JC Penney Closing Stores

[ChattanoogaPhil]

One of America's iconic names, JC Penney, recently announced it was closing 30 stores and letting go 2,000 employees due to disappointing sales.

I wonder if any of the executives remember the days of growing sales and a broad product line.... how long has it been... am I really this old.

(my gun room cleaning day)

 

[Dennis The B]

J.C. Penney is but a shell of its former self. My, how the mighty have fallen.

In the seventies, we bought all kinds of clothes, tools, sporting goods, and home wares from their stores. They had a top-notch catalogue division, and their prices were competitive with just about every one.

Their tools were, in some cases, re-badges of the major names. I bought a couple of drills which were made by Skil, and at a lower price than from the Skil stores.

Their clothing was well-made, their dress shirts fit extremely well, and wore like iron.

I continued to buy their underwear, until a few years ago, when the quality went down the tubes. I still buy their v-neck tee shirts, but that's about it.

They've attempted to "re-brand" themselves about three times in four years. There's no way you can do that and survive for long.

 

[steveno]

when my mother worked at J. C.'s they had rifles and shotguns in the catalog. that has been a long time ago

 

[FTG-05]

Anyone remember "Penncraft" tools? I still have some that I bought when I was in high school back in the early '70's.

Both JC and Sears/Kmart deserve to die.

 

[jimmib]

when I was a youngster we bought most things from JC Penny and Sears if it wasn't available at Western Auto...obviously they didn't follow the right business plan into the future...sad ending to a great company

 

[bgrafsr]

Anyone remember "Penncraft" tools? I still have some that I bought when I was in high school back in the early '70's.

Both JC and Sears/Kmart deserve to die.

My first box of tools were from Penneys. I still have all of them except for some of the screwdrivers.

 

[gdnagle]

I wonder if the exec's would take a pay cut, ha ha, so they could keep the stores open and people employed.

Still got my set of power craft tools from Montgomery Wards still working, made by Thorsen same people that use to make Craftsman tools and tools for the Navy.

And the good ol days when everyone sold firearms.

I had a lifetime battery from JC and kept the car, so they kept replacing it into the late 80's until I couldn't drive it to them any longer for them to test. They sure lost on that battery almost 20 years of replacements and the replacements were free.

 

[BaldEagle1313]

Anyone remember "Penncraft" tools? I still have some that I bought when I was in high school back in the early '70's.

Both JC and Sears/Kmart deserve to die.

Sure. When I worked for Penney's in the mid to late 70's I did a stint in the hardware/tool department. Sold chainsaws, power tools and the like. There was a real sporting goods department, with fishing and hunting equipment. Heck, they'd even sell and drill a bowling ball for you. That was the last job I had when I got laid off after Christmas, in January of 1978. The unemployment paperwork listed job title as "bowling ball driller." Hey, it's an art. Lots of measuring and hand-fitting... literally.

 

[nocents]

Anyone remember "Penncraft" tools? I still have some that I bought when I was in high school back in the early '70's.

Both JC and Sears/Kmart deserve to die.

don't remember penncraft,,,,but still have most of my first Craftsmen tools.....they still are the best value in hand tools....and that's coming from someone who is a SnapOn guy

 

[CatSnipah]

The days of the true department store are over.

 

[Mr Pokeyman]

About 8 mths ago, She who must be obeyed, wanted to go to Penny's to look at drapes. I mentioned that it has nothing worth looking at, even Walmart has a better selection of junk and the employees will at least talk to you. She insisted. We go to the mall (which I detest) and go walking thru Penny's deserted ghost town where we are practically the only customers there. In the drape section there were two employees at the cash register having a conversation, so we start looking at the overpriced drapes. The boss found what she liked and wanted to talk to an employee about them. I had to ask the help if one of them could help her. The older of the two actually turned her back on me and the other one gave me an irritated look, but went over to where the Boss was. She told the woman the she needed some shears brought from another rack where they were hanging so she could see if they matched. This should not have been a big deal. The lady said no. Are you kidding me? We were absolutely stunned. The rack of shears was like 6' away but were locked in somehow. I asked her to just get us some from the back or where ever they keep them and she walked away from us and went back to the register and continued talking to her buddy.
They deserve to go out of business and good riddance!

 

[LVSteve]

The days of the true department store are over.

I was going to "like" your post but liking this development is not what I feel.

During my time in the US I have seen several classic retailers fail, two GM car lines go away and several of my favourite restaurants close. We are told to embrace change, but sometimes it looks and feels like a rabid porcupine.

 

[JcMack]

The days of the "shopping mall" seem to be numbered along with it's retailers. The malls used to be packed with middle income families that spent a couple hours walking from anchor store to anchor store and spending in all the stores between. Malls are now home to packs of wayward youths up to no good. Disposable cash is tight and people prefer to research prices for specific items online, park in front of the store they choose for the item and get in and out. Penny's tried turn themselves upscale a while back and chased off their customer base. So less foot traffic in the malls the Penny's are attached to, stores packed with stuff people can't afford, and you have to take into account the local taxes on large mall stores.

 

[RonJ]

I bought a power drill from Sears (auto chuck).
I also bought a manual chuck drill from JC Penny.
The JCP drill is the one that still survives!

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

The days of the "shopping mall" seem to be numbered along with it's retailers. The malls used to be packed with middle income families that spent a couple hours walking from anchor store to anchor store and spending in all the stores between. Malls are now home to packs of wayward youths up to no good. Disposable cash is tight and people prefer to research prices for specific items online, park in front of the store they choose for the item and get in and out. Penny's tried turn themselves upscale a while back and chased off their customer base. So less foot traffic in the malls the Penny's are attached to, stores packed with stuff people can't afford, and you have to take into account the local taxes on large mall stores.

The era of the Super-Mega-Wally Worlds and the internet itself have pretty much sounded the death knell for not only the big iconic department stores just as the five and dimes were pushed out by Family Dollar and so on. The same goes with the big shopping malls. I have to agree whole heartedly with the statement. You can find almost the exact same stuff a mall or a big department store sells at a lot cheaper at Wally World or Target.

 

[DeathGrip]

I took my wife there today. The staff was nice even when we had a ordering problem and the line was getting long they kept their cool.

They have a good selection of casual clothes and the prices are reasonable.

My wife got some cool boots and a cute sweater and I ordered a couple of pairs of jeans.

If my local store is an indication of their future there's still hope. But I can't see them as the power player they once were. They should think about where they want to be.

I really do miss the old JC Pennys.

 

[doublesharp]

Louisville's JCP outlet store closed right after Christmas and I'm going to miss it.

 

[DeathGrip]

Our outlet store closed as well. I scored there on a regular basis.

 

[Faulkner]

I wonder if the exec's would take a pay cut, ha ha, so they could keep the stores open and people employed.

Actually, the reason for their demize is due to the demand by Americans for cheap goods from China. We keep artificially raising our minimum wage so that we can't afford American made goods or the labor to make them.

Executive's pay in the big picture has little more impact than a rounding error.

 

[RichardWA]

The JC Penny store here closed it's doors last August