J.C. Penney turning point?

[liberal N proud]

With J.C. Penney struggling since the CEO changed the stores format and eliminated sales, it looks like the board of directors has slashed Ron Johnson's pay.

In a clear sign of its dissatisfaction with the direction of the company, the board of J. C. Penney gave its chief executive, Ron Johnson, a pay cut of almost 97 percent, to $1.9 million, for 2012, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

In addition, not a single top executive received a cash bonus for the year.

“The C.E.O. is certainly being given a message,” said Kent Hughes, managing director at the proxy advisory firm Egan-Jones Ratings Company.

Analysts generally say they believe that Mr. Johnson will be given at least another couple of quarters to turn around the company he was hired a little more than a year ago to revive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/business/jc-penney-slashes-pay-for-chief.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130403&_r=0

IMO: Even at $1.9 million, his is overpaid!

[quaker bill]

1. They are back doing constant sales again

[A Little Weird]

2. What??

A 97% pay cut and he still makes $1.9 million???

We need a maximum wage in this country!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. Someone help me with the math here...

Does this mean his pre-cut salary was around 100 million? I hope my brain is tripping over that because I'm just figuring it wrong.

[angstlessk]

6. He was making 64,000,000 or sixty four million before the haircut

[Javaman]

9. 64 million???????

I know it's not a typo, it's just hard for my brain to wrap around that.

64 million.

[livetohike]

4. Not that the CEO asked my opinion, but I've been a JCPenney card holder since 1977

and a customer longer than that. This baby boomer would advise him to bring back real blue jeans that fit, not the "skinny jeans" and bring back the St. Johns Bay line of clothing. He can pay me for my advice now .

[Frustratedlady]

7. And, Cabin Creek.

He catered to the younger set and they have no interest in JCP. I quit shopping at JCP shortly after they introduced the changes. It may not have made much of a difference in the overall picture, but after 50+ years of shopping there, they had to have noticed a wee bit.

[livetohike]

23. Exactly! I did find some nice tops there, as I am reliving my hippie youth

but I miss Cabin Creek, etc.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Right, they got rid of the items that their core shoppers liked:

jeans and other sportswear for middle-aged people
hosiery suitable for business wear
affordable dress-for-success suits
basic lingerie

They foolishly thought, "Oh no, our main demographic is middle aged! They're all going to be dead in a couple of decades! We've got to attract the teenagers!"

But there's a flaw in that thinking, namely, that people patronize different stores at different ages. When I was a teenager, I thought Penney's was a dowdy store for older people, just like Land's End and L.L. Bean. Now those two catalogue retailers are my staples. However, I still feel too young for the clothes in the Vermont Country Store catalogue. On the other hand, I am too old for Eddie Bauer.

Last year, Land's End tried to discontinue some of its popular middle-aged product lines in favor of more youthful styles. Their customers threw fits, and they brought some of the older styles back.

I think the secret is to figure out what your main demographic is and to offer clothes for them, just gradually updating them.

[livetohike]

24. Great analysis Lydia

I used to buy all of my business suits there a couple of decades ago. They fit good and they looked good. We baby boomers plan to be around for a while. If they don't get us back, they will be sunk.

[SoCalDem]

31. and WE buy stuff for grandkids.

Moms (of all ages) are the prime customers for Penneys/Sears

My boys preferred Levis, but when they were small they got Roebucks & the Penney brand because the prices were better and they did not wear out as fast a levis..

JCP/Sears were the inbetween stores.. up from discount but better prices than the chi-chi department stores.

They forgot their core customers a long time ago when they decided to try & be everything to everyone.. Their lower priced signature "stuff" was what made them viable.

[Greybnk48]

19. Correct. JCPenney has NEVER been a tendy, young people store.

I've been shopping there about as long as you have, livetohike, and I agree with you 100%. In the 70's we bought work attire there, business suits, etc. My husband bought his coveralls there, along with his suits when we were in our 20's.

I also bought my toddler's clothes there. I think they introduced Geranimals, with the tags that matched up outfits for kids.

They forgot who their bread and butter niche customers have always been and they're paying for it. The Abercrombe, Forever 21, T.J. Maxx, Old Navy crowd do NOT shop JCP.

[livetohike]

25. That's right and the CEO worked for Apple (I believe) and thought he could run

a department store Or someone thought he could and hired him.

[Kahuna]

5. I knew that was a bad idea when they rolled it out. shoppers like sales. nt

[gvstn]

17. I know plenty of people who only buy "on sale"

Doesn't matter how ridiculous the "original" price is inflated, as long as the sign says 40% off they will think they are getting a bargain. See Kohl's as a prime example.

[liberal_at_heart]

18. hey when you can get a pair of jeans for $15 and a winter coat for $30 that's pretty good no matter

how much the original price was inflated. The only other places I have seen prices that good are thrift stores.

[gvstn]

20. I'm not saying Kohl's doesn't have some bargains

I'm just saying they inflate their "retail" price.

New merchandise is sold at "retail" for one to two weeks. Then goes on 30% off for one to two weeks. Then goes to 40-60% off. Every time! A regular Kohl's shopper would never buy anything at "retail" but would only buy an item that has been "reduced". They train their customers to only buy on sale.

Macy's does the same thing now. It used to be fashion items were only reduced towards the end of the season. If you wanted an item for the summer you paid retail. Otherwise you got it in August when it was a leftover at a reduced price. That has all changed. Everything is "on sale" all the time. Thus a sale isn't really a sale.

On another tangent have you noticed that your $15 or even $40 jeans are paper thin? No more 14oz. denim at any price. A pair of jeans used to last years with a few thin spots at stress points. Now jeans might last a year if you are careful. They are a completely different product.

[dixiegrrrrl]

21. I stopped shopping a lot of stores because of the inferior quality.

Even Lands End and LL Bean went to imported cheap material.

I bought two very large bath towels from Lands End in 1995, paid 30.00 each, and they are STILL going strong today.
Hell of a bargain, considering.

The Company Store still sells very nice thick dry goods, tho...sheets,towels, rugs.

[cbdo2007]

29. Kohl's has great bargains if you know what you're looking for.

I wear simple, yet somewhat nice clothing, especially to work....and I can get the same outfit at Kohl's than at JCP any day of the week at their normal "sale" prices. Then, they send 20-30% off coupons about once per month on top of that and I end up saving even more money.

Toys are a great deal at Kohl's....the prices are inflated, then they have their fake "sale" of 30% off which bring them down to Toys R Us or Amazon level, then add another 20-30% off on top of that. Makes shopping for kids birthday parties and christmas a great deal, in fact I think this past year was the first year we shopped at Kohl's for the majority of our Christmas, including one of those Keurig machines for about $20 less than we saw it anywhere else for one of the highest models.

[Orsino]

8. Bad dog! Here's fewer than two million biscuits.

I hope you learned your lesson.

[cbdo2007]

10. They should send out 30% off coupons like Kohl's does.

[mnmoderatedem]

11. yeah...

now hes's going to find out how the other half lives!!!

[liberal N proud]

14. The other half of the 1%

[L0oniX]

13. How will he ever survive on 1.9 mil? n/t

[liberal N proud]

15. Food stamps

Don't be too surprised if that is true.

[L0oniX]

16. I'm happy there is a safety net for him ...don't want him to fall thru the cracks. n/t

[progressoid]

22. 1.9 million. Hah, that'll show him.

Soon he'll have to get in line at the unemployment office like so many of his former employees.

[JNelson6563]

26. Try carrying better merchandise

And perhaps not packing the racks so full they are un-shoppable. Not that I would be interested in picking through that poorly made cheap sweat-shop crap.

JCPenney's = Shithole.

Julie

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. And here's what was weird

They still sell plain T-shirts in various colors, and I considered buying some, but they were all in odd, ugly colors and sizes.

[DollarBillHines]

30. Those weird colors are part of the JCP 'plan'

JCP has disassociated themselves with the Color Association of the United States in order to form their own color 'identity'.

Huge mistake.

CAUS is not widely known, but they are the group that decides what colors will be launched a couple of years down the line. It's really quite an interesting process, involving product 'peeks' via media and haute couture. If JCP thinks these planned, engineered trends can be bucked, then JCP has lost its collective mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Association_of_the_United_States

[Warpy]

28. Good. Penney's did OK until this joker got in with his big ideas.

They need to remember who their customer base is: suburban, largely wealthier and largely middle aged and older women. I used to buy some stuff there. Now it's all made out of plastic and much of it is aimed at teenagers and 20 somethings. Trying to make it young and hip has cost them customers and they're not fooling the kids.

Old broads with money do spend it and old broads with money do like to look presentable. The old Penney's did a good job of that.