Retail Consultant Bob Phibbs has a great article on his blog about the demise of JC Penney. He writes from the stance of someone who wanted to see JCP’s no-sale, no-coupons stance to work. But, he recently toured a JC Penney store with the intent to simply buy some curtains for his home, and his observations on the state of the store are interesting to read.
From the article:
As you may know, when Ron Johnson outlawed drug-like coupons from J.C. Penney earlier this year, I was thrilled for the message to other retailers.
Because J.C. Penney had started as the Golden Rule Store, I wanted the transformation to work. I had written about and counted on them for great service and value.
So when I met a colleague for dinner last week, we toured the local J.C. Penney which had a few of the new shop-within-a-shops. Store Christmas decorations looked like something you’d find in a Rite Aid or supermarket.
We walked past a dozen employees, who offered not one word of hello or welcome.
And everywhere -even though Ron Johnson had said that Penney’s would be a place without sales and discounts, were signs showing exactly the opposite.
And here are the lessons every retailer should be learning from the J.C. Penney train wreck…
This miserable transformation from one of rural America’s bedrock retailers has all been about what Ron wants, not what JC Penney’s customers wanted.
The article also notes that despite JCP saying there would be no more coupons, the 20% off coupon they sent out last weekend was called a coupon in the fine print. And today, they sent out more 20% off coupons to shoppers.
And guess what – when that 20% off coupon was active over the weekend, I went to JC Penney for the first time in a long time. And I was surprised to see sales and clearance racks throughout the Algonquin store. I picked up a pair of flats that were marked down to $15 ($12 after coupon) and some awesome shirts with capes for my sons, who always want to pretend they’re superheroes. The cape-shirts were marked down to $3, and I paid $2.40 with coupon. Fun little deals. But if I hadn’t had a coupon in hand, I woudn’t have had a reason to go to the store. The fact that they’re issuing another one seems to indicate that last week’s coupon did get people in the stores again, and that their no-coupons stance may again be changing.
Read the entire article at RetailDoc.com
Coupon Maven says
When I was looking for a photo of the cape shirts to link, I looked on JCP’s site, and while they are sold out of the bigger boy sizes, as of right now they do still have them in 2T-5T for $3 with free ship-to-store. They’re -really- cute if you need a cheap gift idea for a young boy. The cape detatches with Velcro on each shoulder so you can wear it without the cape too.
addicted says
about what they want to be. Or, they want to be something that their customers don’t want and they can’t admit it.
I also was recently brought back into the store after having not shopped there since January. I had received a $10 certificate via email. So I went to the store and was surprised to see a sign above the men’s dress shirts that said “sale.” It was not in very big print, so as not to be too obvious, but it definitely was a sale price. However, when I took the shirt to the cashier, it did not ring up the sale price. I told the cashier about the sign and she looked very confused. She told me “we have one price only.” I said I know, BUT, come with me and I’ll show you the sign. She was quite surprised as well when she saw it! This was back in October. It looks like they have gradually been increasing the sales since then. I wonder if it is going to be a permanent change or just through the holiday season.
Personally, I don’t care for the big Sephora box in the middle of the store. . .ie Sephora “shop.” It really intrudes on the overall atmosphere and it’s kind of annoying that I can’t see clear across the interior of JCP anymore. I don’t get how the shop-within-a-store is appealing.