Troubled chain dumps the last vestige of its disastrous makeover -- its "jcp" logo
of ConsumerAffairs
You've got to give JCPenney credit -- it isn't afraid to try new things. And when those new things turn out to be unmitigated disasters, it isn't afraid to swallow hard and admit its mistake.
The struggling retailer lost nearly a third of its customers last year as it tried to freshen up its image, so now it's launching a new series of ads urging customers to come back, and perhaps the most noticeable thing about the ads is that they dispense with the "jcp" logo that ousted CEO Ron Johnson introduced and return to a simple JCPenney logo.
Johnson's strategy was to attract hip younger shoppers to replace the loyal, perhaps slightly ordinary customers who had kept the company afloat for decades. It was partly successful: lots of older customers bailed out but the hipsters were nowhere to be seen.
Johnson's biggest brainstorm involved getting rid of the frequent sales and promotions that JCPenney had previously featured. The chain is now reinstating sales, promotions, coupons and so forth although it is somewhat hampered in doing so since it burned through most of its cash during Johnson's tenure.
Mark up, then mark down
It's also hampered by the logistics of going back to the old way of doing things. During Johnson's era, there were fewer sales and markdowns. To get back to doing markdowns requires jacking up the Johnson-ear prices, as this customer, "S" of Great Meadows, N.J., discovered:
"Yesterday in the Rockaway Mall in Rockaway, NJ, I purchased a beachwear garment that had a sticker over the original price on the tag which showed the new price at $32. When I checked out, I was informed it was on sale for $24, which I paid.
"When I got home, I peeled the $32 price sticker off the tag which revealed the original price underneath the sticker was $20! So JCP, you raised the original price and then put it on 'sale' for $4 more than the original $20 price! A bit unethical, wouldn't you say!" S said.
Or as retail industry analyst Dr. Robert Passikoff put it in a recent ConsumerAffairs guest column: "They're going to raise the prices and then -- wait for it -- lower them, figuring that will give them the appearance of having provided consumers with a large discount at a sales event, so it will appear even more special and of greater value to customers. So, all in all, not so fair-and-square and really fake prices."
It's no secret
In its unusually frank ad, JCPenney admits its mistakes.
"It's no secret. Recently JCPenney changed," the ad says. "Some changes you liked, and some you didn't. But what matters with mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing: to listen to you. To hear what you need to make your life more beautiful."
JCPenney frankly admits the error of its recent ways in the ads and openly begs customers to come back, closing with this rather urgent appeal:
"Come back to J.C. Penney. We heard you. Now, we'd love to see you." it says.