Dallas, Texas 12/02/2013 (Financialstrend) – J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) has been going through a rough patch and the holiday season is something that the company has been looking forward to, no doubt. Black Friday was the day when retailers officially begin their holiday season. At the outset, it seemed like the stores will have to face a lack-luster weekend but the trickle of customers started just before stores opened and the company’s store in n Wayne, N.J started seeing some customers walking in and heading straight for the shoes section.
Lucky thanksgiving?
The company opened on Thanksgiving like many of its peers. This is the earliest Black Friday it has ever had to date. The turnout at this store was very modest, to say the least and a trickle of budget shoppers did walk into the store. Many of the J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) customers have been saving for months in advance in order to be able to conduct their holiday shopping and grab the best deals.
A major chunk of retailers’ profits come from holiday sales and the company is definitely pinning its hopes on what is left of 2013 to add a slight boost to its flagging sales and even more flagging revenues. Ron Johnson, the former Chief Executive Officer of the company tried some revolutionary strategies that did not come to much and dragged the company into financial doldrums.
Very expensive missteps
J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) has now been trying to recover from those missteps and is hoping to make a comeback. When Johnson was at the helm, it had started eliminating discounts and as a result also ended up alienating long-standing customers.
It has been trying an image change in an attempt to be more appealing to younger customers who are today a major segment of the buyers. But all those strategies backfired and finally, in April, the company ousted Johnson.
Time for a change
Ever since that time, J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) has been trying to woo back its customers. The company changed all of what it was doing wrong and brought back all its discounts and started focusing on clearing out its inventory. It started offering very heavy discounts on many of its products and some items like coats were selling for upto 80% off. It now seems like customers are paying a little more attention, if the Black Friday sales are any indication.
A long awaited Monday
Come Cyber Monday, JCP.com will unleash some fantastic deals and along with coupon codes a large number of products are on sale. The company has been around for over a hundred years and is an institution in itself. It is also learning to change with the times and is now offering some online-only deals across 50,000 sites. These deals are on a variety of products like accessories, shoes, apparel and hopefully customers will be coming back to J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) for more.
