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JCPenney Plans A Comeback By Opening On Thanksgiving

Christianna Wiggins |
October 22, 2013 | 8:09 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

J.C.Penney Black Friday Ads (@BFads)
J.C.Penney Black Friday Ads (@BFads)
In anticipation of Black Friday festivities, this year, the department store JCPenney is planning to be open as early as 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving day.

While this method of drawing in eager shoppers on is not desirable for workers- it will force employees nationwide to cut their turkey days short- it is undoubtedly a good move for the company.  

If the store can attract costumers before Black Friday officially begins, it will surely reflect positively in sales revenue. Shoppers often camp out for good deals hours before stores are set to open, but if people can go straight from dinner to shopping, the lack of delay will surely be appreciated.

Last year, JCPenney opened on Friday morning at 6 a.m., behind competitors like Wal-Mart, Target and Macy's, which opened at 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. respectively, according to their websites. On the matter, executive vice president of the JCPenney stores, Tony Bartlett, said "Obviously we were the last to open…[this year] we're all in".

JCPenney's new holiday tactics are due to their declining sales over the past couple of years. The department store, which was once a powerhouse, has been struggling to stay relevant. 

Newly-reinstated CEO Mike Ullman has plans to put J.C.Penney back on the market. As part of their Thanksgiving day strategy, the store will hire 35,000 seasonal workers, an almost 50% increase from last year. 

In addition to the holiday plan, Ullman is hoping to put frequent sales and basic merchandise back on the table; a tactic that is used often by the superstore Macy's, whose Manhattan location of the store has frequent weekend sales, and includes a cellar section filled with basic merchandise for affordable prices. 

Ullman was reinstated after CEO Ron Johnson failed to attract more customers to the store. Johnson implemented a strategy of "fair and square" pricing. This tactic got rid of inflated prices that are decreased by sales. Johnson thought that it would make consumers more willing to purchase merchandise, because it would essentially be cheaper, but that was not the case.

What Johnson failed to recognize was that the average shopper at JCPenney is mostly likely someone who has time throughout the day to shop, such as stay-at-home mothers. Lets be honest, there's nothing more satisfying than shopping and feeling as if you've gotten a bargain. Johnson's tactics took that victorious moment away from his shoppers, and it didn't work in his favor. 

Now that Ullman has taken control of the reigns once again, it appears that the store will finally see some traffic. Although it will probably never reach the fame of America's superstore Wal-Mart, because of Ullman, this probably won't be the last you hear about JCPenney. 

Reach Staff Reporter Christianna Wiggins here



 

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