really meant.
They polish a turd not by taking a fresh turd and attempting to polish it but condensing it and working over with pressure to a point that with water it can slowly become polished. That's a typical Myth buster crapola.
You plan a course for several years, but you need a way to measure the progress. Internally, a company watches things on a weekly, daily, or even hourly or real-time basis to watch key metrics. Those are not appropriate for investors to see, but the data is still there, and there is internal accountability.
For our business line of credit, we needed to give our bank monthly reports initially. Any investor deserves to know the direction of your company so their money isn't held hostage.
Well, the old saying never specified the age and handling of the turd
Well reasoned points, but do remember had a major role in converting Target Into what it is today. I think the identity of JCP is still a bit vague, and their problems aren't just marketing and merchandising. In fact, the one time I have been in a JCP in the past year, I made a mental note of just how much work there was to do. Expenses need to rise to improve the quality and image of the stores, while ensuring that customers aren't alienated leading to a short-term drop in revenue. This is exactly the model that worked for Apple, even if the birch tables are out.
In a broader sense though, I am not sure how a department store stays relevant today. Too many brand stores, too many discounters, and if someone wants to do one-stop shopping they go online.
If I want real cloths I go to Macys/Nordstroms/ect.
If I want throw away cloths I go to Targer.
I would not go to JC Pennys to buy Target quality clothing at Macys prices.
I guess something to take away from this is that some of us shouldn't be losing it when Apple hires someone from Dixon's or Currys by saying they are the worst stores ever.
Ron, who made the Apple Stores is having problems outside of Apple, so maybe the guys who couldn't do much outside of Apple will shine in Apple. Here's hoping...
I have been meaning to point out the Ron Johnston seems to believe as James Cash Penney did. Back in the day the stores were not allowed to have sales. They constantly and effectively advertised and sold the best price merchandise. Once he passed the bean counters decided to do it the modern way and have sales. It has been down hill for the merchants of main street ever since.
it may not be what he wants from the stand point of doing this on his own, but it will work, and that should be all he cares about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
Everyday low prices are good but you don't get rid of sales entirely because you take away the urgency to buy and then customers end up buying somewhere else that gives them that urgency.
IIRC from articles about his plan when it was first getting put in place, they do still have sales, but they are set to specific weekends each month, something like "Every 2nd weekend of a month". So you have consistently lower prices, the same you would have been paying w/those coupons, and can still get coupon deals at specific times. The problem is they're advertising it as "Do the math", when a lot of people really suck at math. It's a multi-year plan and 6 months isn't enough time to turn it around. The question will be if the investors will give him the time he needs or not.
The feeling people get from buying something... is an adrenaline rush. Euphoria. Almost like a mild drug.
Taking the time to track down a sale, or clip a coupon... just the foreplay feeling of "Oh we have to get to JCPenny this weekend, there is a big sale"... well all that heightens that feeling of euphoria.
Even people who HATE shopping feel better when buying at a sale, or with a coupon, cause they feel they've beaten the system "Yeah I have to shop... but you're not getting me with out a fight! Take this coupon!!"
So getting rid of the sales, and the coupons... people will chase that fix elsewhere.
Look!!! Sears is having a sale!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by christopher126
I've said it before...Americans equate "good value" with "cheap!" as in cheap s**t. Apple is the exception to the rule. Except for Apple, American retail is dominated by Walmart and maybe Amazon. Cheap Chinese crap (Walmart), cheap crappy cars, (GM), cheap crappy software, (MS), cheap crappy drinks, (Cocoa Cola) cheap crappy food, (MacDonalds) cheap crappy PC's (HP & Dell), cheap crappy phones, (Moto, Nokia, etc.) cheap crappy beer, (Budwieser/inBev), cheap crappy Congress, (Congress).
P.S. Is it just me or is AI just about unusable on the iPhone? Helloooooooooooooo
MS software is "crapy" but it is certainly not "cheap". MS makes some of the most absurdly overpriced software out there. Look how much Windows costs. And then look at how much Office costs. they just reskin, fix some bugs and release a new version every year while charging insane prices. And people are so stupid they buy it. which is the real problem. The vast majority of Americans are so stupid they need to be told what to do.
I noticed the attractive new ads on television in recent months which are comparable to those from Target. They have reminded me there is such a store as JC Penny which is good but I am not a bargain or price conscious shopper so I was not taking away that message away from the ads just admired the art direction. The ads may be too sophisticated for the intended audience, maybe flash some $ signs and just say "low low prices" every 3 seconds to get people back in the stores.