Any thoughts on JCPenney?

A few weeks ago I needed a new pair of dress shoes, so I went to my local mall. It had been a while since I was last there, and I soon discovered that the J.C. Penney was the only department store in the mall still operating. The Macy's store had been closed for some time, but the Sears had closed since my last visit.

Thankfully J.C. Penney had the shoes I wanted and I bought them. I wonder if that store will still be in business the next time I need new dress shoes.

Another former giant of the retail world. One of those stores where you literally could get just about anything 40 years ago. Now reduced to mainly clothes and cosmetics, although they do still sell drapery interestingly enough. I think a few still have photo studios and salons. The one that was closest to me shut down about 10 years ago. I remember when I was a kid they had an automotive department, an electronics area, toys, books, etc. Those were the days...

Penny or Penney? The Mandela Effect people love this one.

Our JC Penney closed about 5 or 6 months ago. We had a big Sears store that closed 20 plus years ago. Sears came back twice as a store that sold only tools, but both ultimately closed again. Its sad. I remember as a kid waiting for the Sears and JC Penney Christmas catalogs.

It's even more misleading when you realize that the initial "C" stood for "Cash". *

Seriously though (well, kinda), the Penney's stores in the Bay Area raised their prices so high that I've sometimes thought they should change their name to "A Pretty Penny".

*I'm not kidding. Check this link in Wikipedia: link

JCPenney will survive for another 10 years which is more of what I can say for Sears.

I love going into JC penney and I'm glad mine's still around in my Mall. Pity I do not think they have much of an electronics or camera section in it. Hope it sticks around for a while. I love going to the mall.

I love J.C. Penney. Stafford is a good brand. If you're a man who needs decent, well-cut dress shirts, go to Penney's and load up on Stafford. Slacks are a different issue. Not as many good options there.

I truly don't understand why brick-and-mortar stores are closing, especially clothing stores. Why would anyone want to shop online for clothes? You need to feel the fabric, check it's stitching, get a good sense of what the pattern looks like in person (especially since computer monitors display different colors). Then you have the buy-and-return dance that sometimes occurs. Just go to the store, buy what they have, and save yourself a week or two of time. It's better for you physically and mentally.

I do think stores are shooting themselves in the foot, though, because they all sell basically the same stuff. I think we could all learn something from quilting stores. There are at least 10 quilting stores within a 15-minute drive from my house. There's no way there are THAT many quilters around here. I think the reason they can all stay in business is because they try not to overlap each other in merchandise. Every store has it's own unique niche of fabrics and patterns. The stores even get together and have days where people get discounts if they go buy from all the stores.

So what if Penney's, Younker's, Macy's, Dillard's, Sears, etc. each provided different stuff? I mean, do they all really have to carry the exact same Haggar pants? Get together and figure out the niche each store will have, and then buy the clothes that fit that profile. The end result will be a lot more variety, which could compete with the Internet.

These brick-and-mortar stores need to realize that the competition is no longer each other. It's the Internet. If you and your enemy have the same enemy, then join forces. Figure it out. It always worked for Optimus Prime and Megatron. The same stores are often in the same geographic area, so combine your distribution lines. Work together, and maybe you'll stay in business.

One thing about Penney's that I don't like is that they got rid of their cash registers in the individual departments. Some Apple guy a few years ago tried to turn Penney's into a freakin' Apple store, where you can check out from an associate with an iPad (by the way, I hate it there too). Terrible idea because a clothing place needs a flat horizontal area to fold clothes and to keep clothes for customers who are still shopping. Now there's never an associate in the men's section, and you have to wait longer to check out at customer service. It sucks.

Overall, though, big thumbs up for J.C. Penney.

i love it.