...While some of the department stores covered by this Survey beat our same-store sales estimates for the first half of 2011, some lagged behind. (For details, see the “Same-Store Sales of Selected Department Stores and Discounters” table on the previous page.) Most of the moderate-price department stores such as J.C. Penney and Kohl’s fell behind expectations. On the other hand, discounters such as Dollar Tree Stores and Dollar General reported relatively strong gains in the first and second quarters of 2011. The better department stores such as Saks and Nordstrom have been able to attract upper-income households with limited sales promotions, by offering convenience and a superior shopping experience. These stores are sticking to their core strategies: they are actively striving to come up with innovative marketing programs and customer services, and selling exclusive designer products. (Adams Media Research, 2012) [pic] J.C. Penney and Kohl’s both posted modest sales gains in the first and second quarters. While middle-income consumers are showing reasonable caution in their spending behavior, they’re willing to go slightly over budget when the merchandise is right. Overall, discounters exceeded our same-store sales expectations for the first half of 2011, reflecting stable consumer demand for everyday necessities. Among the big box discounters, we believe Target benefited from an expanded assortment of food and allied categories. We also think the company...
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...J.C. Penney’s Real Problem: The Shrinking Middle Class * Rita McGrath April 12, 2013 Ron Johnson’s office seat has barely cooled off following his departure as business observers everywhere dissect what went so dreadfully wrong at J.C. Penney. The former Apple executive was too Silicon Valley for the Plano, Texas, retailer. He was arrogant. He didn’t test his ideas, maintaining the Apple mantra that customers don’t know what they want until you show it to them. He approved marketing campaigns that told loyal Penney’s shoppers that “you deserve to look better,” basically telling them that they looked less than glamorous wearing the brand they had trusted and been comfortable with for years. He hoarded information so that individual store merchandisers didn’t know how various lines were performing. He mocked J.C. Penney’s ways of doing things. He abandoned the discounting customers had come to expect from retailers. And he, and most of the team he recruited, were commuter leaders, jetting back to California after cramming in marathon work sessions at headquarters. These factors certainly couldn’t have helped. I think, however, there’s one major reason behind J.C. Penney’s sudden swoon that not enough commentators are picking up on. There’s one big reason JCP would never be “Bloomingdale’s for the mass market,” as Johnson wanted it to be, and that’s because the mass market is gone. Because the middle class is gone, or at least rapidly going. This reflects a troubling development...
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...Assignment: Internet Technology, Marketing, and Security Executive Summary of Internet Technology, Marketing, and Security In society companies spent a lot of money on branding their company’s image. Due to the rapid growth in technology, the internet has become the fastest way to expand many marketing campaigns. Many companies number one priority is to ensure that their company’s image is maintained while making a profit. Security risks are more likely to take place on the internet because of many companies lack of safeguard focus of customer’s information. The Evaluation of JC Penney’s Production and Corporation Information J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is one of America's leading retailers, operates over 1,100 department stores throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as one of the largest apparel and home furnishing sites on the Internet, jcp.com. Serving more than half of America’s families each year, the JC Penney brand offers a wide array of private, exclusive and national brands which reflect the Company’s vision to be America’s shopping destination for discovering great styles at compelling prices. Traded as “JCP” on the New York Stock Exchange, the $17.8 billion retailer is transforming its organization to support its Long Range Plan strategies to build a sustainable, profitable enterprise that serves its customers, engages it associates and rewards its shareholders (JC Penney, 20111 JC Penney...
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...Corporate Strategy Benchmarking Composition By Kelli Schroeder I chose JC Penny and Harley Davidson as my two companies to research for this assignment. JC Penney was founded in 1902 with the opening of its first stores along the west coast in small mining towns. It was popular because it brought goods at “one fair price” and also led the way to bring east coast fashions to the west. In 1963 JC Penney mailed the first catalogs out to customers in eight states and paved the way for the mail order business. What made this company strong, fashion at a fair price, was lost among the plethora of items from cookware to scarves that they now sold by mail, and later in stores. ("International directory of," 199) The early nineties brought struggles of competition with lower end stores like Wal-Mart and midrange stores such as Kohl’s. JC Penney found their merchandise had become diverse like Wal-Mart; however, their prices were higher like their competing boutique stores. Product value was perceived by consumers to be suffering. Profits for the more than 1200 stores fell two percent in only one year, leading JC Penney in have the worst performance of its peers in 2011. (Clifford, 2012) Harley Davidson has also struggled with the same issue of losing itself amongst fierce competition and diversification. Harley-Davidson began in a shed in 1903 by two brothers who set out to make the best American made motorcycles that money could buy. As Harley-Davidson became more successful...
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...Beverley-Wagner, Megan Hackel, Eric Cantu, and Charles Dougherty RES/351 July 21, 2014 Marcus Sherrill Preparing to Conduct Business Research: Part 1 J.C. Penny J.C. Penny Corporation, Inc., is an American retail company that was founded in 1902 by James Cash Penny. The company was called J.C. Penny Stores Company from 1913 to 1924 and then was reincorporated in 1968 to present as J.C. Penny Co. The firm was incorporated in 1913 and the following year the company moved its headquarters to New York City. In 1927 J.C. Penny Co., became a publically traded corporation. J.C. Penny Co. has been a household name for decades, but has seen its share of financial difficulties. Now the company is in the process of changing their culture, as it has discontinued its traditional catalog sales, and created a profitable internet shopping site. The issue that J. C. Penney is facing includes dramatic losses in sales, profits, and stock value. They recently hit a 55 week low with their stock value. They have brought back a former CEO Myron Ullman III to make some changes which does open the door for some new possibilities as well. They are currently making changes by closing 33 stores that have been underperforming to make up some of those losses and project that to make some significant differences. Other issues that come with that are the 2,000 employees that will be laid off as a result. They are battling some tough situations with the economy not in the best place for the retail business...
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...JC Penney (JCP) just after a successful turnaround? JCP was originated by a dry goods and clothing store in 1902. In 1907, Penney bought the stakes of his partners and concentrated on expanding the number of stores. The JC Penney Company was incorporated in 1924 and it had been running successfully. Until 1990s, the expansion model had started to show up problems. When competitors were going in for centralized merchandising and inventory systems, JCP was still using a decentralized system of purchasing which resulted in stretched out lead times. JCP was no longer perceived as different from its competitors. Its financials and share prices also plummeted. Luckily, between 1999 and 2004, there was a turnaround in JCP. It was orchestrated by Castagna and Questrom, who joined JCP as COO in 1999 and as Chairman and CEO in 2000 respectively. They were the first outsiders to join JCP in their respective positions. Turnaround occurred in aspects below: 1. To centralize the buying activities and revamp the stores, funds were needed. The funds were raised through the sale of JCP’s Direct Marketing Services (DMS), which sold insurance and travel and auto club programs. It led to significant working-capital improvement. 2. JCP has also closed down 120 outlets that were not performing well. It generated an increase in free cash flow. 3. Ad campaigns were launched and the stores were given a face-lift. New designers were brought in from the competitors. JCP also dealt with apparel...
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...the rebrand Financial Analysis of Jc Penny A brief overview of the rebrand History J.C. Penney Company, Inc has about 1,100 stores in all 50 states. J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCPenney) is the second largest department store in the United States behind Sears Roebuck. JCPenneys’ name came from James Cash Penney who started his first retail store in 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming, a small mining town when his was 26 years old called Golden Rule. Even though the local banker cautioned Penney against opening a "cash only" store, since three other previous investor attempts failed, Penney still proceeded. In Penney's 1st year, the store successfully made $28,898 in sales. By 1913, Penney changed the company’s name to J.C. Penney Company, Inc. and moved the corporate headquarters to New York City to be closer to manufacturers and suppliers. Private label brands were a major reason for the success of the company; JC Penney could determine the price and used this to increase his profit margin. Some private label examples include Belle Isle, Ramona, and Honor Brand. In 1929 the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. When the Great Depression hit, the company cut back its inventory and purchased goods at lower prices so it could pass the savings on to customers. The company's profits even increased during the Depression and the number of stores grew to 1,496. During World War II, Materials and merchandise were scarce, yet the company increased its sales to $500 million in...
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...TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research Documents The Research Paper Factory JoinSearchBrowseSaved Papers Home Page » Business and Management Jc Penney In: Business and Management Jc Penney 1. I feel J.C. Penney’s strategy is to do with away constant “sales” and have every day lower prices. I also feel that Penney’s will favor the promotion of brand names and doing away with in-house labels. 2. Yes I think Penney’s has a good strategy for growth. The new CEO Ron Johnson is providing direction and encouraging new ideas. By using the “apple” model for Penney’s he is incorporating new ideas. Mr. Johnson is trying to develop a competitive advantage by changing the way Penney’s does business. His ideas are innovative and are being responsive to customers. Finally by offering brand names he is promoting quality over cheaper in-house labels. 3. Ron Johnson has established the mission and vision with his vision on how Penney’s needs to change to become competitive. He has established the grand strategy by assessing Penney’s current performance and lays out the game plan on how the mission will be accomplished. Mr. Johnson has clearly formulated his strategy by analyzing Penney’s internal problems along with the problems they have are facing from their competitors. Penney’s is currently n the strategy implementation part of the process this will take much investment but cost cutting and the elimination of sales have...
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...Company Analysis and Comparison: JC Penney (JCP) and Target (TGT) Becky Kennedy FINC 350 A Professor Mason February 1, 2015 JC Penney and Target are a huge presence in the retail industry. Both companies specialize in the sale of merchandise and service to consumers through retail stores and e-commerce. Target and JC Penney are companies that are part of an industry known for its competitiveness and few barriers to entry. They compete with other local, national and regional retailers for resources such as customers, employees, locations, merchandise, and other aspects of the retail business. Both companies have stores at several locations throughout the United States, with both company’s operating results depending on their ability to predict and respond to changes in trends and customer preferences by providing consumers with quality merchandise at competitive prices. Both companies face the same kinds of risks. The answers are in the way they are managed. The retail industry is risky with Target and JC Penney both struggling with issues resulting in lost revenue. Risks faced by companies in the retail industry most likely include competition, marketing, branding, employee/customer retention, supply chain management, financial management, data management and much more. Target suffered from a data breach at the end of 2013 that proved to be costly and they are still subject to investigations and private litigations costing them millions of dollars. JC Penney has suffered...
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...MGT 500 WK 7 ASSIGNMENT 2 MGT 500 WK 7 Assignment 2 - Management at J.C. Penney Company, Inc. Using the Internet research J. C. Penney Company, Inc. from its inception to current-day operations. Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you: 1. Evaluate two (2) key changes in J.C. Penney’s management’s style from the company’s inception to the current day. Indicate whether or not you believe the company is properly managed today. Provide support for your position. 2. Explain senior management’s role in preparing the organization to shift from a catalog-based retailer to an Internet retailer. Provide evidence of whether the transition was seamless or problematic from a management perspective. Provide support for your rationale. 3. Evaluate management’s decision to use celebrities as key merchandise vendors and spokespersons. Indicate the organizational impact of these decisions. More Details hidden... Activity modeaims to provide quality study notes and tutorials to the students of MGT 500 WK 7 Assignment 2 in order to ace their studies. MGT 500 WK 7 ASSIGNMENT 2 To purchase this visit here: http://www.activitymode.com/product/mgt-500-wk-7-assignment-2/ Contact us at: SUPPORT@ACTIVITYMODE.COM MGT 500 WK 7 ASSIGNMENT 2 MGT 500 WK 7 Assignment 2 - Management at J.C. Penney Company, Inc. Using the Internet research J. C. Penney Company, Inc. from its inception to current-day operations. Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you: 1. Evaluate...
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...Ullman and hired Ron Johnson who at the time was the head of retail operations at Apple. (Buffett, 2013) The decision seemed to be a win for the retailer, but that would soon prove false. J.C. Penney saw loss of cells before the Recession, and the poor economic times didn’t help this failing retailer. It seemed to be a no brainer to hire Ron Johnson especially at a time when Apple was a powerhouse. Once Johnson came on board he tried to revamp the brand to by giving it a snappier name. They made Ellen DeGeneres the face of the brand, and because Johnson believed that the sales and deep discounts were old, they announce the new JCP would have everyday “low prices.” JCP also partnered with Martha Stewart for a retail boutique within the store. In the end, J.C. Penney’s attempt to portray a younger, hip image failed tremendously. (2012) Johnson would only last two years before being dismissed leaving behind a 50% loss in stock value, 1 billion in the red and a lawsuit stemming from the $200 million dollar contract with Martha Stewart. There were even reports of backlash from some citing their bold new marketing plan including homosexuals. (Lynch, 2012) They didn’t like the fact that JCP was now pushing a lesbian as their spokesperson, and even included same sex couples in their ads. (Lynch, 2012) In April, 2013, Johnson was fired and surprising Myron Ullman has returned to reign over J.C. Penney....
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...Introduction The country in which JC Penny does not currently do business is Iran. There are many reasons why business is not currently done in that country. This paper will cover Iran's financial perspective and business environment. It will also cover if JC Penny should venture out on its own or if it should merge with an existing Iranian company, upon choosing to do business there. Lastly it will cover risks, and payment plans if they were to go thru with the expansion into Iran. The country’s fundamental business environment from a financial perspective JC Penny is not currently doing business in Iran and for good reasons. Of all the countries in the world, the United States has the most abundant of international sanctions that prohibit or restrict business with Iran (Risk of tougher sanctions rises for businesses, 2007). Although it may be possible to conduct business in Iran, it will be difficult for JC Penny to do business in Iran. “Although most activities are not covered by sanctions, beyond a few key sectors such as energy, many banks, [sic] have been reluctant to become too exposed to the country in case tougher measures are imposed” (“Risk of tougher sanctions rises for businesses,” 2007, para. 1). The Obama administration presses allied governments and persuades corporate officials not to invest in Iran (Becker, J. & Nixon, R., 2010). Providing JC Penny negotiates the legal hurdles required to do business in Iran, JC Penny’s apparel is not what most Iranians...
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...more profitable and efficient. A business uses strategy recommendations to create goals and strategies for the company. Strategy recommendations help a business to better understand what a customer wants. The presented assignment will discuss the strategy recommendation for JC Penney. This assignment will identify the specific business that I will use for the recommendation, the reason why I chose that particular business, and two academic resources from the Capella University’s Library. Identity of the Specific Business That I Will Use For Strategy Recommendation The business that I will be using for my strategy recommendation is JC Penney. JcPenney was created in Kemmerer, WY in 1902 by James Cash Penney. Penney called his first store the “Golden Rule”, which was foundation of both his business and philosophy. Explain Why You Chose This Business The reason why chose JC Penney is because not only is JC Penney one of the largest retailer but if follows the Golden Rule “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. More reasons why I chose JC Penney is because it offers products at an affordable price, the work that it does...
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...J. C. Penney operates department stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. It sells family apparel and footwear, accessories, fine and fashion jewelry, beauty products, and home furnishings. The Plano, TX-based company also provides various services, such as styling salons, optical, portrait photography, and custom decorating. The company offers various products and services online via its website, a platform that has been the nursery for industry giants like Amazon (AMZN) and eBay (EBAY). Its direct rivals include Kohl's (KSS) and Macy's (M), among others. J.C Penney's most recent quarter results least impressive among peers The company announced December quarter results on Wednesday, February 27, an event that sent the company's shares down the charts at Wall Street. The company's sales and revenues declined shamefully by huge margins. Revenues were down 25 percent for the quarter while Internet sales dipped 34 percent. On the other hand, Macy's online business soared 48 percent and looks set to take over what J.C Penney leaves behind. Last year, J.C Penney sent home 19,000 staff, and recently trimmed its workforce by 2,200 employees as it sought to cut fixed costs following a tough campaign. Customers are losing trust in the Texas-based company despite the massive experience garnered over the years. The company did not impress in terms of market share, with fewer than 17 percent approaching the retailer's stores. Contrary to J.C Penney, Macy's Q4 results tramped analyst...
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...J.C. Penny Corporation, Inc. Company Analysis and Prognosis Tasha Liberman CASE STUDY BACKGROUNDER #2 MGMT 498 nd July 22 , 2013 Table of Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Company & Industry Background...................................................................................... 1 Company Strategies ............................................................................................................ 1-2 Current Financial Performance.......................................................................................... 2 Financial Performance Compare to Sub-Sector ........................................................ 2-3 Primary Macro-Level Forces ............................................................................................... 3 Micro-Level Forces.................................................................................................................. 4 Primary Strengths and Weaknesses ................................................................................. 4 Risk and Rewards Potential................................................................................
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