3 ms·
I'm sad to see this happen. But even 15 years ago they were having problems - some stores had talented buyers and would stock good clothes, and others were not
by chiph 6y ago
I'm sad to see this happen. But even 15 years ago they were having problems - some stores had talented buyers and would stock good clothes, and others were not much better than a K-Mart. I haven't been in a "good" Penny's since then.
Starting around 2012 they entered a steep decline which can only be blamed on the poor leadership of Ron Johnson, the former Apple retail exec. He tried to take them up-market by switching to name-brands, and changed their name to "JCP" (for some reason). But the typical Penny's shopper just wants good clothing at a reasonable price, and to save some money with a coupon. He totally misread the customer base.
- pfranz 6y agoI actually liked the changes I saw when Ron Johnson was hired on. It was the first time I consistently stopped at a department store since my mom dragged me as a kid. It was the only department store that got rid of the "regular price $99, this shelf 40% off, yellow tags $30 off" nonsense. From what I heard, their customers liked the price gamification. I'm not one for name-brands, but the quality and style seemed a step up from basics at other stores and the straightforward prices seemed reasonable. I do buy the story that they were losing their old clientele much faster than they could attract a new clientele--maybe that new clientele was never coming in a sustainable way. But when he was swapped out I immediately saw those things change back and stopped going. All of the department stores seem to be in the same boat. Sears had two silly logo redesigns in the past 15 years, but didn't seem to even try to pursue new customers.