J. C. Penney has filed for bankruptcy.

[Pappy]

You could almost see this coming before the virus hit. I think I remember that they may have gone into Chapter 11 before. I think this is just the beginning of a whole new era of shopping. The malls are hurting, Macy’s is closing stores and many stores are just hanging on. My guess is that online shopping will get bigger and better as time goes on.

 

[Camper6]

I still like to hold the item I am buying in my hand before paying for it.

I don't understand how people can buy shoes without trying them on first.

Maybe they use the computer approach. Order three different sizes, try them on and send the other two back?

I just don't like giving my credit card information online. I will buy a gift credit card and use that but there's a charge with it.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I haven't shopped at J. C. Penney in years.

They lost me with the use of inflated retail prices and sales with deep discounts where the sale price was still not a good value for me.

IMO the new Sears, J.C. Penney, etc ... are stores like Target or Walmart that are a cross between a bargain store and a no-frills department store.

The times they are a-changin'.

 

[oldmontana]

That is very sad for me as before I started my own clothing store I go my training from J C Penney...management trainee and then store manager. Ever hard place to work but back then but you made the decisions ... no computers. Great training and I will always be grateful for that that.

 

[oldman]

It’s sad to see these big box stores close up and are beginning to disappear. I remember not too long ago that shopping was a family affair and even when friends, especially women, used shopping as a day of camaraderie.

 

[Don M.]

We've stopped in to local Sears and JC Penney's a few times in the past couple of years....and have found Nothing that wasn't for sale at better prices elsewhere. These big dept. stores have to pay a premium price for their mall locations, utilities and employees, etc., and those costs are added to the price the consumer has to pay. It's no wonder that online shopping is taking over.

I expect to see most of these malls shutting down in coming years, and being turned into housing units, etc. Retail is going through major changes, and I don't see that changing. Outside of buying clothing, and shoes....where it is often necessary to try them on for fit....I can't think of anything I need at a Mall, or upscale store. For our needs, Walmart and Target suffices.

 

[Llynn]

Whoda thunk? I saw the emergence of the malls and it appears I will live long enough to witness their demise. Just as I saw the end of downtown retail shopping. My recent experience with online shopping shows me the big web retailers have us right where they want us.

Me: I didn't receive the product I paid for.
Big web retailer: That item is not returnable.
Me: I don't want to return it. I never received it. I want my money back.
Big web retailer: You will have to take that up with the seller.
Me: The seller won't respond to my emails.
Big web retailer: cricket sounds.
Me: You have my money. I want it back. hello hello?
Big web retailer: that item is not returnable.

 

[Geezerette]

IMO, I think they shot themselves in the foot several years ago when they decided they didn’t want older, larger women’s money any more, and tried to direct stocking and marketing to the “young crowd”, which still wouldn’t be caught dead there. I have only been back once since, for some baby clothes. Macy’s here can’t seem to decide what it wants to be, upscale or moderate, and advertises like it was a discount store. Also the one here switched last winter to having just one central checkout on each of 2 floors instead of being able to pay in each department, as has always been traditional for department stores. I don’t cotton to “innovations” that force me to stand in long lines and don’t save me any $.

 

[Aunt Bea]

The local million square foot mega mall seems to be gradually moving away from retail towards entertainment, dining, etc...

They maintain a driver's lounge and bus parking for tour operators to relax while customers enjoy the mall and they recently added an Embassy Suites Hilton Hotel.

I wish that they would add some senior citizen apartments so I could spend my last few years in an interesting bubble community with all the things I need close at hand.

 

[In The Sticks]

I still like to hold the item I am buying in my hand before paying for it.

I don't understand how people can buy shoes without trying them on first.

Maybe they use the computer approach. Order three different sizes, try them on and send the other two back?

I just don't like giving my credit card information online. I will buy a gift credit card and use that but there's a charge with it.

I use to buy nearly all my clothes at Penneys. Back in the day, they had quality suits at great prices when there was a sale, coupons, etc. And I liked their casual clothes. It was one of the few places I didn't mind shopping.

The only time I've bought clothes online (except for socks and underwear) was from Penneys. Just once. It was not all that long ago...less than a year.

They make a Stafford brand casual shirt that I liked...a t-shirt with a 2-button V at the top. It's one step up from a plain t-shirt and made of thick material. I needed more, the local store is shut down, so I went to their website and found them. I ordered 6. Big mistake.

They were as thin as cheesecloth. I've never seen anything so cheaply made. I sent them back.
Serves me right.

And I agree about your comment on shoes. How can anyone successfully do that? I really don't understand.

 

[MeAgain]

This has been coming for awhile now.Sad.

 

[Grampa Don]

Businesses either adapt or die.

 

[In The Sticks]

Part of all this is just the way consumers seem to cycle through trends.

Strip malls used the be the big thing.
Then "indoor shopping malls."
They crushed the old original retail districts "where your grandparents used to shop."
Now the internet is crushing all of them.

Now there's been a trend to bring back the original retail districts ("We can't let them die!!!"), so they're getting renovated and have these hip, boutique stores (expensive coffee shops, Cold Stone Creamery rather that Baskin Robbins, etc.)

Fickle consumerism...but I'm being redundant.

 

[In The Sticks]

My dad worked for G.C. Murphy his entire life. Started when he was in high school, went off the fight The Big One, and worked for them until the day he died.

He said they used to call the guy "Salt & Pepper Penney." Penney would take prospective store managers out to a meal during the interview process, and if they seasoned their food without tasting it first, he considered them to be too rash and would not hire them.

 

[Camper6]

Businesses either adapt or die.

They are adapting. Now the trend is order online and pick it up at the store. I notice when I shop for something online at Walmart there are certain items not available in the store.

 

[Camper6]

My dad worked for G.C. Murphy his entire life. Started when he was in high school, went off the fight The Big One, and worked for them until the day he died.

He said they used to call the guy "Salt & Pepper Penney." Penney would take prospective store managers out to a meal during the interview process, and if they seasoned their food without tasting it first, he considered them to be too rash and would not hire them.

I do that. I like lots of pepper. No job for you?

 

[In The Sticks]

I do that. I like lots of pepper. No job for you?

I'm the exact same way.

I don't salt because I know there's already plenty on it, but I really like my sea of pepper on just about everything.

That story reminds me of a guy I worked for in the mid 70s. He would not hire men with facial hair...he assumed they were hiding something.

Funny what some do to provide the illusion that there's order in their world.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

I don't know anything about the retail business, yet I knew it was not "if", but "when" Penny's was going to declare bankruptcy. I thought it was headed for the trash heap, when they stopped selling furniture, appliances, etc, and mainly became a clothing store. That was in the 1980s. The store came in a wave of "modern" retailing- malls. And I guess they're going out with them.
I don't know where the next trend in retail is going. There are some real problems with on line sales. The obvious is that you can't examine the product. How do you know a bath towel is nice fluffy one, or just glorified toilet paper?

 

[In The Sticks]

A big part of what accelerate this end has been talked about in the trade rags for a while.

Penneys used to send out coupons every once in a while. Coupons for $$$ off orders, coupons for %%% off orders, and yu were allowed to combine them. When I moved into this home 10 years ago I bought all my window treatments and bedding from Penneys...some off-the-shelf, and others custom-cut. I took in my stack of coupons that the saleslady and we sat down and figured out the order in which to apply them to save the most money. I saved a lot, and I spent a lot.

The new CEO they got (5 years ago?) put an end to that. "We'll just advertise the lowest prices every day of the week. Now you don't have to mess with coupons." Right. And now I don't have anything pulling me into the store on any specific day, so I never go. Neither did anyone else. He was roundly criticized for this. It contributed greatly to their declining sales.

 

[C'est Moi]

Whoda thunk? I saw the emergence of the malls and it appears I will live long enough to witness their demise. Just as I saw the end of downtown retail shopping. My recent experience with online shopping shows me the big web retailers have us right where they want us.

Me: I didn't receive the product I paid for.
Big web retailer: That item is not returnable.
Me: I don't want to return it. I never received it. I want my money back.
Big web retailer: You will have to take that up with the seller.
Me: The seller won't respond to my emails.
Big web retailer: cricket sounds.
Me: You have my money. I want it back. hello hello?
Big web retailer: that item is not returnable.

Your next call should have been:

Me: Hello credit card company, I want to dispute a charge.

 

[Llynn]

Your next call should have been:

Me: Hello credit card company, I want to dispute a charge.

That's exactly what I did do.

But then, the seller finally woke up and contacted me. Ultimately sent me a refund.

I called the credit card co and listened to their recordings over and over and over ad nauseam. Then I tried to explain to the "associate" who finally answered that I wanted to withdraw my dispute with the seller. She couldn't grasp that concept and it took two supervisors before I finally got someone who knew anything. Then of course the computer was (slow, down, acting up, etc.) It took almost two hours to complete that simple record adjustment.

And this, my friends is retail in the year 2020.

I hate the 21st Century!!!

 

[Camper6]

I'm the exact same way.

I don't salt because I know there's already plenty on it, but I really like my sea of pepper on just about everything.

That story reminds me of a guy I worked for in the mid 70s. He would not hire men with facial hair...he assumed they were hiding something.

Funny what some do to provide the illusion that there's order in their world.

Order or a semblance of order, even if there is none.

Military cemeteries all neat and cultured from the chaos that took place.

 

[Manatee]

Sears and K-Mart are both gone from here.

 

[In The Sticks]

Sears and K-Mart are both gone from here.

There is a strip mall in Charlottesville that has Sears as the anchor store with Penneys at the other end.

That place is a ghost town. I eat at a restaurant there every once in a while, and I take a walk through the mall.

It's post-apocalyptic.

 

[treeguy64]

These giant retailers brought this upon themselves.

Ironically, Sears succeeded because it was great at something other stores either never did, or did poorly, over a hundred years ago: Catalog distribution, and sales from the same. When a new technology came along, the internet, Sears was way behind the curve.

Over time, prices at Sears and JCP became ridiculously high, unless you shopped sales and closeout racks. The thinning crowds, even ten years ago, told me that they'd never survive as movers and shakers in the retail world.

Walmart has shown itself to be able to respond to the challenge of Amazon. Their online sales are now doing pretty well. I've tried going that route, and have been satisfied, for the most part.

In retail, you either adapt or die.