Jc Penny
|
JC Penney was once a fashion icon to children, young adults, and teens. Beginning in 1913 it currently operates over 1000 stores. Growing up my sister and I waited to go through their catalogue. We would circle everything we wanted. We would even get our hair cut the same way some of their models did. I went as far as crimping my hair because the model had her hair crimped. Every summer before school started my Grandma would take us shopping at Penney’s for new school clothes. This company is near and dear to my heart. However, even though it has been operating for 100 years it has started failing. This is not the first time that this company has been faced with adversity. The first time was in the 1960’s when shopping went from downtown locations to more uptown locations in malls. The company transitioned to mall locations to cope with the change. This time the change did not come easy to the company. In fact this change has cost the company millions. This time JC Penney’s was faced with a challenge that they wanted to change. They wanted to transition the public’s perception of them. They no longer wanted to be viewed as an old fashioned department store. The company no longer wanted sales or clearance racks. They wanted to change the whole retail climate. They called it fair and square pricing (Baskin, 2013). This came off a lot like Wal-Mart’s always low prices campaign. This sounds like a great idea to me. However, it failed for many reasons. The main reason because it was confusing to consumers. While the other main reason being poor marketing. Many people sat in anticipation of this new campaign by JCPenney’s. There were just as many supporters in the beginning as well. When I heard of this I thought of an upscale Wal-Mart. Low prices I do not have to shop for sales anymore because these should be low prices every day. However, very shortly after this I found myself not shopping there at all. Consumers want a deal, and
JC Penney was once a fashion icon to children, young adults, and teens. Beginning in 1913 it currently operates over 1000 stores. Growing up my sister and I waited to go through their catalogue. We would circle everything we wanted. We would even get our hair cut the same way some of their models did. I went as far as crimping my hair because the model had her hair crimped. Every summer before school started my Grandma would take us shopping at Penney’s for new school clothes. This company is near and dear to my heart. However, even though it has been operating for 100 years it has started failing. This is not the first time that this company has been faced with adversity. The first time was in the 1960’s when shopping went from downtown locations to more uptown locations in malls. The company transitioned to mall locations to cope with the change. This time the change did not come easy to the company. In fact this change has cost the company millions. This time JC Penney’s was faced with a challenge that they wanted to change. They wanted to transition the public’s perception of them. They no longer wanted to be viewed as an old fashioned department store. The company no longer wanted sales or clearance racks. They wanted to change the whole retail climate. They called it fair and square pricing (Baskin, 2013). This came off a lot like Wal-Mart’s always low prices campaign. This sounds like a great idea to me. However, it failed for many reasons. The main reason because it was confusing to consumers. While the other main reason being poor marketing. Many people sat in anticipation of this new campaign by JCPenney’s. There were just as many supporters in the beginning as well. When I heard of this I thought of an upscale Wal-Mart. Low prices I do not have to shop for sales anymore because these should be low prices every day. However, very shortly after this I found myself not shopping there at all. Consumers want a deal, and
Cited: Baskin, J. (2013, January 2). Lessons From JC Penney 's Doomed Marketing Makeover. Retrieved May 12, 2013 , from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2013/01/02/lessons-from-j-c-penneys-doomed-marketing-makeover/ Tuttle, B. (2012, June 19). More Troubles for JCPenney: Top Executive Departs Amid Sales Slump. Retrieved May 12, 2013, from Time Magazine: http://business.time.com/2012/06/19/more-troubles-for-jcpenney-top-executive-departs-amid-sales-slump/