jcp or J.C. Penney is overhauling the way it does business

J.C. Penney, or jcpenney as it will know be known has just implemented a major overhaul in the way it will conduct it's retail business.  In times when stores are dropping like flies, jcpenney is trying to reinvent itself and stay afloat in the current marketplace.

J.C. Penney has managed to survive changes in business since it first began in 1902 and has been evolving ever since. In more recent years, we've seen the dropping of automatically mailing heavy catalogs to everyone.  You now have to buy them, at the store if you want one.  I've seen prices slowly inch up and quality slowly go down to where I lost all interest in anything but the sales.  Then the sales (which now take place daily, with expensive daily colored print ads in our local newspapers) didn't even hold my attention anymore.  Quality wasn't good enough, sales weren't good enough, and when you have one every day, it begs the question "Why not just lower the prices and save yourself some advertising costs?"   And it appears they ARE listening.

A little further note to jcpenney...the store in La Grande, Oregon is in desperate need of an update or a new location (probably new location given that this one is not at all handicapped accessible, it is overcrowded and dark and not at all inviting).  Can you hear me now?  I just don't like the store.  The dressing rooms suck canal water...they are bad.

I've gotta tell you that their new TV ad is as annoying as most.  A lot of people screaming because they are tired of the old way and want to be heard.  jcpenney is listening.  But an advertisement where we listen to people literally screaming and yelling is a total turn off and an insult to screaming people.  Just lay out a simple ad campaign.  It doesn't need to be cute or trendy, just intelligently tell us..."you've been asking, we've been listening".  Yes, you may send me my royalties for that ad slogan.   Also I say to you jcpenney, offer free shipping on catalog orders shipped to home on EVERY order, EVERY day with NO MINIMUM purchase.  Customers want this.  Trust me.

First of all, there's the new logo, which is supposed to invoke the American flag.  Boo...Hiss...I don't give a crap about that, nor does the American flag make me go ga-ga for a store.  It's fluff and stuff and irrelevant. Plus, start reading labels on jcpenney items...are they made here?  Not too terribly much.  So that new logo is all about taking advantage of the current surge in patriotism...not about who they are as a company.

Then there is the "new" name.  Again I say...big deal.  Who cares?  The name and the logo probably cost them a fortune to design and implement...and for what?  Do people really care about that?  "Oh, I am so bored with the J.C. Penney name and logo.  If only they would change that, I would shop there more."  Nope. Never heard that.

Then there is the doing away with the overload of print ads and sales.  Saving paper and not saturating us with daily sales is a good thing.  But, um, did you really need to send out that expensive splashy 95 page "ad" announcing these changes?  It features some prices, and color photos of some new items, but...no catalog numbers or how to locate them online.  I'm still having trouble finding some of the items shown in this um...is it a non ad?  That...was a waste of money and paper.  It gives me the info I've printed in this blog, on two pages (and it didn't need two pages to do it).  The rest of the info is incomplete.  More of an expensive teaser that then confuses me when I try to find the same prices online, or where the item is located.  A catalog number would have been really dandy.

Last but not least, there is a new pricing system.  Whoa Nellie...hold the phone...did they say new pricing system?  Now they might have my attention!  Up to now I was just hearing Charlie Brown's teacher say "Wha wha wha wha, bla bla bla".  Overall, the plan is to reduce prices across the board by around 40% every day and do away with sales and print ads.  The new catalog I have (which honestly, I'm going to tell you again, stop wasting money on big color ads that have very little in them).:

"In praise of fresh air
This year, we turn 110.  We're fine with growing old.  We're not fine with growing stale.  So, to celebrate, we're going to throw open the windows and let in some fresh air.


We're rethinking and reimagining, and if we find that we've picked up any bad habits over the decades, we're going to leave them far behind.


We're simply going to treat people as we'd like to be treated ourselves. Fair and square.


We won't make anyone jump through hoops to get a good price.  We won't fill mailboxes with junk.  We'll have great prices every day and spectacular prices that last a whole month.  And it won't stop there.


We'll keep dreaming up new ways to make you love shopping again, matching our calendar to the rhythm of your life.


Because we're not interested in being the biggest store or the flashiest store.


We want to be your favorite store."

Then they lay out their new patriotic (barf) pricing "Fair and square.  3 kinds of pricing; red, white and blue.  1 happy return policy; any item, anytime, anywhere.  It's that simple":
Red = Everyday prices.  No need for coupons.  No weekend sale.  Red prices mean great prices everyday.
White = Month-long values.  The best stuff of the month on sale for the entire month.  Just look for the white price.
Blue = Best prices.  mark your calendars.  Every First and Third Friday we mark it way down.  On February 3rd and 17th, wee it in blue, and grab it quick!"

Did this actually do away with sales???  Um...not exactly.

Regarding that shipping I mentioned.  You can currently receive shipping free to your local store with no minimum purchase requirement, or free to your home with a $69 purchase.  I say go all the way jcpenney. Offer free shipping to our homes every day with no minimum purchase.  You can do it, I know you can.  I often shop online, and free shipping is one determining factor (along with overall price and quality) of whether or not I choose to order.

Forbes Magazine calls jcpenney one of the most interesting retailers to watch for 2012 and further says that the new structure can succeed (despite some critics saying this new idea will kill jcpenney dead as a doornail forever and ever Amen).   I think they're making an effort.  Now, not for a minute do I think they restructured this for the shopper...because they care that much about US...they did it because they are sinking and they had to do or die.  THAT'S usually when they start thinking of us, the shoppers that make or break them.

Have you shopped the "new" jcpenney?  What have you noticed?  What do you think of these changes?  I'm about to go online for the first time in a very long time and look around.  I like the dropping price idea.  As for month-long values and first and third Friday values, I'll have trouble remembering this, so I'm not sure how important that is.  Perhaps if I'm looking for something specific, I'll look again on the first and third Friday to see if what I'm thinking of ordering drops any lower.  Overall, I just want really good prices everyday.  And clearance racks are fun (both online and in store).  J.C. Penney simply got too expensive for my budget as the quality dropped.

Did I mention I want free shipping to my house...no minimum?

And, um, before you get to waving that "American flag" symbol of a new logo too much, while jcpenney is an American company, its products are not largely produced here.  So if that matters to you, it's a consideration to read the labels of where each product is manufactured.  If you're gonna wave that flag jcpenney, wave it all the way...no more sweat shops or outsourcing to other countries.  Or is that what the American way is?