I. History J.C. Penney has been around for over 100 years. The chain started with James Cash Penney in Evanston, Wyoming. It was incorporated in 1913 and was operating over 83 stores by 1915. J.C. Penney carries private label brands in order to control the quality of the items and to keep prices low for customers. J.C. Penney continued to grow despite the "Great Depression" of the 1930's. By 1936, there were 1,496 store in operation. By the time it reached its 50th anniversary in 1952, it reached a sales of $1 billion . (Strategic Management , 2015) In 1961, JCP transitioned from stores that were free-standing to stores that were a part of shopping centers. To further meet the needs of customers, it offered ordering options from their very own catalog. In 1963 JCP also entered the thrift drug chain to further its success until 2004.Competition became fierce from other department stores such as: Macy's, Dillard's, Nordstrom, and Sears. To keep up with competitor, in 1983 JCP phased out some of its offerings to customers in order to remain competitive. J.C. Penney chose to focus as being known as a department store that offers finance and credit cards. (Strategic Management , 2015) As the 21st Century approached, JCP was on its way to face another obstacle, the internet. After giving up on Eckerd Drug, JCP chose to focus on internet …show more content…
CTO, Daniel Walker wants to make sure that that JCP is "America's favorite place to work." He wishes to employ individuals who have an ethical background and are able to work in a team oriented environment. CEO Ron Johnson, not only wants to introduce a new price scheme, but offer JCP a new "fresh" image to their customers. In order to accomplish this, he will alter JCP's exterior, interior and their logo. Johnson wishes to mimic the Genesis Bar at Apple Inc. with new ideas set in place throughout stores. (Strategic Management ,
The closure of Finish Line sportwear stores, reasons and outcome Finish Line is a regional sportswear retailer in the United States. A few of the significant peers of the firm are Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker. In the past 5 years, the revenue of Finish Line, Foot Locker and Dick’s Sporting Goods increased at a CAGR of 8.4%, 7.1% and 8.7% respectively as shown in the graph below. Source: Televisory’s Research. Revenue growth was due to an increase in Finish Line stores.
According to Gibbens, Robert. The Gazette, he states that, past 20 years Dollarama Inc. and chief architect have built 721 unit of national retail chain exceeding $4 billion market value from a small discount store in Matane in Quebec’s Gaspe region. As per the article Rossy open his first store in Montreal in 1992 and was the head buyer besides being the chief executive. “Rossy also innovated on the buying side, cutting deals with the manufacturers, not the distributors that most retailers deal with. He scouted out competitive retailers for items worth $5 and $10 that his suppliers could copy for him to sell for a Lonnie. This enabled Dollarama to offer higher-quality $1 merchandise than most of its competitors, while offering a more attractive (and predictable) shopping experience than most low-end discounters. In early 2009, Dollarama added additional price points of $1.25, $1.50 and $2, but offered loyal shoppers new, higher-quality products at those amounts, rather than simply raising the prices of existing inventory”, according to Gibbens, Robert. The Gazette. The passage states non grocery items will gradually be introduced by August at $2.5 and $3. In the article, its state that introduction of new electronic inventory management system and productivity program by 2014 and 2015 will prove beneficial. Subsequently will reduce most of the increased cost resulted by working through the retailing industry which includes transportation and energy as well. The article also tells, China covers majority part of Dollarama’s supply needs and the rest is spread around other countries including Canada and US. Yet buying is done directly in order to reduce the cost. “You need top rate regional managers but also dedicated indivi...
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is the fourteenth largest retailer in America, and overall the world’s second largest home improvement retailer. They are the 108th ranked corporation on the Fortune 500 top corporations list. With an impressive in store stock of 40,000 home improvement items on hand, ranging from lumber to Home décor items, plus an additional 400,000 home improvement items available through a special order program. Lowe’s provides a onetime stop for all home improvement needs, for both the Do-It-Yourselfer, and the ever-expanding market of the Commercial Business Customer.
Along with this innovation of trying to drive sales, the Popular Club began to find its brand image. The company’s focus was leisurewear for upper-middleclass customers, seeking the Ralph Lauren look at a much lower price. The company’s merchandise style was a combination of Ralph Lauren, on the high end, and the Limited, on the lower end. Popular Club wanted to signify a “preppy spirit,” in doing so they renamed the operation J.Crew. In January 1983, the company mailed its first catalog to its customers (http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/j-crew-group-inc-history/). This will be the beginning of a thriving company.
Costco was founded on September 15th, 1983 by Jeffery Brotman and James Sinegal (Chesley). It became renowned for its warehouse club retail model, pioneered by former competitor Price Club. After a major merger in 1993 with Price Club, Costco expanded to 206 locations, doubling the size of the company (“Costco Wholesale Historical Highlights”). The decision was based on the fact Costco and Price Club shared similar business philosophies, operations, and the looming threat of being taken over by Sam’s Club. Operating as PriceCostco, international expansion began with development of stores in Mexico, the opening of two stores in England, and the licensing of a Price Club in South Korea ("Costco Wholesale Corporation").
The ecommerce industry is growing faster than ever. TJ Maxx needs to start focusing more on ecommerce not only to keep up with competition, but also to make sure they do well during weak economic periods. ecommerce, overall, tends to do very well during lackluster economic times. TJ Maxx will be able to cut costs more easily the more they expand their ecommerce business. Our business idea will allow them to expand their ecommerce as we will take over their website and delivery. TJX Companies’ three ecommerce sites accounts for only about 1.0% of the company’s total sales. However, the online channel is a key growth driver and TJX is taking initiatives to improve its online business. The ecommerce sales
Marzilli, T. (2013, April 24). Long-Term Look At Brand Perception Shows J.C. Penney Losing Ground Vs. Kohl's. Retrieved April 07, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/brandindex/2013/04/24/long-term-look-at-brand-perception-shows-j-c-penney-losing-ground-vs-kohls/
On January 22, 2002, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection becoming the largest retailer ever to do so in U.S. history. Most industry analysts attributed the immediate cause of the company's bankruptcy filing to a dull holiday season and stiff competition from WalMart and Target as the chain's more fundamental problem. But competition wasn't the root cause of Kmart's consistently poor performance. The real reason for Kmart's poor performance is that Kmart never had a marketing strategy. Kmart completely misunderstood its market and was positioning itself in the wrong direction. Also, on the strategic side, there are issues of where stores were located. On the whole, Kmart stores did not seem to be sited as well as the stores of the competition. Then there was the issue of technology. While Wal-Mart was becoming the relentless efficiency engine that we know today by investing in technology and streamlining the supply chain, Kmart held back. As Wal-Mart developed an infrastructure that enabled it to lower prices, Kmart slipped into a price disadvantage. This paper discusses these strategic problems that led to Kmart's poor performance.
By the 1980s, just before the rise of Wal-Mart, Kmart had become complacent. It believed it would be the king of discount retailing, now and forever. It didn't perform an accurate SWOT analysis, but to be fair, who could have seen the rise of Wal-Mart to the position of the world's number-one retailer? Still, as Wal-Mart built new stores in town after town, supported by cutthroat pricing and solid logistics, Kmart's complacency would cost them. Part of the problem was that as Wal-Mart was pouring money into information technology (IT), Kmart's IT budget continued to shrink – not just once, but several years in a row. While Wal-Mart's logistics and supply chain management got sharper, Kmart's stagnated. And while Wal-Mart was able to squeeze more value out of its stores and its systems, Kmart lost ground. By the time Kmart had finally decided to start devoting more resources to IT, it was so far behind Wal-Mart that catching up would have been a near-impossible task without the recession in the early part of this decade. With the effects of the recession taken into account, Kmart instead was consigned to also-ran status among discount retailers.
Our Strategic Issue for SHC is, "How can Sears Holdings Corporation strengthen Kmart's position and regain its competitive advantage? Our recommendations are as follows: 1. Differentiation Strategy: Appeal to low and middle income families with children, Quality clothing and decorating store. 2. Stable & Effective Management: Retention, Value Chain Analysis: Supply Chain, Inventory Control (Product Selection), Technology (Reserve), Overall Consistency, Continue Value Adding Strategic Alliances, Similar to alliance with Joe Boxer. 3. Continue to Evaluate Store Portfolio, Focus on owning more/ Premium space. 4. Meet Customer Expectations, Customer Service, and Continuous Research & Development.
JCPenney is a chain of American mid-range department stores that is based out of Texas that started over 100 years ago. JCPenny has been successful for most of its time up until the last three to four years. The company is trying relentlessly to overcome the lingering effects of the makeover that former CEO, Ron Johnson, had implemented in order for the company to take a new direction in hopes of increasing sales. The new CEO, Myron Ullman, has taken a close look into the markets demographic segmentation along with the income segmentation in order to attempt to return the retailer back to its old self, which is to appeal to middle-market customers. A couple issues of major concern for the company are the dissolving of Johnson’s Boutiques, the price of their products, and overall revenue.
Sears has seen many different changes in business and has had to adjust to t...
Penney's approach to strategy is best measured using a SWOT analysis, which maps out the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. For instance, J.C. Penney's strengths include a strong liquidity position, an efficient supply chain, and a broad product and service offering. J.C. Penney's liquidity position grew to lend the industry from 2014 to 2015 (J.C. Penney Company, Inc., 2015). Strong liquidity against its competitors provides J.C. Penney with an advantage while funding any potential opportunity that arises in the market. Its supply chain facilitates the flow of goods between two thousand four hundred domestic and foreign suppliers, distributors, and stores (J.C. Penney Company, Inc., 2015). Its efficiency enables J.C. Penney to generate higher margins, which allows for lower prices for customers. Moreover, it allows the business to operate in a cost effective manner. The broad product and service offerings help the company serve the diverse needs and preferences of its customers. J.C. Penney also has the largest apparel, home furnishing, and general merchandise catalog in the United States (J.C. Penney Company, Inc.,
1. A good place to start with an internal firm analysis is to catalog the assets possessed by a firm.