J.C. Penney To Close Catalog Business

[blujax01]

Wow! I guess I should have seen it coming what with the Internet and all.
Volume is down, profits have fallen, blah, blah, blah. The closing begins now and will finish in 2012.
J.C. Penney is also closing the outlet stores, which I will sorely miss, as part of their planned closing of catalog operations. The outlet store on the east side of Columbus has been a great place to bargain shop for as long as I can remember - and I have a long memory.
And so it goes.

[NFrameFred]

My take on it is the same as when Sears dumped their catalog - they don't see it as the icon of Americana that a lot of us older folks do and no doubt the expense of producing the catalogs likely doesn't justify the returns; but in my mind that's when a major decline in Sear's attitude, management, and fortunes began. Sears, J.C. Penney, and Montgomery Wards (Monkey Wards) used to be "America's stores" in the mind of the buying public when information wasn't a mouse click away and life was more rural for many of us.

Another inevitable by-product of 'progress' and 'change'. I'm old enough that it isn't something I think of as trivial. Unless Penney's does a better job than Sears of connecting and serving their customers they leave behind with their new post catalog existence, their sales will go in the toilet along with Sears.

We gained much in practical terms with the light speed advance of technology we have witnessed in our lifetimes, but I fear we are losing a lot of the important values and character of America in the process.

Up until around the time of the War of Northern Aggression, people had lived basically the same way for thousands of years. The explosion of the Industrial Age, mechanization, and now the Electronic Age has brought changes unimagined in a time span shorter than any other time in history. Funny thing is, people don't change like that. They adapt to the new reality, but the same vices and virtues of the human condition manifest themselves no matter how "advanced" we become. And some of us see the "advances" dragging down humankind as well as elevating it.

The elimination of the big store physical catalogs passes into the quaint collective memory like many other things now viewed as 'nostalgia'. But I, for one, think the merchants should be a little more analytical about why these were so successful for so long and how to bring that virtue to their new operations before discarding it simply as an "idea that has outlived it's usefulness."

[Texas Star]

Originally Posted by NFrameFred

My take on it is the same as when Sears dumped their catalog - they don't see it as the icon of Americana that a lot of us older folks do and no doubt the expense of producing the catalogs likely doesn't justify the returns; but in my mind that's when a major decline in Sear's attitude, management, and fortunes began. Sears, J.C. Penney, and Montgomery Wards (Monkey Wards) used to be "America's stores" in the mind of the buying public when information wasn't a mouse click away and life was more rural for many of us.

Another inevitable by-product of 'progress' and 'change'. I'm old enough that it isn't something I think of as trivial. Unless Penney's does a better job than Sears of connecting and serving their customers they leave behind with their new post catalog existence, their sales will go in the toilet along with Sears.

We gained much in practical terms with the light speed advance of technology we have witnessed in our lifetimes, but I fear we are losing a lot of the important values and character of America in the process.

Up until around the time of the War of Northern Aggression, people had lived basically the same way for thousands of years. The explosion of the Industrial Age, mechanization, and now the Electronic Age has brought changes unimagined in a time span shorter than any other time in history. Funny thing is, people don't change like that. They adapt to the new reality, but the same vices and virtues of the human condition manifest themselves no matter how "advanced" we become. And some of us see the "advances" dragging down humankind as well as elevating it.

The elimination of the big store physical catalogs passes into the quaint collective memory like many other things now viewed as 'nostalgia'. But I, for one, think the merchants should be a little more analytical about why these were so successful for so long and how to bring that virtue to their new operations before discarding it simply as an "idea that has outlived it's usefulness."

Fred-

That is a wonderful, very insightful post.

T-Star

[ISOM]

J.C. Penney To Close Catalog Business
It sounds good to me.
The last catalog item I bought, from J.C. Penney was the wrong size.

[RonJ]

I never paid much attention to Sears or JCP catalogs.
The catalog I miss most is the one from RadioShack.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

JC Penny didn't close their catalog operation, the American consumer did with a shift to online.

Countless tons of paper and ink... energy and resources to manufacture, transport to millions of consumers, then ultimately dispose of in landfills... Nostalgia has it's price.

IRS isn't mailing out the tax instruction booklets this year and many employers are no longer mailing out W2.

The US Postal Service marked 500 locations to close last year, 2,000 this year and is reviewing 16,000 more for possible closing or consolidation.

[cowboy117]

Times change,things change.It's a brave new world.

[ldausmc1369]

How many of us remember than old song from the 70's! There has been more changes to our everyday lives over the last 30 years than occurred over the preceding 200 years. Some for the good, some for the not so good.
Competition has a way of rewarding the innovator and stifling the procrastinator. The USPS is the most inefficient organization know to mankind, and I, for one, would rejoice at it's perishing from the face of the earth along with it's surly employees, entitlement mindset and guaranteed salaries, benefits and retirement plans totally out of line when compared to their counterparts in the private sector. UPS and FedEx have greatly contributed to the demise of the USPS, but, they themselves are becoming more and more bureaucratic in their treatment of the customer. With the advent of electronic signatures becoming as valid as a "wet" signature, most business correspondence is done via secure email. It used to take a minimum of two weeks to send out a contract, get a wet signature, then mail it back without incurring stagger special delivery charges (USPS) or when they arrived, FedEx and UPS. Today, it's almost instantaneous!
Same with the retailing community. The Internet has given the savvy consumer the edge nowadays, and it will not be too much longer before virtual sales will totally eclipse brick and mortar sales, to wit, look at the decline in state sales paid on retail in most states these days!
A lot of my peers and contemporaries who have chosen not to "buy in" to the new ways of doing business are very quickly finding themselves going the way of the dodo bird. Sad, but true!

[hazman]

Originally Posted by RonJ

I never paid much attention to Sears or JCP catalogs.
The catalog I miss most is the one from RadioShack.

you still have it ron, its RadioShack - mobile phones, MP3 players, laptops, and more now... it's wild all changes we see and go through on our "journey".

[Bullseye 2620]

Originally Posted by ldausmc1369

How many of us remember than old song from the 70's! There has been more changes to our everyday lives over the last 30 years than occurred over the preceding 200 years. Some for the good, some for the not so good.
Competition has a way of rewarding the innovator and stifling the procrastinator. The USPS is the most inefficient organization know to mankind, and I, for one, would rejoice at it's perishing from the face of the earth along with it's surly employees, entitlement mindset and guaranteed salaries, benefits and retirement plans totally out of line when compared to their counterparts in the private sector. UPS and FedEx have greatly contributed to the demise of the USPS, but, they themselves are becoming more and more bureaucratic in their treatment of the customer. With the advent of electronic signatures becoming as valid as a "wet" signature, most business correspondence is done via secure email. It used to take a minimum of two weeks to send out a contract, get a wet signature, then mail it back without incurring stagger special delivery charges (USPS) or when they arrived, FedEx and UPS. Today, it's almost instantaneous!
Same with the retailing community. The Internet has given the savvy consumer the edge nowadays, and it will not be too much longer before virtual sales will totally eclipse brick and mortar sales, to wit, look at the decline in state sales paid on retail in most states these days!
A lot of my peers and contemporaries who have chosen not to "buy in" to the new ways of doing business are very quickly finding themselves going the way of the dodo bird. Sad, but true!

It has sure revolutionized the way I collect, sell, and trade firearms. I just sold a nice S&W on GB, and gave the buyer the option of a direct wire transfer to my bank from his using the ACH system. The money was in my account in less than 12 hours from the completion of the auction. Last month, I made a deal with a collector in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and the entire deal--from close of auction to delivery of the firearm--from Virginia to the far reaches of the Aleutian Islands--was completed within 24.

The internet and electronics in general have vastly widened markets and lowered costs. They have sped up the number of transactions that it is possible to complete in a given period of time, and its the velocity of money, not the margin, that is important over the long haul.

I just ordered and received a dining room set from J.C. Penny on-line, and the product and delivery service were outstanding. I hope I will still be able to order from them that way.


Bullseye

[JcMack]

The beancounters at JCP have come out of their closet and presented their case to the board of directors. Low profits = cut overhead. I was surprised to see the JCP outlet stores pop up. If they couldn't turn a profit, next step is reduce overhead to satisfy the bottom line. 20 years ago JCP made the choice to go from an every mans store to semi pseudo upper middle class outfit. They never quite fit in to that market. Now with retail stores on every corner, and the economy what it is, Penny's is done. Too bad.

[RonJ]

Originally Posted by hazman

you still have it ron, its RadioShack - mobile phones, MP3 players, laptops, and more now... it's wild all changes we see and go through on our "journey".

The website just ain't the same. Finding all those little parts, connectors and patch cords while flipping pages. Wow I didn't know there was such a thing!

Now they should call themselves CellShack.

[NFrameFred]

Originally Posted by RonJ

Now they should call themselves CellShack.

Ain't THAT the truth ! You can't get waited on in a Radio Shack anymore because the doofs behind the counter don't make commission on selling in-store display electronic parts, but apparently do on selling cell phone contracts. So they have developed the art of rendering you invisible unless you want a cell phone from them.

Heaven help me - I needed an off-the-rack stereo connector the weekend before Christmas and went into a 'Shack with at least 8 employees present - was there for over 20 minutes and could not get someone to check out the purchase I went and found myself on the display.

[JcMack]

Radio Shack was Allied in the past. I used to go to their headquarters in Chicago in the 60's. They had every part you ever could dream of. This was before LSI and you built your own "AND and NAND" gates. They evolved into neighborhood stores and then Radio Shack. The last real electronics store closed around here (gigantic place) about 10 years ago.

[haggis]

Same thing happening with phone books. I'm really having trouble finding something to stock the outhouse with.

Buck

[Rugskipper]

Originally Posted by haggis

Same thing happening with phone books. I'm really having trouble finding something to stock the outhouse with.
Buck

Register with the political party of your choice, and you'll have supplies enough real soon. Watch out for the glossy paper with candidates' pictures----while very tempting to use, it doesn't work so good.

[USAF385]

What's a catalog?

[blujax01]

Originally Posted by RonJ

I never paid much attention to Sears or JCP catalogs.
The catalog I miss most is the one from RadioShack.

My old man used to get the catalogs from J.C. Whitney. Now those were cool.

[brucev]

The Sears catalog filled many a long rainy Sunday afternoon. I'd find a nice corner, sit down and just look from one page to another. My first understanding of the simple variety available in tools came from reading the Sears catalog. The same was true about car parts, short-block engines, etc. I never really found the Penny's catalog to be as well suited to my interest. I do remember that both the Sears and Penny's catalog had a lot of hunting items. My two favorite stores were Sears and Western Auto... since both kept nice rifles in stock. I once ordered a Brazilian M-98 from Interarms through the Sears Catalog Department. It was delivered to the store. They handed it to me across the counter. There was no ffl form to fill out. The year was 1980. Regret that Penny's will no longer have catalog sales.

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

What was it they used to called the Sears catalog-"The Wish Book"? There used to be a Sears outlet store here in Mercer County, NJ-closed years ago. I remember going in there once and seeing a jacket I had seen in the catalog, I paid about half the catalog price IIRC. The nearby Penny's phased out their gun counter in 1978, I got 2 of my Marlins there at deep discounts. I agree clicking through a website is not the same as flipping through a catalog and finding a catalog from your youth and flipping through it....until Time Travel is discovered, that's as close as you will get. I also recall the Sears and Penney's catalogs showed lots of pretty girls, and I don't mean in the undewear sections.

[Erich]

370 people losing their jobs here locally because of this - times change, though. Lamplighters are having a hard time finding work nowadays, too.

Sure did love the Christmas catalogs that came when I was a kid.

[jkc]

Originally Posted by NFrameFred

My take on it is the same as when Sears dumped their catalog ...
Unless Penney's does a better job than Sears of connecting and serving their customers they leave behind with their new post catalog existence, their sales will go in the toilet along with Sears.

Are these subtle references to the well-known traditional use of these catalogs?

[NFrameFred]

Originally Posted by jkc

Are these subtle references to the well-known traditional use of these catalogs?

At the risk of taking your humorous observation literally, no.

After dropping their catalog, Sears has been scrambling and trying anything and everything from management changes to store re-sets to the latest gimmickry in marketing and merchandising and tying themselves up with K-Mart, another failing venture. Not saying their fortunes weren't already going south, but folks I know who worked for the company for decades say that times were not good and jettisoning their catalog didn't catapult them into the modern era like they thought.

Maybe what made these outfits successful in times past is something that cannot be captured anymore. People used to have brand loyalty and were faithful to support a company that they had come to trust and felt comfortable with.

These days, companies come and go, customer service and customer loyalty seems to have gone by the wayside for the most part, and the buying public doesn't care if the establishment they are buying from supports our country and it's economic needs as long as they can get their latest Chinese produced gee-gaws for 2 cents cheaper than the guy next door sells it for.

Folks can ho-hum all they want and say that it's inevitable and that's just how the world is now, but it doesn't portend well for our economy or our culture.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Originally Posted by NFrameFred

Maybe what made these outfits successful in times past is something that cannot be captured anymore. People used to have brand loyalty and were faithful to support a company that they had come to trust and felt comfortable with.

As the consumer has become more informed, for example, many no longer suffer the illusion that there is a special Sears Kenmore appliance manufacturing plant. True, you can't go back once the illusion has been replaced with reality.