Community Chat

[Spurt]

---

@AuntG wrote:

I'm a fan of JCP but I haven't been to our mall in two years.

---

@AuntG 

Some of our JCP have moved out of the mall and into smaller shopping centers---thats where more in store shoppers go around here....

[Spurt]

---

@millieshops wrote:

@Spurt   I know they still had a bit of time when he took over, but the chances were pretty slim.

like you, I knew people who worked for JCP in its better days.  Played cards every week for years with one of the first women to ever work on the corporate level.  By the time I knew her she was managing a store in Nassau County on Long Island.  She took early retirement even before I retired in 1999 because she thought she saw the future.  Two of her adult children also worked JCP on the management level--  lost their jobs even before that unfortunate hiring.

Although I dislike the disappearance of companies that have been a fixture of my town/area all my long life, it's more because they represent stability than that I actually shopped them all the time.  That's certainly true for JCP.  I remember going there with my mother to help pick out fabric for new school clothes- I'd guess that memory is no later than 1950.  Since 2000?  Maybe I bought a pair of stockings one year- maybe.  Sadly for companies, nostalgia doesn't automatically sell.

---

@millieshops 

Around here JCP NEVER sold fabric---that was Montgomery Wards and a place called Solo Serve---both are gone----

JCP was where my mom shopped for our school clothes, home goods, bras and underwear etc.....and as adults we shopped their for clothes, underwear, drapes, curtains, towels, and even jewelry....But as I said when I  walk in to their store its 95% clothes and little else---too many places to purchase clothes these days---virtually very little home goods and kitchen items are missing too...

[millieshops]

@Spurt JCP was the only place in my little PA town to buy fabric and was also the only place that sold clothes for men and children,  Women could buy there or at one small, locally owned shop.  And when I moved to eastern LI in the early 1960's, at least some of the JCP stores had a fabric/sewing department. 

[gardenman]

Retail is brutally Darwinian. You can be on top and go to the bottom in a hurry. Whatever you're good at, competitors will study, copy, and maybe improve on.

Retailers tend to forget what they're good at and why customers shop there. They try to follow a trend and trends tend to be short-lived. Do what you do best and hope for the best, but the reality is every retailer fails. It's just a question of when will they fail. Very few succeed for long.

At www.thebalancesmb.com you can find a list of the oldest surviving retailers in America. Brooks Brothers is the oldest having started in 1818. They're in trouble. Lord and Taylor started in 1826, they're in trouble. Macy's started in 1858, they're in trouble.

Retail is just impossible to dominate for long. Someone will figure out what you're doing and copy it. They may be willing to accept a smaller profit. They may have a better concept. They may see a way to improve on what you do. They may see a way to do what you do at a lower cost.

Unless you're doing something no one else can do, someone will find a way to do what you do better than you, cheaper than you, and put you out of business.

People talk of Amazon being unstoppable. Uh, no. They were in good shape for a while with their new product offerings you could only get through them. Fire TV sticks were great. Fire tablets were great. Echo was great. What are they doing now? It's been a while since they came out with anything new. Their newer tablets aren't even trying to compete with the higher-end tablets. They've just decided to focus on the lower-end market. Where is their new revolutionary product you can only get through them? Where is a new product that forces Apple, Microsoft, or Google to respond? What is Amazon doing now that no one else can do? As far as I can tell, nothing. And that'll cost them down the road.

[SouthernBee]

@millieshops : I worked at JCP in 1971/72 my junior and senior year of high school. They sold fabric and sewing supplies. Plus had layaway. I purchased everything needed to make my school clothes and put everything on layaway. Perfect with the employee discount and sales. I live in Georgia. Wonderful memories with JCP.

[lmt]

I hate to hear about stores struggling.

I've bought so much stuff at JCP over the years. I used to love their clothes, especially the Crazy Horse line from years ago. I haven't bought any clothes from them in years since I think the quality went downhill.

The only thing I still buy from them are bath towels and bath rugs.

In recent years, the JCP in our mall has really cut back on inventory. They used to have a really nice kitchen department. On a recent visit I was shocked to see almost everything in that department is gone. The bedding department has been cut down to almost nothing. At one time they had a great shoe department. Now it's self-serve and boxes are just a jumbled mess. 

So sad.  

[Diva on The Q]

J.C. Penney and Sears stores are closed in my area. I sure miss shopping there. Most of all, I miss those big catalogs!

[Duckncover]

JCP has been closing stores for years,just as so many other iconic dept stores are doing. Their website won an award years ago for how well it was done, so guess that is keeping them afloat, even if it is in the shallow end.

[Duckncover]

JCP's biggest mistake was bringing in the new CEO several years ago from Apple. He was a disaster, had no idea how to manage a company like JCP and turned away from the entire demographic that had made JCP an iconic American dept store. Putting iPads and beanbag chairs in each dept for customers to " relax and shop" in went over like a lead balloon.  He was fired, but it wasn't soon enough.  Tried to change the image of JCP into something Mr. Penney never intended it to be.  JCPenney was a straight-laced businessman and he wouldn't even allow his stores stores to sell wine glasses until after his death....and JCP company continues its downward spiral. 
Some stores could have survived longer if they had listened to what customers wanted and given it to them. Customer loyalty should never be taken for granted. 

[teganslaw]

The JCP in my town is still open and has some nice clothes. It's in a mall, and I notice people shopping there. I've been going to their salon for the past few years, so I hope that they can stay in business.  So far, this JCP isn't on the list of closures.