JCPenney to upgrade stores, app in effort to revive chain
NEW YORK — JCPenney said Thursday it plans to spend more than $1 billion by the end of 2025 in a bid to revive the storied but troubled 121-year-old department store chain.
The money is going toward remodeling JCPenney stores, upgrading its online shopping site and app, and making its supply network more efficient so that online orders are delivered quicker.
JCPenney CEO Marc Rosen, who began leading the company in November 2021 and previously served as an executive at Levi Strauss and Walmart, is renewing the chain’s focus on its core middle-income shoppers with affordable fashion and housewares.
“Now is the time more than ever to lean into that and make sure that we’re delivering that experience for our customer,” Rosen said.
That’s a change of tactics from previous management teams that pursued wealthier shoppers with offers of trendy items and major appliances.
As part of the plans unveiled Thursday, checkout stations that had been located throughout JCPenney’s stores will be replaced with a single area of cashiers. Shoppers also will see brighter lighting and a fresh coat of paint.
Store employees will be equipped with mobile devices to scan inventory and ring up shoppers’ purchases. And the chain is making upgrades to its Wi-Fi networks to speed up in-store connections.
But JCPenney is playing catch-up with its competitors — from discounters to department stores like Macy’s and Walmart — that have been upgrading their stores and online businesses, underscoring the retailer’s challenges.
JCPenney, which emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization in December 2020 with new owners, not only has grappled with years of internal issues but also faces an uncertain economy that has challenged healthier department stores.
The chain’s core customers are budget-conscious families, whose median income ranges from $50,000 to $75,000.
They’ve been particularly hit hard by higher costs basic items and high interest rates, making borrowing on credit cards and taking out a mortgage more expensive.
But in this tough economy, JCPenney has a role, Rosen said. He believes shoppers are finding other department stores too expensive, while online retailers and off-price stores don’t give them the customer service that JCPenney shoppers are looking for.
The company filed for bankruptcy reorganization in May 2020 after the pandemic-induced temporary closing of stores put the retailer deeper in peril.
Under new owners — mall companies Simon Property Group Inc. and Brookfield Property Partners LP — JCPenney shuttered nearly a quarter of its 850 stores. It has less than $500 million in debt, down from nearly $5 billion at the time of its bankruptcy filing, Rosen said.
As part of the latest remodeling, Rosen said 100 stores have been refurbished. The plan is to remodel 50 to 100 per year, he said.