That’s the takeaway from The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin, who wrote that the new CEO of the Plano-based retailer and former Apple retail head Ron Johnson is removed from the realities of the company:
…Mr. Johnson has sought to remake the company quickly, perhaps too quickly, by eliminating promotions and discounts, moving the stores more upscale, rebranding the company as JCP and putting in place a “fair and square” pricing model. (J.C. Penney is, however, putting on a special sale for the holidays.)
Yet the renovations are hardly finished – or in some cases even started. Only 11 percent of its stores’ floor space has been remodeled with his successful specialty-store-within-a-store concept, in which he has opened up outposts for brands like Levi’s, Izod, Liz Claiborne and the Original Arizona Jean Company.
J.C. Penney may have been dying a slow death before Mr. Johnson’s arrival – some rivals used call it “death by coupon,” given the retailer’s penchant for discounts – but the company’s decline has only accelerated.
Then where am I going to get my Arizona jeans?
