“J.C. Penney (JCP), the fourth largest US department store chain, is undergoing a transformation and brought in Ron Johnson, the ex-chief of stores at Apple (AAPL), to revive its business,” Nigam Arora reports for Forbes.
“On Jan. 25, Johnson made the rounds and leaked his plan ahead of the big event on Jan. 26. J.C. Penney will in the future be known as jcpenney. There is a new logo to evoke the image of the American flag. The stores will have a number of small boutiques as opposed to rows of racks. Most importantly, J.C. Penney will introduce a simplified promotion and pricing structure,” Arora reports. “J.C. Penney also plans to cut a large number of jobs and save $900 million over the next two years.”
Arora reports, “In two days, the technique of leaking the plan the day before and withholding the information on increased guidance until the Analysts Day caused a massive short squeeze adding about $1.5 billion to the stock value of J.C. Penney.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson: What I learned building the Apple Store – November 21, 2011
New J.C. Penney CEO Johnson hiring former Apple co-workers – November 9, 2011
Why Apple’s retail genius Ron Johnson is paying for the privilege of running J.C. Penney – June 15, 2011
Apple’s retail store chief Johnson off to J.C. Penney; expected to become CEO within months – June 14, 2011
Ron would have everything sold by jcpenneys shipped from China if that was possible. Then he could get rid of thousands more US workers.
He will make a spectacular bonus. Hey – wait – I thought I was a conservative. These headlines about Michelle and her underwear must be getting to me.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9048122/Agent-Provocateur-sales-boosted-by-US-First-Lady-Michelle-Obama.html
what, exactly, does that headline have to do with a former Apple employee now working for jcpenney?
Unless its the unhealthy obsession Americans have with crowbarring political comments into totally inappropriate discussion’s.
+1
I found it interesting that the analysts were so confident in an ex Apple employee that because he spearheaded the changes they talked the stock up a billion dollars..,.
Ron Johnson actually invested millions of dollars in company stock with a 6 year hold on their sale. Sounds to me like he’s in it for the long haul and the not the quick buck, although he will make millions more if he is successful. Will be interesting to see how his strategy works out over the coming years.
See http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/15/why-ron-johnson-is-paying-for-the-privilege-of-running-j-c-penney/ for more details.
As a shareholder I was always impressed with Johnson. He had a lot to do with the Apple Stores and the Genius Bar and made the retail storefront an incredible money maker for APPLE all the shareholders. I wish him well at JCP
Penney’s new logo “evokes the American flag”? What the f…??? Are they planning to sell pickup trucks and Bud Litenext to the cheap underwear?
Idiot. Did you even RTOA?
No just catering to the mouth breathing nationalists who will overlook the fact that the company is cutting thousands of American jobs and importing more chinese crap. They will show up because it is new and hot, they will stay for the low prices. It is the self defeating “American Dream”..
Penny underwear is not cheap!
I hope he’s not responsible for that new commercial with all of the screaming women. It pisses me off to the point where I always change the channel. It really sucks.
Totally Agree!!!!
I think it was Red Skelton that joked about buying his suits from the famous French tailor, Jaques Pennay. J C Penny has been a forward thinking company for some time now. They were among the first corporations to extend employee benefits to same sex partners. The Penny store near me does seem to be overstaffed. Customer service is not as important to any retailer these days. A large staff is just not necessary any more. Sad but true.
sounds like a classic case of investor mis-attribution and over-estimation.